Nabokov-centric Previously Unpublished Updike Interview

Terrific, previously unpublished 2006 Nabokov-centric interview with John Updike. (Via the Nabokv-L forum.)

Favorite quote: "I didn’t realize we had this marvelous man in our midst." (On their overlapping years at Harvard in the early fifties, when Updike was a student and Nabokov a guest lecturer.)

The interviewer is Lila Azam Zanganeh the author of the forthcoming The Enchanter: Nabokov and Happiness, which looks terrific.

News: Letters to Vera, in Russian (Next Year, in English)

Snob magazine (see this New Yorker "Shouts & Murmurs" for more on the magazine) to publish a selection of Nabokov's letters to Vera. (Don't speak Russian? The collected letters will be available in English in 2011. That's what you get for not knowing Russian: waiting!)

More information here and here.

VN Sighting: Mark Helprin

From the Yale Daily News:

“Get another boat to put your other foot on in case the writing boat sinks,” Helprin said.

Helprin’s near-death experiences as a young man traveling through Europe were also critical to his development as a writer. When he was about 17, the New York-born Helprin was traveling in Europe. Helprin said he rode a motorcycle to Aix-en-Provence, France to impress a French girl there, even though he had never been on a motorcycle before. She rejected him, he said, and on his way back, he crashed.

“The lesson is: don’t drive a motorcycle when you’re depressed,” Helprin said.

Though badly injured, he made his way back to Marseilles, he said, and collapsed near the USS Robert A. Owens. The crew tried to treat the bloodied and feverish Helprin. “For that reason, I’ve always loved the Navy.” Nevertheless, he was still in poor physical condition. Helprin said he traveled to Switzerland to recover, where he met author Vladimir Nabokov and his wife eating breakfast on the balcony of the hotel where all three were staying.

Helprin, mispronouncing Nabokov’s name, shouted, “Nabokov! Nabokov! Isn’t that amazing, because I’m a writer too!”

The rest at Helprin entrances with stories. (Via the Nabokv-L forum.)

Nabokovilia: Richard Burgin

The Nabokov reference embedded below (from the short story "Jonathan and Lillian," collected in The Conference on Beautiful Moments) also appears, in slightly altered form, in Richard Burgin's Rivers Last Longer:

"Eric!" she said, taking his hands, her cheeks coloring slightly after he kissed her.


"This is Louise, fire in my loins, my sin, my soul, Louis -- the Great Garret, who deserves to win next year's Nobel Prize, and every year's for that matter."


Jonathan was impressed that West knew Nabokov as well as Fitzerald, but he had said it with such grandiloquence that Jonathan cringed.


See also this bit from Burgin's "The Identity Club":


He was considered at present an "uncommitted member" and had been debating between Nathanael West and some other writers. Nabokov, whom he might have seriously considered, had already been taken. At least, since he still had a month before he had to commit, he didn't have to dress in costume...

Vegas Valley Book Festival Stuff

Hello! I'm going to be at a couple of different Vegas Valley Book Festival things this week. If you're around and want to say hello, please do.


This Thursday, I'll be here:

• Thursday, November 4, 7:00 pm, Clark County Library Theater. The Perpetual Engine of Hope — Las Vegas Stories Inspired by Iconic Photographs. Local authors P Moss, Dayvid Figler, Oksana Marafioti, Megan Edwards, Alissa Nutting, Juan Martinez, K. W. Jeter, and Geoff Schumacher, moderator, discuss their contributions to the Las Vegas Writes Project 2010: A collection of seven original short stories based on iconic Las Vegas photographs; published by CityLife Books as part of this year’s book festival" (http://vegasvalleybookfestival.org/calendar/)

And this Friday, starting at 5:30 pm, I will be on a bike and I will be reading poems at various places with various people:

• Friday, November 5, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm First Friday @ 18 b the Arts District My Wheel is in the dark: A Night Ride with Las Vegas Bike Bards. Sponsored by Nevada Humanities, First Friday and the Office of Cultural Affairs First Friday hosts the Vegas Valley Book Festival’s poetry night with Mayor Oscar Goodman and Dayvid Figler reading original haiku poems at 6 pm on the main stage (Colorado Street and California) Featuring a mobile poetry brigade led by Jarrett Keene; with poets Jeffery Bennington Grindley, Harry Fagel, Artikulate, Juan Martinez, Dayvid Figler, Shaun Griffen, and Joan Dudley. Readings at the Government Center, Commerce Street Studios, Trifecta Gallery, Holsum Lofts, Contemporary Arts Center, and the Beat Coffee House — with free shuttle service to some sites (http://vegasvalleybookfestival.org/calendar/)

On Saturday, November 6, starting at 11:30 am, I'll be part of this reading, which is part of an artist-writer set of collaborations titled I Hope You're Feeling Better. I did three collaborations! Two with Jennifer Henry, one with Andreana Donahue. Check them out! At the gallery! The thing that I will read will be brief, and may in fact be an angry e-mail to Jennifer (for to: one of our things was a back-and-forth of graphics and story we modeled on Missing Missy):

• Saturday, November 6, starting at 11:30 am. I Hope You're Feeling Better A collaborative art project featuring work by eighteen Las Vegas writers and visual artists. The exhibition events are supported through funding from the Vegas Valley Book Festival and Nevada Humanities. (http://cac.wildapricot.org/events?eventid=230184&EventViewMode=EventDetails)