Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Gothic Reading Room, Perkins Library
Contact Information: Aaron Welborn, 919-660-5816 or aaron.welborn@duke.edu, or Will Hansen, 919-660-5958 or william.hansen@duke.edu
What better way to celebrate the arrival of an acclaimed author’s papers than by having him read from his newly-published work? On Wednesday, Ariel Dorfman will read from his new memoir, Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile. The reading is free and open to the public.
Dorfman placed his papers with the Rubenstein Library earlier this month, and we are just starting to inventory the many fascinating materials therein. Drafts of Feeding on Dreams in both English and Spanish are included in the papers, revealing the process by which Dorfman crafted the language and themes of his memoir out of the “earthquake of language” of bilingualism. Indeed, the papers are a rich trove of information for students and scholars of translation, containing Dorfman’s own translations of his works as well as his notes, suggestions, and corrections for translations by others. Here are a few additional previews of the papers’ contents:
- An astounding collection of ephemeral and clandestine Chilean resistance literature from the era of Pinochet’s regime
- Scripts and notes for Dorfman’s innovative plays, including Widows, Speak Truth to Power, and Purgatorio
- Annotated books from Dorfman’s personal library, and books inscribed to him by many notables (including Nelson Mandela!)
We look forward to seeing you in the Gothic Reading Room on October 5!
Post contributed by Will Hansen, Assistant Curator of Collections.