A novel is born

Selden Edwards ’63, who labored more than 30 years on his manuscript, is finally an author

Published in the Sept. 24, 2008, issue

Most aspiring writers would not have kept their dream of becoming a published novelist alive as long as Selden Edwards ’63 did. For more than 30 years, beginning in 1974, when he was a young teacher in California, he toiled over the same manuscript — to no...

A foot in two worlds

Madison Smartt Bell ’79 reflects on the intersection of music and words

Published in the Sept. 24, 2008, issue

Midway through his 2002 novel about touring musicians, Anything Goes, Madison Smartt Bell ’79 asked his friend, poet Wyn Cooper, to write song lyrics that his characters might compose. Those songs not only ended up in the novel, they were the beginning of a...

Filmmaker explores Mexican religious cult

Published in the Sept. 24, 2008, issue

Independent filmmaker Eva Aridjis ’96, described by New York Newsday as “an honest and nuanced filmmaker,” recently released two projects. La Santa Muerte (Saint Death), a documentary about Mexican followers of a female grim reaper, is due to be released on...