The Power of Place

Week of August 3, 2019

The Power of Place.  Discussions and exercises in the value of the places we know and the places we are drawn to know as sources of power and inspiration for our writing, with references to sources as diverse as Jung, Eastwood, Raymond Carver, and the Brothers Grimm.

Les Standiford reads from and talks about his new book to be published by Grove Atlantic in the Fall:  PALM BEACH, MAR-A-LAGO, AND THE RISE OF AMERICA’S XANADU, the Florida island which rose from nothing to become the favored retreat of the nation’s most privileged elite, displacing such enclaves as Newport, Saratoga, and White Sulphur Springs, and redefining the criteria for architectural splendor and exclusivity in the process.

 

Les Standiford is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three books, including the critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, Last Train to Paradise, a History Channel Top Ten Pick & the One Read choice of more than a dozen public library systems.   Meet You in Hell, and Washington Burning were both publisher’s nominees for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awards and The Man Who Invented Christmas was made into a feature film in 2017 starring Christopher Plummer and Dan Stephens, “Certified Fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes.  His 2015 book Water to the Angels:  William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct & the Rise of Los Angeles, was a featured alternate of the History Book Club.  He is also the author of ten novels, including the acclaimed John Deal mystery series as well as the stand-alone thrillers Black Mountain and Spill (adapted as a feature film starring Brian Bosworth).  He has received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University in Miami.