Literary Figures

Writer Michael Patrick Hearn. He’s edited “The Annotated Wizard of Oz: A Centennial Edition” (W.W. Norton). The book commemorates the 100th anniversary of the publication of L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Back in 1900, the first 10,000 copies printed of Baum’s book sold out in two weeks. Baum wrote 14 Oz books in all.

Writer F.X. Toole. At age 70, he’s just published his first book. It’s a collection of short stories about boxing called “Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner.” (ECCO/HarperCollins) For twenty years, he’s been a cut man, stopping the bleeding so fighters can go on to the next round. Toole has been writing for 40 years, but it was the publication of his first story last year in a small literary magazine that caught the attention of a book agent.

Horror writer Peter Straub. He has 14 books to his credit, including “Mr. X,” “Ghost Story,” and “The Talisman” which he wrote in collaboration with Steven King. The two of them are currently working on a sequel. Straub’s newest work is a book of short fiction “Magic Terror.” (Random House)

Writer Alec Wilkinson remembers his friend and mentor William Maxwell who died Monday at the age of 91. Wilkinson is a staff writer for the New Yorker, and has been there since 1980. His book, “Midnights: A Year With the Wellfleet Police” (Hungry Mind Press) was recently released in paperback.

Writer Alec Wilkinson remembers his friend and mentor William Maxwell who died Monday at the age of 91. Wilkinson is a staff writer for the New Yorker, and has been there since 1980. His book, “Midnights: A Year With the Wellfleet Police” (Hungry Mind Press) was recently released in paperback.

Writer Joyce Johnson, talks about her relationship to Beat icon Jack Kerouac, and her new book, “Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in letters” (Viking). In 1957, Johnson started a relationship with the then little-known writer Kerouac. 9 months later, Kerouac’s Beat classic “On the Road” was published. Johnson will talk about her two-year, tumultuous love affair with Kerouac, how the publication of “On the Road” changed Kerouac, and she’ll talk about what it was like being young and female and part of the Manhattan bohemian scene.

Yugoslavian-born writer Aleksander Hemon. Hemon was born in Sarajevo in 1964. While in his early 20s, he came to the United States as a tourist. On the day he was supposed to return to Sarajevo, his home city came under siege. He was forced to stay in the US. Hemon then began working on his English and now writes in English, even though it is not his first language. His first book is a collection of stories called “The Question of Bruno” (Nan A. Talese/ Doubleday).

Writer David Sedaris is best known for his contributing work with Public Radio’s “This American Life.” He’s written three books of essays, “Barrel Fever,” “Naked,” and his newest “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (Little Brown)

Contributing editor for This American Life, and columnist for Salon.com, Sarah Vowell. She has a new collection of essays, “Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World” (Simon & Schuster).

Writer and editor Dave Eggers. He’s the founder of the now-defunct cynical, satirical literary magazine, “Might” and the current editor of the literary journal “McSweeney’s.” He’s written a memoir (“based on a true story”) about being left to raise his 8 year old brother, after both his parents died. Eggers was 21 at the time. It’s called, “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” (Simon & Schuster).