In February, Paul Simon cancelled his scheduled appearances at Emory University after coming down with the flu.  The school has just announced the rescheduled dates for his talks as part of the Ellman Lecture Series.  From Emory’s website…

The series, “The Insomniac’s Lullaby: Awake and Aware of the Time,” will include two public lectures, a conversation between Simon and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, and a music performance.

Schedule of events

Simon will be appearing in four public events at Emory, including:

Sunday, Sept. 22, 4:15 p.m. – Lecture: “Sailing on an Endless Sea: My Life as a Songwriter” – Glenn Auditorium, 1652 N. Decatur Rd.

Monday, Sept. 23, 3:45 p.m. – Conversation with Paul Simon and Billy Collins – Glenn Auditorium.

Monday, Sept. 23, 8:15 p.m. – Lecture: “View from Cloud: The Solitary Artist in a Collaborative Culture” – Glenn Auditorium.

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 7 p.m. – Music Performance by Paul Simon with guitarist Mark Stewart – Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Rd.

Ticketing information

Tickets are free, but are limited to two (2) tickets per person, per event. Tickets for the previously scheduled events will not be honored for the new dates.

General public complimentary tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, in person at the Arts at Emory Box Office in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts (1700 North Decatur Road, Suite 251, Atlanta, 30322) or by phone at 404-727-5050. Phone orders are subject to a $4.00 convenience fee. Ticket reservations will not be available online for this event.

Tickets ordered by phone will be mailed directly to the ticketholder. All other tickets must be picked up in person at the Arts at Emory Box Office during regular business hours (Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.). There will be no will call or standby seating for any Ellmann Lectures event.

Emory students, faculty and staff may enter their names in a lottery for complimentary tickets beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26, 2013 through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. More information about the ticket lottery can be found at: http://emory.edu/ellmann.

Michelle sends along this Emory release…

Paul Simon delivers the 12th Richard Ellmann Lectures

During his distinguished career, Paul Simon has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including 12 Grammy Awards, three of which were for the album of the year (Bridge over Troubled Water, Still Crazy after All These Years, and Graceland). In 2003 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel. Simon is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist. Simon was named one of Time magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World” in 2006.

Paul Simon will deliver the 12th Richard Ellmann Lectures on February 10-12, 2013. He will present four public events, including two original lectures, a public conversation with former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, and a music performance. All events are free and open to the public.

Tickets will be available beginning Monday, December 3 from the Arts at Emory Box Office. There is no waiting list for tickets before this date. If you would like to receive a reminder email on December 1 about ticket availability, please submit your information here.

Learn more about the 12th Richard Ellmann Lectures

According to AccessAtlanta, Billy Collins’ keynote speech at the Decatur Book Festival is already “sold out”.

Well. technically they can’t be sold out, since tickets were free…so I guess they’re “gived out”. Regardless, don’t just show at Agnes Scott on Friday night thinking you’ll automatically get in, because I’ve heard that Collins’ bodyguards aren’t afraid to use the brass-knuckles.

At a press conference this morning, the Decatur Book Festival announced details of its 2008 festival, which as you can see from above will take place August 29th-31st. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the PR event, but Lenz Marketing’s Ryan Klee was good enough to send along all the details.

This year’s keynote speaker will be U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. And if that weren’t enough…

“Notable participants this year include John Dean, former White House Counsel to Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal; Jed Horne, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from the New Orleans Times-Picayune; Oprah Book Club author Pearl Cleage; John Bemelmans Marciano, author of the first new “Madeline” book in 50 years, and grandson of the original series author; and Sara Shepard, author of the “Pretty Little Liars” series.”

Personally I was excited to see poet Coleman Barks on the invite list. To find your favorites checkout the full list of 225 author’s on the festival’s newly launched ’08 website here.

New this year will be a “Big Read” event where everyone is encouraged to read “The Great Gatsby” and then discuss. But what fun is having everyone read about Gatsby, Daisy and Nick without recreating a small piece of East Egg? Luckily, the DBF’s got this covered too. This year’s event will have a “flapper-themed” kick-off party “complete with period-appropriate libations and dancers doing the Charleston”. I wonder if that’s invitation-only.

Also, as previously announced (and posted), this will be the first year that the DBF will host the annual Southern Independent Booksellers Association Awards.

Additionally there will be new teen-oriented programming under the title of “The Escape”, a Harry Potter quiz, and a “better and gooder” writer’s conference at Agnes Scott.

Sounds like another jam-packed year of events! Decatur’s newest festival is quickly becoming one of year’s most-anticipated events (at least to me!)