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2005 News

On Thursday 15th December 2005 Gianluca Costantini sent me an e-mail with the following image and a link to Politicalcomics.

On Monday 5th December 2005 Paul Auster and Elizabeth Nunez hosted an evening of readings and discussion, saluting the winners of the 2005 PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Joining in the celebration were writers Esmeralda Santiago and Colin Channer. It was held at the Donnell Library Center: 20 West 53rd St., NYC at 7 pm.

Matthew de Ville at Faber & Faber wrote recently that they will be publishing a second volume of novels comprising of The Music of Chance, Leviathan and Mr Vertigo in December 2005.

There is a review of 'The Brooklyn Follies' by Kamran Nazeer in the December 2005 edition of 'Prospect Magazine' entitled Auster's Scrapbook'.

On Sunday 27th November 2005 Brooklyn Follies is going to be a 'Book at Bedtime' on BBC Radio 4 for the week. Having had a look on the BBC website it appears that The Brooklyn Follies is starting tonight, Monday 14th November 2005, at 10:45pm on BBC Radio 4 on 'Book at Bedtime'.

On Saturday 26th November 2005 Gisela Klotzer e-mailed to say "here you can find an Article about Paul Auster, Sam Messer: "Die Geschichte meiner Schreibmaschine". (The story of my typewriter) There are 5 illustrations (click at the pictures). Picture No 4 looks very hungry."

Guzen no Ongaku, (a theatrical version of 'The Music of Chance') was playing until Sunday 20th November 2005 at Setagaya Public Theater in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. It "s a play produced by Akira Shirai depicting the loss and loneliness expressed in the story of the same name by Paul Auster, an author known for his sensuous descriptions of the harsh realities of life."

On Friday 18th November 2005 there was a favourable review of 'The Brooklyn Follies' by Kirsty Wark, Michael Gove, Julie Myerson, Lionel Shriver and David Shrigley on BBC 2's 'Newsnight Review' at 10.30pm. Kirsty Wark names the book as one of 'The Greatest Reads of 2005' in the 'Sunday Herald' - she says "I read Paul Auster's novel The Brooklyn Follies (Faber, £16.99) hot off the press recently and it's my last-minute pick of the year, a life-affirming book about a man who returns to Brooklyn after 50 years to die of cancer."

Matthew de Ville at Faber & Faber e-mailed me to say "you may or may not know already that a new novel from Paul Auster is going to be published this year. 'Brooklyn Follies' will be published in the UK in November, with the US publication around the same time."

According to The Times the first line of the book is "I was looking for a great place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn."

There is now an early review of the book on Bookmunch. "Curious, upbeat, heartsong of a book from your man Auster".

Anders Fridh has e-mailed me since to say "Just wanted to inform you about a article of the 13th of january in a newspaper of southern Sweden called Sydsvenskan telling about the forthcoming Paul Auster book tentatively called 'Brooklyn Follies' and the rather peculiar fact that it actually will be published in Sweden in september and in the U.S in december. The swedish title will probably be 'Dararna i Brooklyn', and will be translated by Ulla Roseen who have translated (very fine translations at that!) several of Auster's books.. There was also a brief statement from the swedish agent of the publisher house of Bonniers, stating that "Auster goes Woody Allen" (actually just those english words!), furthermore saying that the book will be more profound and layered..."

Paul Cornelissen wrote recently and said "This saturday Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad announced that Paul Auster's new novel Brooklyn Follies will be published in Dutch in september 2005! Due to the good relations with his Dutch publisher (Arbeiderspers) Auster decided to give the readers in the Netherlands the chance to be the first to read his new one." And Niels Pinborg writes "I asume, that it is good relations between Auster and publisher Per Kofod tha have resulted in the fast release. As far as I know Oracle Night was releashed in Denmark as the first place. In addition to that. Reviews have been exelent. Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet writes: If you want to, you can accuse Auster for writing the same book, over and over again. But its a good book, writes."

I found the following information on the Faber website: "I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn, and so the next morning I traveled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain . . . 'So begins Paul Auster's remarkable new novel, The Brooklyn Follies. Set against the backdrop of the contested US election of 2000, it tells the story of Nathan and Tom, an uncle and nephew double-act. One is in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other is hiding away from his once promising academic career, and life in general. Having accidentally ended up in the same Brooklyn neighbourhood, they discover a community teeming with life and passion. When Lucy, the little girl who refuses to speak, comes into their lives there is suddenly a bridge from their pasts that may offer them the possibility of redemption. Filled with stories and characters, mystery and fraud, these lives intertwine and become bound together as Auster brilliantly explores the wider terrain of contemporary America - a crucible of broken dreams and of human folly."

