The Big Read Celebrates Ray Bradbury with a Slew
of Great Events and One Good Old Fashioned Type-Off
CHICAGO, IL (May, 2009) – On Friday, May 1, 2009, Columbia’s library celebrated iconic writer Ray Bradbury by hosting the Typewriter Olympics. In an age where cut and paste and instant delete make writing a letter, or even a novel, a seamless process, students were able to see what the old-school masters’ had to contend with by using the real deal: a typewriter. Ray Bradbury “penned” his classic dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 on a metered typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library – a process which required payment of ten cents each half hour.
At Columbia’s Typewriter Olympics, students sat in quiet concentration around a large table set in the window of the 623 S. Wabash building, clacking away on vintage typewriters in an attempt at writing their own short story inspired by Fahrenheit 451. Three stories will be chosen by Columbia writing faculty from all disciplines. All three stories will be published, inevitable typos and all, in a small-run in-house artist’s book that will be presented to the winning authors – and to Ray Bradbury himself. Copies of the hand-bound books will be archived in the library’s permanent collection.
The Typewriter Olympics was just one of many successful events that the Columbia Library hosted as a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant. Columbia’s Big Read honored all things Bradbury, featuring a film screening and discussion of the Francois Truffaut film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451, an evening with authorized Bradbury biographer Sam Weller, the unique and quirky Edible Books competition through the Center for Book and Paper Arts, as well as numerous panels and discussions examining the timeless issues of intellectual and creative freedom that are pondered in Fahrenheit 451.
In addition to all of the Columbia festivities, The Big Read included book discussion groups in Chicago and suburban area public libraries and bookstores, as well as student-focused activities within the Berwyn and Cicero districts and the Chicago Public Schools. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and Arts Midwest. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, which is a state agency.
As the school year draws to a close, Manifest, Columbia’s Urban Arts Festival will be featuring the vision of Ray Bradbury in the parade of creativity, Spectacle Fortuna. Columbia costume design students are working to bring to life characters from Bradbury’s various books in the form of larger-than-life puppets and elaborate costumes. Some of the characters being brought to life include the firemen and the mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451, the children and Mr. Dark from Something Wicked This Way Comes, the female martian Ylle from The Martian Chronicles and the central characters from The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and The Illustrated Man. While Ray Bradbury will not be able to travel to Chicago to ride in the parade due to health concerns, an authentic Ray Bradbury costume will be worn by one of the parade participants. As a final tribute to the prolific writer, Ray Bradbury will be a recipient of the 2009 Honorary Doctorate Degree at commencement. Bradbury will be accepting his degree via a pre-taped interview.
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