After three decades of writing best-selling thrillers, James Patterson knows something about excitement.
His loyal readers might be surprised that it doesn't necessarily involve devious killers, intrepid detectives or dangerous escapes.
But it does involve books, of all genres.
The James Patterson Pageturner Awards go to individuals, schools, bookstores, libraries and other organizations that find "original and effective ways to spread the excitement of books and reading," according to
www.pattersonpageturner.org.
This year, Franklin & Marshall College's Philadelphia Alumni Writers House is eager to hear if it will share in the $250,000 Patterson is giving away. In March of 2006 and 2007, he awarded a total of $600,000 to dozens of champions of the written word.
Kerry Sherin Wright, Writers House executive director, seemed to embody the kind of excitement Patterson wants to encourage as she explained what Writers House offers lovers of literature and students of writing — on campus and off, since most events are free to the public.
Wright hit just a few highlights that included "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt and writer Terry Tempest Williams, whose "audience was the most inspiring mix of people from all over the county." Alison Bechdel, the cartoonist and graphic memoirist who wrote "Fun Home" was popular, and poet Gerald Stern, who "wanted to go on all night," she added.
• F&M President John Fry brought the Writers House concept, and Wright herself, along with him from his previous post at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003.
"I want to get people out of their silos," Wright recalls Fry telling her. It wasn't until she surveyed the Lancaster County landscape that she fully realized what he meant.
Writers House, according to its mission statement, is "a creative and nurturing resource for students, faculty, staff, and alumni writers; a literary commune for campus denizens and Lancaster neighbors; a locus for emerging and established writers from across the country and the world; a cultural, social, and intellectual hub for students."
There's steady "back-and-forth traffic" between Writers House and various departments on campus as well as community groups, Wright said.
Not just English/creative writing majors frequent the recently built structure at 633 College Ave.; philosophy, classics, art history, biology, music and even math majors go there too. Diverse program suggestions come from more than 200 regular users, referred to as "the commune," who "believe that academic and artistic endeavors are fundamentally connected to everyday life," as Writer House's mission statement says.
One student said he did better on final exams when he studied at Writers House; another appreciated the free food in the refrigerator, Wright was amused to note.
But that's OK because at Writers House, "[a]mong pens, computers, dirty dishes, and good food, more than a community is evoked. It is where the imagination has no limits and dreams meet reality."
• Writers House isn't all novels and poetry, either. It was involved in arranging internships with nonprofit community groups so F&M students "can put their words into the world," doing public relations writing, Wright said. Just last week screenwriter Kathleen DeMarco was there with tips on writing and selling scripts.
Writers House has collaborated with the Lancaster Literary Guild, Fulton Theatre, North Museum, Penn Writers, Theater of the Seventh Sister's Spoken Word Festival, Lancaster Area Fiction Writers, Lancaster County Day School Book Group, DogStar Books, The New School, Fulton Elementary School, Domestic Violence Services of Lancaster County, Southeast Lancaster Health Services, Susquehanna Sustainable Business Community and Friends of Central Market, Wright said.
"People realize we say yes more often than no," Wright said, adding, "We can do even more if we win the award."
The top prize for an organization in this year Patterson Pageturner Awards is $50,000, but smaller amounts also are awarded annually to dozens of winners.
Past Pageturners include the Washington Center for the Book in Seattle, which launched One Book community reading campaigns; and 826 National, author Dave Eggers' after-school program begun in San Francisco to engage children in reading and writing.
Jo-Ann Greene is editor of the Books section. Her e-mail address is jgreene@lnpnews.com.