I received an e-mail Joe Pacheco, director of the documentary "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project", (which features Paul Auster). He sent through the latest dates for their tour of the film in the US:

On Saturday 19th November 2005 at 7:30pm in Chicago. 826Chicago Benefit Thorne Auditorium Arthur Rubloff Building 750 North Lake Shore Drive $9

On Wednesday 16th November 2005 at 8:00pm in New York. Makor Film Series Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y 35 West 67th St. (212) 601-1000

On Sunday 13th November 2005 at 4:00pm in Seattle. 826Seattle Benefit F*cking Fabulous Film Festival, The Rung Theater, 1136 S. Albro Place, $6

On Saturday 12th November 2005 at 1:15pm in Brooklyn. Big Mini DV Film Festival, Spike Lee Screening Room (LLC 122), 1 University Plaza, (718) 488-1052.

On Wednesday 9th November 2005 I received two Auster related projects/works in the post. The first was from friend of the site Michael Moravek - it's the latest 4 track single by the Planeausters entitled 'This Time'. I really enjoyed listening to both versions of the track and the artwork on the CD is exceptional. Visit Tank Records to buy a copy. The second piece of post was from up and coming animator Malika Whitaker. She sent me her showreel of her animated adaptation of Mr Vertigo. It's in production at the moment and it's terrific. Unfortunately, the clip is to large to publish on the site but I'll get some stills up soon. I'll keep you posted on this one.

On Tuesday 8th November 2005 Salman Rushdie broke off his national tour to promote his latest novel Shalimar the Crown so that he could be in New York to join some of America's most distinguished writers, including Edward Albee, Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Dave Eggers and Philip Gourevitch, to denounce, among other things, the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and abroad. The writers read brief excerpts from the texts that had inspired and sustained their convictions against governmental tyranny that includes arbitrary detention. The event, which was free, was called the State of Emergency. The first such event was held last year, also in New York, the home of the PEN American Center.

On Monday 7th November 2005 Ian Rankin reviewed Paul Auster's latest novel 'The Brooklyn Follies' on BBC Radio 3's Night Waves.

On Monday 17th October 2005 I received the following e-mail from the journalist Aitor Alonso "I just want to tell you that PA's new work, The Brooklyn Follies, is gonna be published in Spain around February 2006, according with Anagrama, his publishers here. We are always the last ones, man! So I will try to get one in English this Autumn via Amazon.com or so! I develop a weblog around Paul Auster and other interestings things for me, like Media, Films, Technology and gadgets. It is wrote in Spanish, but take a look! Im trying to share news about Auster."

Joe Pacheco, director of the documentary "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project", (featuring Paul Auster), e-mailed me recently with the following dates for the showing of the film. As Smart As They Are has been nominated for the Best Documentary. On Saturday 15th October 2005 at 3:00 pm "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" will be shown at Red Bank International Film Festival, Clearview Cinema, 36 White Street, Red Bank, NJ. (732) 747-0335. Tickets cost $8. Post-screening Q&A; with director Joe Pacheco and a live performance by One Ring Zero. Please note that the film will return for a New York screening in November, followed by benefit screenings for 826Chicago and 826NYC.

On Monday 10th October 2005 at 9:30 pm "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" will be shown at Sound Unseen Film Festival, Bell Auditorium, 10 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN. Click here for tickets.

On Sunday 9th October 2005 at 7:30 pm "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" will be shown at Sound Unseen Film Festival, Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, MN. Click here for tickets.

On Friday 7th October 2005 at 8:00 pm "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" will be shown at 215 Festival International House, 3701 Chesnut Street, Phildelphia, PA (215) 895-6575. The cost of the tickets is $7. Featuring a live performance by One Ring Zero, special guests and interviews with all concerned.

According to the Buffalo News Paul Auster will appear on Thursday 6th October 2005 "for a book signing at Borders at 2015 Walden Ave. at noon; at Barnes & Noble, 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd., at 4 p.m., and will host a viewing of the '90s cult movie "Smoke," at 7 p.m. in the Market Arcade, 639 Main St. Auster wrote the screenplay for that film." I'd check this out first.

On Saturday 1st October 2005 Anne Troester e-mailed me to say "as a piece of encouragement for us Germans who are waiting impatiently for The Brooklyn Follies: while the American edition of the book has apparently surfaced in Munich, I also found a copy at the Thalia Buchhandlung in Berlin today. I have seen the Faber & Faber edition around, but if you prefer the Henry Holt edition (like I do), it can be found now if you snoop around a little."

On Thursday 29th September 2005 Tim Lewis, Deputy Editor of Esquire Magazine, wrote to say "we are running an interview with Auster in our December issue. Our idea for the story is to contact a variety of people connected intimately or loosely to Auster and ask them each to contribute a couple of questions. We will then run the story in Q&A; and it should make an entertaining and unusual dialogue." People like Jim Jarmusch, Dave Eggers, David Byrne are so far involved.

