Happy Birthday, Mr. Faulkner!

Faulkner House, Pirate's Alley New Orleans, by Jennifer Branch, http://www.branchstudio.com/jenniferbranch.htm

Greetings

Have I mentioned in the last hour or two that I was a semi-finalist in this year's Faulkner competition? Thought not. I'll have to be more careful to avoid any future lapse. :)

I got this message from the Faulkner Society folks. Thought some of you might be interested. Besides, it gives me another chance to brag. If anyone is interested in joining the society ($35 a year) I'm sure the extra coins would be very helpful.

Bayou Bill Fullerton

==



The Pirate's Alley New Orleans, LA 70116A
(501) (c) (3) Non Profit Literary Organization
624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 586-160955
Laurens St., Apartment E, Charleston, SC 29401(Temporary Address)
(843) 722-6795 (Land) (843) 276-2586 (cell)(Temporary numbers)Faulkhouse@aol.comSeptember 25,2005


Happy Birthday, Mr. Faulkner!

Today is William Faulkner's birthday and today is the first time in 16 years that Mr. Faulkner's ghost has been alone in the New Orleans house where he found his voice as America's best known storyteller. ( As most of you know, William Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldiers' Pay, at 624 Pirate's Alley in 1925.) We apologize, Mr. Faulkner! Katrina and the post storm chaos have made it impossible for us to be with you today. The National Guard and the City of New Orleans have denied access to us to re-enter New Orleans and assess damage at Faulkner House.

We know the house is standing, Mr. Faulkner! Ted Koppel read the plaque on the front of your former home several days after the storm. We do not know, however, if roof and rear window damage are allowing the elements to destroy interior spaces and contents which survived the sotrm. We do not know if of your books and letters have survived the damp and lack of airconditioning. We are worried about the literary artifacts relating to your time in New Orleans, Mr. Faulkner. It's been a month since Katrina...one month.

The French Quarter was not flooded and sustained relatively little damage and, still, the French Quarter for the most part is without power. We will return this coming week, we hope, however, and when we do we will light the appropriate number of candles in your memory. We have not forgotten you and your contributions to the literary heritage of New Orleans and will not.


The William Faulkner -William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition
We had expected to be able to give news of winners to all of you who entered the 2005 competition some time ago.Judging in several categories has been delayed by the Katrina disaster. Several judges were displaced by the storm.One judge has had house guests, all displaced writers, more or less continuously. We hope to have the winners in all categories within the next month. We will send out an e-mail to those who entered when we have the names of all winners and runners up. Please bear with us.


Words & Music, a Literary Feast in New Orleans
Words & Music, 2005 had been scheduled for November 3 - November 7. We have canceled our room bloc at the Hotel Monteleone for those dates and will reschedule as soon as we are cconvinced that the City of New Orleans is capable of receiving guests and caring for them. We do not believe that will be before January 1. We are hoping now for dates in late February or early March and are checking out the possibility of hotel rooms for various weekends. We have to do all of our venue planning over again, as some may be too damaged to use. We know, for instance, that the U.S. Mint, planned venue for our evening finale, has sustained significant roof damage but have no idea as yet what conditions are otherwise or projected reopening dates. We have to do all of our faculty planning again as we do not know if new dates will be acceptable to all of those faculty members who previously committed to the November dates. Some of you have written to ask if we are considering having Words & Music in a different city this year. We are not. New Orleans is going to need all of the business it can get during the coming year. Again, we hope you will bear with us. We will give you as much notice of new dates as possible.


Membership & Finances
The Faulkner Society was poised to mail its annual membership and special project grants solicitation the weekend of the storm. Each year, we time our solicitation just in advance of Mr. Faulkner's birthday, as memberships run from September 25th through September 24th of the following year. This means that, like businesses, individuals, and other arts organizations, the Faulkner Society is facing severe financial hardship. We urge all of you who are able to do so to take out a membership immediately and, if possible, add a small extra donation. Below is a form which you can copy into your own computers and print out. Please mail your contributions to the temporary address. We have opened a temporary account for the Faulkner Society here, which will be closed when our New Orleans bank is once again makes it possible to deposit and access accounts. All contributions are tax deductible. Our federal tax ID number is: 72-1196493. We realize that many of you may have contributed to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. It is important to the future of New Orleans, however, to keep its arts organizations alive.It is the artists of New Orleans who give the city its soul...the writers, the musicians, the visual artists, the culinary artists, voodoo festish makers, and architectural artisans. So dig as deep as possible. We need your help.

Best regards,
Joseph DeSalvo, Kenneth Holditch, and Rosemary James, Co-Founders
Catherine Hill, Chairman


Call For Renewal & New Members!
Membership is open to any person interested in fostering the goals of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society. All memberships are due September 1 and run through August 31 annually or for one year from date of contribution.. To encourage broad community participation in the foundation and its activities, the annual membership fees are set in various categories:

Student: 10.00
Individual: 35.00
Special Friend: 125.00 (1)
Patron: 250.00 (2)
Sponsor: 500.00 (4)
Sustaining 1,000.00 (8)
Faulkner Club: 2,500.00 or more

Memberships include the Society's literary journal, The Double Dealer, invitations to all Faulkner Society events. Members contributing $125 or more receive tickets, as specified in parentheses above, to the Society's black tie gala Faulkner For All! celebration on Sunday evening of the Words & Music weeked. They are listed as supporters in our literature, receive tax deductions, and an invitation to the 16th Meeting of The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc preceding Faulkner For All! Those who take Special Friend memberships (or higher) receive a 10 per cent discount on books purchased through Faulkner House Books as a special benefit.

Please enroll me as a member of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc., or renew my membership.

Date: ___________________________

Membership Category: ________________________________

Name: __________________________________________

Phone: _____________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

City, State, Zip_________________________________________________

EMail:_________________________________________

Phone:_______________________

Check enclosed $ ___________

Cash enclosed $ ____________

Until December 5, all checks should be made payable to and addressed to:The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc.55 Laurens St., Unit 5, Charleston, SC 29401After December 5, all checks should be made payable to and addressed to:The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc.624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116-3254(504) 586-1609