Literary Lunch

Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He was the sixth of seven children of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens.

When he was four, the Clemens family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal became the setting of his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. His father died when Samuel was 12; the next year he went to work as a printer’s apprentice. At 17, he moved to St. Louis to work as a printer. When he was in St Louis, he earned his river pilot’s license. He found his most famous pen name while working as a pilot. To “mark twain” mean that an area is safe to navigate.

In 1864, Clemens began working as a journalist. In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon. They had 4 children; only one, Clara, lived a full life. Clara died when she was 88. Samuel and Olivia remained married until her death in 1904.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County was Samuel’s , now Mark Twain’s first story to be published in 1865. His first novel, Innocents Abroad , was published in 1869. His most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were published in 1876 and 1885 respectively. Twain went on to write many, many more books, both  fiction and non-fiction. His last work to be published in his lifetime was Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1910.

Mark Twain died on Apri 21, 1910 at the age of 75. He remains a very large presence in literature to this day.

Today is the 251st birthday of visionary poet, painter and print maker William Blake. He was a forerunner of the Romantic literary movement and was great influenced by the French and American Revolutions.

William Blake was born in London, England. He was the 3rd of 7 children. For most of his childhood he never attended school and was taught by his mother at home. At age 10 he did attend drawing school and started working as an apprentice etcher in a print shop at 14.

In 1782, Blake married Catherine Boucher, they had no children. At the time of their marriage, Catherine could only sign their wedding license with an x. Blake taught her how to write and how to etch. There was said by all account to be a very happy marriage.

In 1783 his first book of poems, Poetical Sketches, was published.  In 1784, Blake and his brother opened a print shop which quickly became a meeting place of leading dissidents. In 1789, Songs of Innocence was published. Five-years-later Songs of Experience was published. In later publications both books of poetry were combined into one book. Blake went on to write many more poems and to illustrate many more books.

Blake illustrated many great works of literature, at the time of his death in 1827 he was working on the illustrations for The Divine Comedy. He was working on it on the day he died.

Today, William Blake is considered one of the most important poets in English literature as well as one of the most talented English artists.  He was not as celebrated in his own lifetime and was considered by many to be a mad man, he was most certainly ahead of his time.

This amazing video shows Blake reading one of his poems, London:

Canada Reads is a week-long radio show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. In this annual literary contest, five Canadian celebrity panelists are asked to defend their favorite Canadian work of fiction. Books are voted off the list daily until one remains. This year’s defenders are journalist Avi Lewis, broadcaster Anne-Marie Withenshaw, radio personality Jen Sookfong Lee, musician Sara Slean and actor Nicholas Campbell.

The half-hour debates will air on CBC Radio One from March 2 to March 6, 2009. The program will also air on Sirius 137 and will be available online or via podcast.

2009 Line-up

Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

HarperCollins Canada

Defended by Avi Lewis

Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay, translated by Sheila Fischman

Talonbooks

Defended by Anne-Marie Withenshaw

Fruit by Brian Francis

ECW Press

Defended by Jen Sookfong Lee

Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards

Anchor Canada/Random House Canada

Defended by Sara Slean

Outlander by Gil Adamson

House of Anansi Press

Defended by Nicholas Campbell