On Friday 23rd September 2005 William Schneider e-mailed to say "I just wanted to let you know that The Brooklyn Follies has just been released in Denmark in the english version. I found it in this bookstore www.atheneum.dk. I went in severel different stores but only found it in this one." And Markus Friedl wrote to say "fyi, the english bookshop in munich (hugendubel), germany, already sells the us edition of the book (heny holt)."

On Tuesday 20th September 2005 Geopoetika e-mailed to say "I would like to inform you that Serbian translation of the latest novel by Paul Auster The Broklyn Follies will be published on September 27, 2005. in Serbia and Montenegro. The publisher is Geopoetika from Belgrade .The title in Serbian is Bruklinska revija ludosti."

On Thursday 15th September 2005 at 8pm and on Friday 16th September 2005 at 3pm Paul Auster took part in a literary festival in Reykjavik entitled Bokmenntahatid. "The festival's aim is to inform the public about some of the most important trends in contemporary literature, with the emphasis this year on the relationship between literature and the world, and how literature interacts with the political and global developments of recent years." Barbara on the message board wrote the following message "I had the pleasure of hearing Paul speak today at a Literary Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. I can wait and think that the wait is worth it. Even more exciting is that he is putting the finishing touches on his next novel! Isn't the most important thing that he keeps writing and finding things to say?"

On Thursday 8th September 2005 Rossella Iannone e-mailed me to say "Tomorrow my site dedicated to him [Paul Auster] will be on line: www.ilpalazzodellaluna.com ("il palazzo della luna" there is, "Moon Palace" in Italian) . It is very important for me, and it is the first in Italy about Paul Auster."

On Thursday 1st September 2005 Benjamin Locoge at Paris Match e-mailed me to say "In today's issue of Paris Match in France (1st september), you can find an interview between Paul & Sophie. I've met them in Brooklyn three weeks ago. Sophie's record gonna be published in France in october, and Brooklyn Follies will appear in the shops in France on friday."

On Tuesday 30th August 2005 Paul Cornelissen wrote and said "Today " Brooklyn Follies" reached our bookstores in Dutch translation. A not so positive article on the book (by Maartje Somers) appeared yesterday (august 29th) in the leading Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad." He also kindly provided me with a copy of the front cover of the Dutch version.

On Monday 29th August 2005 Sandra Amar wrote and said "I wanted to tell you in case you did not know it yet (although I am pretty sure you know almost everything about Paul Auster), that again Auster's latest book will be released in France and in French well before the American version....on 2 Sept 2005.... Maybe I will reconsider my wish to only read Auster in original language...."

On Friday 26th August 2005 friend to the site Pasquale Marzano sent me some of his own Auster related news, he wrote "my so long ago announced book with three essays about Paul Auster was published last july, even if it was officially printed in 2003, as I have already told you. The essays dedicated to P. Auster were already published as papers previously read at International Meetings, or sent to the "Rivista Italiana di Onomastica". They were then deeply revised and updated for the publication in my book about the literary onomastics related to several italian writers and to Maupassant and Auster. The article you published in your website was one of those: now it's bigger and its conclusions are more clearly defined and slightly different. The renewed study of Auster's work I had to do before sending the drafts to the publishing house let me discover some details I had missed the first time I wrote about it (I think it's something quite common with Auster's work...)." I am leaving in two days for an International Congress of Onomastic Sciences in Pisa, held once every three years and I should be back on the 31st, if everything is fine (unfortunately, nowadays nobody can be sure about trips of any kind...). As for an austerian strange "coincidence", my book will be presented there and on the same day, at the same time, when I am supposed to read my paper about names in Pirandello, another scholar will be reading her paper about the use of names in Auster and in City of Glass. Isnt'it strange? I hope to have a chance anyway to hear what she has to say about the subject. I am enclosing an abstract of the program, just to let you see what I am talking about. If you want to have a look at all of it, here you are the right address."

On Thursday 25th August 2005 I received an e-mail from Valentina Olivastri saying "I just wanted to let you know that the Italian translation of Brooklyn Follies has come out in Italy with the title Follie a Brooklyn. The book is published by Einaudi."

On Wednesday 24th August 2005 Heiko Eser sent me the following e-mail "Unemployed in Sligo, I went to Argue and Fibbs to ask for work, but was told there wasn't any. I Then asked Mr Argue what he thought of the story in one of Paul Austers' books involving himself, to which he replied he'd never heard of that Paul Auster fella and proceeded to tell me a simillar story by an irish writer which seemed to make much more sense to him somehow, giving me the impression that he's still living up to the expectations his name evokes."

