Wednesday Aril 21, 2004 arts.michigandaily. com artseditor@michigandaily.com ARTS 12 By Melissa Runstrom Daily Books Editor "I wanted to do something positive," said Julia Dickinson, the executive director for Ann Arbor's inaugural Book Festival. The event spans four days and promises to be a capacious experience with many events featuring authors. Launching the festival is a panel discussion about the transforma- tion from book to screen at the Michi- gan Theater. The event will culminate on Saturday with author discussions in the Modern Languages Building and a street fair on North University Avenue between the Michigan League and Michigan Book and Supply. According to Dickinson, the festival will feature more than 70 exhibition booths, as well as a number of pavil- ions highlighting a myriad of topics including comic books, poetry, AnAro publishing, song- Ann Arbor writing, book arts, Book book groups and Festival literacy promo- April 22-25 tion. The comics Most Events are stage will feature Free three comic artists who will discuss how they got involved in the industry. An auction for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund with autographed "Hellboy" merchandise is planned as well. Students can also learn about books that have changed lives. Michigan foot- ball coach Lloyd Carr and University President Mary Sue Coleman will be among those speaking about books that have made an impact on them. There will also be a stage that incorporates this semester's theme, Brown v. Board of Education. The event incorporates a panel discussion and a dramatization of the historic case by the Performance Network. Poetry workshops and a poetry slam will also be held Saturday on North University Avenue. An interesting addition to the festi- val is a tour of the Malloy presses, where one can see books as they are being produced. The tour costs $10 but includes a copy of "Ann Arbor (W)rites," a collection about Ann Arbor life with pieces by Charles Bax- ter (author of "Saul and Patsy") and actress Lucy Liu ("Kill Bill"). The fair will also showcase 50 of the best book cover designs in the country. Unfortu- nately the biggest author event, a bene- THE HOTTEST PICKS IN ENTERTAINMENT FROM A DAILY ARTS WRITER "Proofhearing" - For her greatly anticipated autobiography, Paris Hilton - everyone's favorite socialite - furthered suspicions that she's just an illiterate moron when she asked the publisher's office to read it to her so she could edit it over her cwll phone. AP PHOTO Courtesy of Matt Carr LEFT TO RIGHT: Authors Derrick Bell, Michael Eric Dyson and Ken Mikolowski. Courtesy 0of aura Frankena I Subservientchicken.com - Burger King created this faux live feed featuring a man in a chicken costume prepared to do whatever you ask of him. If you've ever wanted to see a giant chicken dance like an Egyptian or grab its crotch, this is prob- ably your only chance. HOOKEDON PHONICS NEW TRADITION BEGINS IN ANN ARBOR fit dinner gala, comes at a cost of $200, but there will be many other opportunities to meet authors at sign- ings and panel discussions throughout the festival. A primary objective of the festival is to raise illiteracy awareness in Washetenaw County. "It is to make people more aware of the problem around us," Dickinson said. She added, "Twelve percent of the population in this county struggle with (illiteracy)." An informative guide about how to get involved will be distributed by volun- teers that Dickinson jokingly dubbed the "literacy- guide SWAT team." The coordinators of the event strate- gically planned the festival so that it would fall as late as possible in the term but while most students were still on campus. "We looked at a number of dates, and we wanted to have the stu- dents and the University involved," Dickinson said. According to Dickin- son, sponsors wanted to "make sure we engage the next generation ... to really keep it front and center." As executive director of the festival, Dickinson has been enthusiastically involved in the planning. "Part of what we want to do is position Michigan as a literary center, and Ann Arbor really makes sense as that center." She point- ed out that the city is home to more than 30 bookstores and four of the largest book printers in the nation as Select Festial Highigt Festival ickoff:Fromntook to thesoeen --Tli wsday at? 7 Mutt Theaer Making Connec~tions iwitkh Lieral: Language Kind Liteacy $~~u Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p-m Th Drms McGugnlcture and Awa~rds: The second Wle Feminism and the Women i 41tde Clas f'8 -Wrday fromt3to5p Malloy ?is Tour and "Ann Arbor (W)it"" reption (S 10fte) Street Fetival~ Pavilions, booths and stages - Saturday 10 a~m. to 6 p.m4. NorhUniversity Avenue < Th Boktha Caged My Life - Saturday at 10 a~rn-Mt-etrn Languages Building Poetry $lam (mnust register to paticipate) '-'Satw-day f om to :3 & Poetry Pavilion flaw to~4 Make*a nie andt Get Pbihd- Saturday from 1 dat. MLB'f Benefit Gala with Authors --- Saturday from 6: 15 to 10 p.tui. * au Insie Ot.otyWrsos(rutrgse,2' au AniqaranBokFaifr- Sum fri- mItatip' p m.,A ignE{.i Bal.o For . cmplee lstin ofevens, isitwwwabuo jE (i al mg 3 Franz Ferdinand - The Scottish band's debut features some of the catchiest rhythms and most enjoyable rock songs in recent memory. Put this CD in your car this summer and it won't be leaving for a while. The com- bination of punk-rock and pop music will make you want to dance and keep yo. entertained all summer long. 4 2 Wallace and Wallace - The Pistons recent addition of Rasheed Wallace create( the most feared front line in the NBA. With fan-favorite Big Ben blocking everything u sight and the league's reigning bad-boy Ly his side, Detroit fans are putting on the trace- mark Afro or shaving a bald spot on their lead to show their devotion during the playoffs. I Awful celebrity child names - Fron George Foreman's numbering all of his children to Deion Sanders' affectionate Deiondra and Dein Jr., we can always count on celebrity egos spilling over into the naming of children. My fav~rite comes from Jermaine Jackson, who oitdid his brother Michael - who named hi son Prince - by naming his son Jermajesty. AP PHOTO well. She wanted to be involved in an event that affects people from all dif- ferent ages. Speaking about her per- sonal motivation, she said, "One of my thoughts was that it is really the read- ers who give books lives. Without them, they just sit on your shelf gath- ering dust." __ Push your career to the next level with a One-Year Accelerated MBA from Illinois Institute of Technology's Stuart Graduate School of Business. This intense full-time program is designed specifically for recent college grads to give you the experience you need to jump-start your career. 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