De Moines Public Library awarded NEA Big Read Grant for Fahrenheit 451 program

The Des Moines Public Library has received a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant to fund programs, community activities, and discussions centered around Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Set in a future where books are burned and observation has replaced experience, Fahrenheit 451 offers timely messages from a world that The New York Times suggests “bears many alarming resemblances to our own.”

The Des Moines Library chose the book because it explores themes that are “still relevant today on the conflict between free expression and censorship, the value of authentic human interaction, the role technology plays in people’s lives, and more.”
Learn More

Announcing the Bradbury Read-A-Thon on August 22, 2020

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ray Bradbury’s birth, the Bradbury Centennial, in partnership with libraries large and small, will bring people from across the United States together to take part in a live streamed reading of Fahrenheit 451 on August 22, 2020. Honoring Bradbury’s life-long love of libraries as welcoming places that expand the mind and spark the imagination, writers, scholars, and readers of all ages will bring the fantastical worlds of his timeless stories to life.

The Participating Partners: Library of Congress, Los Angeles Public Library, and Alliance for Young Artists & Writers

Contributing Libraries and Institutions: Anchorage Public Library (Alaska), Athens Regional Library System (Georgia), Boston Public Library (Massachusetts), Broward County Library (Florida), Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY (New York), Center for Ray Bradbury Studies (Indiana), Central Arkansas Library System (Arkansas), Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (North Carolina), Columbus Metropolitan Library (Ohio), Cushing Memorial Library & Archives, Texas A&M University Libraries (Texas), Des Moines Public Library and Library Foundation (Iowa), Indian Valley Public Library (Pennsylvania), Pima County Public Library (Arizona), San Francisco Public Library (California), South Pasadena Library (California), The Friends of the Venice Library (California), The Seattle Public Library (Washington), University of Alaska Anchorage Consortium Library (Alaska), University of Iowa Library Special Collections (Iowa), University of Kansas Libraries (Kansas), University of Pittsburgh Library System (Pennsylvania), and the Waukegan Park District and Library (Illinois)

Attend the Virtual Dandelion Wine
Arts & Music Festival

There’s something for the entire family to enjoy at the virtual Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival on Saturday,  June 13.  In celebration of Bradbury’s centennial year, the Waukegan Park District will begin its first online festival at 10am CDT as fans from across the globe, including master storyteller Megan Wells and Bradbury scholar Phil Nichols, come together to read Waukegan native Ray Bradbury’s novel, Dandelion Wine on Facebook. The reading and all of the other performances are free.

Learn more by visiting the event’s Facebook page
Learn More

Want to know more about Bradbury and the hometown experiences he drew on to write Dandelion Wine?   Watch Ty Rohrer,  manager of Cultural Arts at the Waukegan Parks District, present “Ray Bradbury: Waukegan’s Influence on a Visionary.”   The hour long presentation was part of Waukegan Historical Society’s centennial tribute to Ray Bradbury.
Watch

Rocketman now available through Amazon Prime

Rocketman, the Elton John biopic, is now free to Amazon Prime members. Elton John’s longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin, took his inspiration for the 1972 hit song “Rocket Man” from Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Rocket Man.” Taupin said the song came to him in the middle of a long drive and he had to repeat it over and over for two hours to make sure he did not forget the song before he could get it down on paper.

Watch Rocketman by clicking “watch” below.
Watch
Interested in reading the Bradbury short story that struck Bernie Taupin with inspiration? Click “Read” below.
Read

First Fandom Experience publishing The Earliest Bradbury

To celebrate the Centennial of Ray Bradbury’s birth, First Fandom Experience will publish The Earliest Bradbury, a treasure trove of Bradbury’s articles, stories, and drawings dating back to when he began publishing in fanzines as a teen. The works are reproduced in full facsimile form and readers will have the opportunity to experience material that has not been available to the public since it originally appeared in the 1930s and 1940s. This is an incredible opportunity to watch Bradbury’s development from a science fiction and fantasy fan to one of the most celebrated authors in the genre.

This 160+ page, lavishly illustrated hardcover will be initially issued in a limit printing of 100 copies.

Pre-order

Fahrenheit 451 a top pick on Ezvid Wiki’s Best American Literature List

Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 has been ranked #2 on Ezvid Wiki’s 10 Best American Literature Books. The dystopian story about freedom of thought and action was originally published in 1953 but could not be more relevant today.

The list’s editor praised the book, remarking that “It’s a quick read at under 300 pages and accessible to those in their early teens, it’s loaded with symbolism and boasts deep treatments of heavy themes. [Fahrenheit 451] explores what life is like when technology begins to erase what it is to be human and the powers that be keep people ignorant of art and expression.”

Read more
Buy

Tomorrow’s Child, an immersive online audio experience

Vertigo Theatre and Ghost River Theatre present Tomorrow’s Child, a one-of-a-kind performance based on Bradbury’s short story of the same name. This award winning performance designed as a blindfolded theater production has been adapted as an immersive online audio experience. Using 3-D audio and binaural technology, the show uses the sense of hearing to create a  “landscape of sound” that places the audience in the futuristic world of the story.

Performances run June 4 – 6, 11 – 13, 2020.

For more information and to purchase tickets, click the button below.
Info

Neil Gaiman Wins Ray Bradbury Nebula Award

Neil Gaiman won the 2019 Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation yesterday for episode three of Good Omens, “Hard Times.” Watch Neil Gaiman give his acceptance speech by clicking the button below.
Watch Announcement
The entire series of Good Omens is available on Amazon Prime. Click below to watch.
Watch Good Omens