On Tuesday 23rd August 2005 I received an e-mail from Walter Hooghiemstra saying "Last week 'Brooklyn dwaasheden' has been published in Holland. I have read one review in de Volkskrant: in brief it was judged as a typical Auster book with lots of different but linked stories. But: 'Too much of a good thing......'" Joeri Voogt writes "I'm not sure what deal is in other countries, but I work in a bookstore here in Holland and yesterday we already received some copies of the English version of The Brooklyn Follies. It's the hardcover F&F; edition. I guess they decided to publish it a couple weeks earlier. Our main computer system already said that I would be published October 1st, but our website still had (and has) a publishing date of November 17th. Anyway, people might want to know that. It might be already available elsewhere."

On Friday 19th August 2005 Geert Douma e-mailed to say "today, the 19th August, i saw the dutch translation of "Brooklyn follies" for sale in the Dutch bookshops!". And Robert Huyser e-mailed also to say "I saw the Dutch translation of thhe Brooklyn Follies in the Dutch bookstores today...I'll email you the american cover of the advance reading copie which can be bought on www.ebay.com."

On Friday 12th August 2005 Max Rankenburg sent me his thesis entitled "The Burden of Proof: Prophecy and Ontology in Paul Auster's 'Oracle Night'". Max has kindly allowed me to publish it on the site. It's in PDF format so may take a minute or so to download.

On Tuesday 9th August 2005 Martin Fischer from the Walker Art Center e-mailed to say "Paul Auster and Eric Lorberer dialogue at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis at the end of June. Streaming video of their conversation. Not exactly news, but it sure was a great show!"

On Friday 5th August 2005 Anders Fridh e-mailed me to say "found this picture of the forthcoming Auster-book while browsing the formidable amazon."

On Tuesday 2nd August 2005 Banana Yoshimoto described Paul Auster as "a spectacular person" in an interview in Bookslut.

According to Elites TV Paul Auster was at the premiere in New York of Gus Van Sant's new film about Kurt Cobain called "Last Days" on Tuesday 19th July 2005.

On Friday 8th July 2005 there was an interview in the New Zealand Listener between David Cohen and Paul Auster entitled 'The city goes on'. Auster says during the interview ""I'm addicted to work. Easy? No, not at all. If anything, it gets harder. The fact that you've written x number of books before does not help you write the new book. Why? Because you've never written this book before. You're learning how to do it as you do it. And you make mistakes. I always make mistakes when I'm writing a novel and have to scrap material and things."

On Wednesday 6th July 2005 there was an article in Dogmatika entitled 'Stalking Paul Auster'.

On Monday 4th July 2005 I received an e-mail from regular visitor to the site Ruth Schanz-Harper saying "I have just returned from a holiday in France where I bought the June edition of "le magazine litteraire". According to the Magazine litteraire, the French edition of Paul Auster's new book will be published in September 05 by Actes Sud under the title "La Reine de Brooklyn", it also states the publication date for "Brooklyn Follies" in the US as November 05. A visit to amazon.uk reveiled a publication date of 16 November for the UK, a visit to amazon.com a publication date of January 1, 2006 for the US. However, amazon.fr had neither a publication date nor any mention of "La Reine de Brooklyn". Le magazine litteraire, on its pages 57 to 59, had an excerpt of the book, translation by Christine Le Boeuf. I cannot wait to read Brooklyn Follies, both in its original and in its French translation." And then later Ruth e-mailed to say "I'd like to refer to my earlier e-mail concerning the publication of Brooklyn Follies in France. I have just checked Actes Sud and amazon.fr again and found the book under the title of "Brooklyn Follies" in French, due to be published on September 15. Hope this helps."

On Saturday 25th June 2005 there was an interview in Haaretz between Shiri Lev-Ari and Paul Auster. The tag line is Auster quoted as saying "I would like to visit the past. The future is so frightening, I don't know if I want to go there."

On Friday 24th June 2005 I received an e-mail from Joe Pacheco at pbnoj productions which said "I thought that you might be interested in the new feature-length documentary from pbnoj productions, "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project." The film follows One Ring Zero from their bookish beginnings as the house-band for McSweeney's Publishing to their ensuing collaboration with an ensemble cast of award-winning authors (including Paul). Through capturing live performances, studio sessions and interviews with the writers and musicians, As Smart As They Are explores the relationships between music and literature while painting a portrait of the New York literary community that fostered the band. For more information about the film including the trailer and press kit, please visit www.pbnoj.com."

On Monday 20th June 2005 there was an article in Dogmatika entitled "Those daring young men and their writing machines". It goes on to say "Paul Auster wrote a book The Story of My Typewriter, a love letter to his Olympia SM 9. Says Auster: "Since... 1974, every word I have written has been typed out on that machine..Like it or not, I realized we [Auster and the Olympia] had the same past. As time went on, I came to understand we had the same future."

On Saturday 18th June 2005 there was an article by M E Wood on Bella Online reviewing The Nathaniel Hawthorne Audio Collection, (narrated by Auster).

On Wednesday 15th June 2005 Paul Auster will be featured on two tracks on a CD called "We Must Be Losing It" by a finnish band The Farangs. He's reading two of his own poems "Obituary In The Present Tense" and "Between The Lines". The Cd will be out on june 15th on MuFarang International and can be ordered through the following websites, that will open on the same day: www.farangs.net or www.mufarang.com. Any questions you might have can be mailed to Janne Haavisto of The Farangs at [email protected].

On Monday 6th June 2005 I recieved an e-mail from Darius Blasband. He said "We have a common passion for Paul Auster, and in my failure to convey my enthousiasm to some of my friends, I ran a practical joke on Cecile...You might care to check it out." Mr Vertigo - a movie? It's a great wind up.

Between the 3rd and 5th of June 2005 Paul Auster was at BookExpo America according to Elites TV.

On Tuesday 31st May 2005 friends of the site One Ring Zero are playing at Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, New York (212 539 8777). This is what The New Yorker says "One Ring Zero is two guys from Brooklyn who turn out a frenetic klezmer-Gypsy-midway-music hybrid using the accordion, toy piano, various household appliances, and other exotic instruments. Somehow the duo have become the darlings of the local literary set, and their latest album, "As Smart As We Are," features lyrics by Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, and other writers. TheyÕre joined by the pan-Balkan punk chamber group Barbez, which for its part crafts a beguiling postmodern sound thanks to a theremin and the stellar vocals of the St. Petersburg native Ksenia Vidyaykina. The Mingus Orchestra is here Thursdays, with sets at 11:30 and 1:30 a.m."

Klaus Rothstein e-mailed me to say "Just want you to know that Brooklyn Follies comes out in Danish this week on Wednesday 25th May 2005, published by Per Kofod Publishers. Denmark is once again the venue of a world wide premiere of a new Auster novel. I just spent yesterday with the book sinece I'm going to review it in a leading Danish newspaper, and I can asure you that is is another great novel." And Lars Thorsted e-mailed to say "The new novel from Paul Auster was published today 25. May in Denmark. The book is called Brooklyn darskab. I was not surprised, because the last couple of novels were published first in Denmark." Klaus has since e-mailed with a link to his article - he says that the "new novel was very well recieved in Denmark."

On Saturday 21st May 2005 I received an e-mail from Carine from the band Le Loup Garou. She wrote "Frank, our main composer and founder is an inveterate reader of Paul's books. He was especially struck by "La Musica del Caso" (The Music of Chance). This book has been one of the main inspirational sources of "13 Pequenos BAU BAU". Frank feels that Paul's poetry has, like his own, something to do with the use of perception as an instrument of knowledge."

On Tuesday 10th May 2005 Justin Johnson, from the BFI and film reviewer for BBC London, e-mailed me with the following information from the Screen International website. It appeared on 6th May and was a piece by Nancy Tartaglione in Paris entitled 'Gemini to sell Auster's Inner Life at Cannes'. It said "Paolo Branco's Gemini Films will begin sales on the latest film from author and director Paul Auster, The Inner Life Of Martin Frost, at Cannes next week, the company told ScreenDaily.com. The Euros 3.5m project will begin shooting in mid-September in the US with casting to be confirmed. The Portugese-US co-production is produced by Branco and Auster. Gemini has world rights to the film whose title character hails from Auster's novel The Book Of Illusions. The fictional Frost is a well-known American writer who holes up in a borrowed house following the publication of his latest novel. Upon waking in the house on his first day, he is shocked to find a strange woman in bed with him and she is just as surprised to find him. He quickly falls for the beautiful and intelligent woman who becomes more and more unattainable. Auster's previous directorial efforts include Smoke, Blue In The Face and Lulu On The Bridge. Also included in Gemini's line up is are Michel Piccoli's short film C'est Pas Tout A Fait La Vie Don't J'Avais Reve which has a special screening in the official selection, Directors' Fortnight titles Seven Invisible Men by Sharunas Bartas and Marco Martins' Alice and Critics' Week pick Orlando Vargas by Juan Pittaluga."

The Book Standard website says "Gemini also has launched sales on The Inner Life of Martin Frost directed by Paul Auster from his own original screenplay. Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Irene Jacob and Auster's daughter Sophie will star in the movie, which will start shooting in September. Liev Schreiber is in talks for a role in the $3.5 million film."

Jenny Michel has e-mailed to say "Paul Auster will be in Saint Malo, Brittany, from Thursday 5th May 2005 to Sunday 8th May 2005, together with a number of major authors from all over the world, to take part in the festival on literature called "Etonnants Voyageurs" . We are hundreds of his French readers to look forward to the privilege and pleasure of meeting him there, & we hope he'll both enjoy the friendly passionate discussions in the cafes, cinemas,etc, & moments on his own to discover this place on our side of the ocean...."

According to Elisabete Pinto Paul Auster will be in Lisbon, Portugal on Friday 29th April 2005 to launch a new Portuguese edition of 'The Music of Chance'. Elisabete goes on to say "I'll try to confirm this information and will keep you posted, but I though it could be interesting for the portuguese fans out there." On Friday 29th April 2005 Telma Mendonca e-mailed me to say "Just a quick note to confirm that Paul Auster will definitely come to Portugal for 2 sessions with his readers in Lisbon. The first one today at 9.30pm at the Culturgest Auditorium and the second one tomorrow at the Chiado Fnac bookstore (sorry don't have more details on this one)."

PEN World Voices: the New York Festival of International Literature, with programs heavily focused on international politics and current events, is to open on Saturday 16th April 2005 at the New York Public Library with three events: a tribute to Cervantes's "Don Quixote" on its 400th anniversary; a conversation between Paul Auster and the Brazilian songwriter Chico Buarque; and a discussion called "Writing and Catastrophe," with Francois Bizot, Philip Gourevitch and others. The festival is to last a week and is planned as an annual event.

On Friday 15th April 2005 there was an article in The Star by S Indramalar entitled "Words of Uncanny Mystery".

On Sunday 3rd April 2005 there was an article entitled 'Paul Auster's splendid preparation for failure' by John Freeman in the Denver Post.

On Saturday 2nd April 2005 I received the following e-mail from Matt Fersterer "There's good news for Francophone Paul Auster fans: Babel and Actes Sud recently published an extended edition of the essay/interview volume La Solitude du Labyrinthe (ISBN 2-7427-5255-2). In addition to several essays by GŽrard de Cortanze and an excellent biographical and bibliographical section, it comprises several lengthy interviews with Auster. The two interviews of the original edition (conducted in 1995 and 1996) have been extended to nine (!) covering such themes as translating MallarmŽ, baseball, or 9/11 (conducted between 1997 and 2004). An indispensable source for every Austerian! By the way, New Directions announced to publish a new edition of Austerâs 1983 translation of MallarmŽ's Pour un tombeau d'Anatole in June 2005."

On Thursday 31st March 2005 at 7.30pm Paul Auster will join John Ashbery, Mary Ann Caws, Marcella Durand, Richard Howard, Pierre Joris, Ron Padgett, Marie Ponsot, Kristin Prevallet, Grace Schulman, and Cole Swensen for A Celebration of French Poetry at Tishman Auditorium, The New School 66 West 12th Street, NYC. It's a Poetry Society event. Admission is $10 / $7 for PSA Members and Students and a reception will follow.

According to Fleur Spronk at Afdeling Marketing Paul Auster will be attending the concert with Ensemble Modern on Wednesday 30th March 2005 in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. More details to follow.

I've had some exciting news via the BBC Broadcasting House in Glasgow. There is a possibility that Paul Auster will be interviewed by Stuart Maconie for the BBC Four TV programme 'The DVD Collection' in February 2005. The interview will be to coincide with the release of 'Smoke' and 'Blue In The Face' on DVD. The interview will be based in New York. If you are not familiar with the programme it is shown at 7.30pm on Fridays on BBC4 - you may be able to access it via satellite/digital if you are outside the UK. More details to follow.

Alison Brown, assistant producer of 'The DVD Collection', has since e-mailed to say "I can tell you that the programme that Paul's interview will be aired on Friday 18th March 2005 at 8.30pm. It will also be repeated on two more occasions at least that weekend - but at the moment we don't have the exact times for that. Keep an eye on the tv listings for those."

On Wednesday 16th March 2005 I received the following e-mail from Stuart Harrington from t-melt "this will probably crash your browser, but it's quite clever."

On Monday 14th March 2005 I received the following e-mail from Reidun Dahl "Back in January I read in the news paper that Paul Auster forthcoming novel "Brooklyn Follies" will be available in Danish already around May 1! I haven't come around to tell you this until now - but here is a link to the page where I found the news. It says in the article that a Danish titel has not been found yet, as "Brooklyn Follies" doesn't exactly have an obvious Danish equivalent!"

n Monday 7th March 2005 both Smoke and Blue In The Face will be released on DVD here in the UK. You can already get The Music of Chance and Lulu On The Bridge on Region 2.

On Monday 7th March 2005 Alain-Philippe Baudry-Knops sent me the following e-mail "I'm beginning to put on my site pics of Quinn's travel". You can visit Alain's excellent photographic homage to 'City of Glass' by clicking here.

On Friday 4th March 2005 Paul Auster is taking part in an event at the Kresge Auditorium, MIT, 48 Mass. Avenue, along with clarinetist Don Byron. It's advertised as the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and admission is $5 at the door. The phone number is 00 1 617 253 9800 and the event is called "Words & Music & Other Sonic Collaborations" The Boston Globe writes "Don Byron AND Paul Auster Jazz clarinets and poetry may not be your idea of a swinging Friday night, and if that's the case, we understand that your local Blockbluster has several copies of ''Little Nicky'' ready for rental. For those in possession of a slightly more open mind, poet/author/director Paul Auster teams with jazz types Don Byron and Evan Ziporyn cq/mm for a show called ''Words and Music and other Sonic Collaborations.'' The Boston Herald writes "it'll be a decidedly 21st century event".

On Wednesday 2nd March 2005 Paul Auster held a reading of 'Brooklyn Follies' as part of the President's Writers Series in the Mulitpurpose Room of Pace University.

On Tuesday 1st March 2005 I received an e-mail from Esther Schonwandt, owner of a non-commercial Christmas web site called 'Christmas Magazine'. She says that 'Auggie Wren's Christmas Story' now features in the magazine. Click here to read the story.

On Monday 28th February 2005 Dogmatika reviewed City of Glass by Paul Auster, Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli and described it as 'Smooth stuff.'

On Friday 11th February 2005 there was an interview with Auster in the Financial Times by Craig Offman. In the interview it suggests that, as previously read, the author is getting back into the world of film. Apparently, he has just finished working on a script with Patrice Leconte on an American version of 'Monsieur Hire'. This time it will be filmed in New York. Paul Auster also intimates that he wants to do a directorial follow up to 'Lulu On The Bridge'.

The dinner and reading event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Thursday 10th February 2005 is sold out. However, Marion Girault-Rime has kindly e-mailed to say that "Tickets are available on ebay for a Paul Auster Dinner and Reading at BAM in Brooklyn on february 10th 2005". The doors are open at 6.30pm, the dinner usually starts at 7.00pm and the reading about an hour later. Paul will be interviewed by Wendy Wasserstein. Alan Lockwood at the New York Press writes about the event here in 'Around Town'.

On Thursday 3rd February 2005 Herr Gmeiner e-mailed from Bonn, Germany to say "Happy Birthday, Paul Auster!"

On Thursday 3rd February 2005 Faber will be publishing the graphic novel version of 'City Of Glass'. Matthew de Ville at Faber & Faber e-mailed me to say "I just wanted to let you know about a new Paul Auster book - the graphic novel version of City of Glass - that's out next month. We publish it on 3rd February, so it should be in the shops any day. It's the first time it's been published in the UK, and looks great. Here's a bit of info, plus the intro by Art Spiegelman."

Manuel Pollack e-mailed to say "It seems as if the cartoonist pulled out the pictures one's minds creates while reading the book. A very good interpretation of the work."

You can read a review of the book by Bookslut by clicking here or one by Philly1 by clicking here.

In February 2005 there was an interview between Jonathan Lethem and Paul Auster in 'The Believer'. If anyone has a copy please could you e-mail me at [email protected].

According to Rodopi, the publishers of 'An Art of Desire: Reading Paul Auster', there is going to be another reprint issued in January 2005. You can read more about the resource by clicking here.

In January 2005 I received some great news from two regulars to the site. Christian Seidl, (better known to us as MS Fogg), has published his thesis. The thesis is entitled '"Regeneration through Creativity" - The Frontier in Paul Auster's Moon Palace.' Christian says "it took some while I finally managed to get my thesis published...[it] is about the froniter-motif in Moon Palace. The periodical is published online by the University of Berlin in Germany." And you can read it by clicking here.

And secondly, Poppy Musuraki has had her interview with Paul Auster published in Greece. The interview has been ground-breaking in the country, as it was his first ever interview, and now other magazines and newspapers have followed suit and are dedicating issues to the author. You can read Poppy's piece by clicking here.

On Saturday 22nd January 2005 there was an article in the Fairfax Digital about the publication of 'The Future Dictionary of America' edited by Dave Eggers. It reads "Full of irreverence, satire and, at times, frivolous humour, the dictionary is best summed up by Paul Auster's contribution: "Bush (bush) n. a poisonous family of shrubs, now extinct."".

On Saturday 22nd January 2005 there was a review of the graphic version of City of Glass by Paul Auster, Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli in The Times. Neel Mukherjee describes it as a "work alight with beauty, compassion, love and scintillating intelligence".

On Wednesday 19th January 2005 Brian e-mailed me to say here "is a link to info on a PA event to take place tonight. Tickets are sold out at this point, but they they will broadcast the talk over the loudspeakers in their cafe and they are selling tickets to listen there for a reduced price. There will be a signing afterwards. I've decided not to go, but thought i would pass on the info." It's at 7.00pm at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Tickets: $18; Members $15; Seniors/Students/6 Tix $16. Jim Theobald wrote about the event "I really enjoyed Mr. Auster's presentation. He came across as a rather shy soul, but someone who really loves to write. He was willing to talk about his preoccupations with interrupted lives, locked rooms and more."

On Friday 14th January 2005 Felipe Restrepo e-mailed to say "I would like to report the following interview I wrote after speaking with Mr. Auster last december.The magazine is called Semana and it is published in Colombia, S.A."

On Friday 7th January 2005 Richard Hopper from BBC Radio & Music Factual Interactive e-mailed me to say "Thought you might like to know about tonight's repeat of an interview first broadcast in May 2004 will be available on the Front Row website next week. John Wilson talks to the American novelist Paul Auster about his latest novel Oracle Night - published in paperback next month - which has echoes of earlier work including The New York Trilogy and Leviathan. Once again, coincidence and the unpredictability of life are central themes and this, Auster reveals, all goes back to an experience he had aged 14 when he narrowly escaped death and was forced to confront the fragility of his own life. Paul Auster on the creative spark, why he's obsessed with stationery and being thought cleverer than he is."

On Monday 3rd January 2005 Hugh MacDonald wrote an article about Paul Auster entitled '21st century heavyweight' for The Herald.

On Monday 20th December 2004 Cullem Rogers e-mailed me to say about "Kisses from New York" (or perhaps "A Kiss from New York"), by cartoonist Art Spiegelman, that has an introduction by Paul Auster. He went on to say that "It's described on one of the few websites that mention it (www.marsh-agency.co.uk) as "a celebration of Art Spiegelman's ten years at the NEW YORKER, with an introduction by Paul Auster, accompanied by an exhibition in Milan moving on to the Martin Gropius-Bau in Berlin in September [2003]" -- which leads me to suspect it might be an exhibition catalog for a show that never came to the U.S." Cullum later e-mailed to say "I got an email today from Caroline Hardman of the Marsh Agency, who said: "Kisses From New York is not yet published in English. It will be published around this time next year. It is available in other languages - eg French." The book is listed on www.amazon.fr under the title "Bons baisers de New York," at a price of 28.50 Euros. The Amazon site says it was published in France by Flammarion on September 3 of this year. I've attached a jpg of the cover, in case you're interested."

On Monday 13th December 2004 there was an article in The Guardian about Sophie Calle entitled 'The worse the break-up, the better the art' and featured "the pull of the bizarre and the joy of being in a Paul Auster novel".

On Friday 10th December 2004 at 9.30pm there is a concert at Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette St., New York. It costs $15 and it features One Ring Zero (full band) with special guests Paul Auster, Rick Moody, Myla Goldberg, Jonathan Lethem, AM Homes performing 'As Smart As We Are' in its entirety. Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero not only confirmed this but he goes on to say that he now has "a page up for Sophie Auster's forthcoming album with a couple of audio samples".

Molly Sheirdan of the New York Press wrote: "And finally, one of my top five favorite projects of 2004, One Ring Zero, will be finishing out the year in style. After months of crowding devoted fans into the backroom at Barbès in Park Slope, the boys are moving the party to Manhattan. Joe's Pub will host the ensemble as well as their slew of special guests, which is basically a list of the city's famous authors: Rick Moody, Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, Clay McLeod Chapman, Myla Goldberg and Jonathan Ames, just to name-drop a few, penned lyrics for the band's last disc, As Smart As We Are, and will be on hand to give the performances that special something."

Rob Berthel of The Associated Press wrote "Not a cardinal, but a Wren is at the center of "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story" (Henry Holt) by Paul Auster, illustrated by Isol. In this short story, which first appeared in The New York Times on Christmas 1990, a writer in Brooklyn, N.Y., is asked by the Times to write a Christmas story. Stuck for an idea, he poses the problem to Auggie Wren, a clerk in his neighborhood cigar store. Over lunch, Auggie tells the writer - and the reader - a "true" Christmas tale about a shoplifter, a lost wallet, a blind woman, a store-bought Christmas dinner and a stolen camera."

You can hear Auster read an exerpt from the book on NPR's site.

On my travels around London last week I noticed three relatively new Auster publications on the shelves of various major bookstores. I think they are all Faber products and were as follows: a paperback version of 'Oracle Night', the UK version of 'City of Glass: A Graphic Novel' and a large tone entitled 'Collected Novels', (in the same design as last year's 'Collected Prose').