The three winners of Carl Sandburg Awards have every reason to celebrate, but there’s sad news for all those who have followed the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Literary Arts Ball, a glittering showcase for the yearly prizes.
Like so many other cultural and corporate institutions, the Oct. 28 ball has been downsized. This year it’s simply the Literary Arts Dinner. Gone are the music, dancing and out-of-town dignitaries who have graced balls past, such as Truman Capote, George Plimpton and Rod McKuen.
“There’s been an ongoing discussion of how elaborate the ball should be,” said Robert Cronin, the new president of the Friends of the Chicago Public Library, sponsor of the fete. “We’re facing a money crunch, and we thought if we spent a little less, we might be able to raise a little more.”
If the evening is less than an extravaganza, it won’t cost guests quite as much: The price of a dinner ticket is $125, $50 less than in years past.
Although the proceeds go to worthy causes, the ball was not always popular with local authors and members of the literary elite, because of the scale and length of the ceremonies, which occasionally resembled an off-Broadway musical gala rather than a literary affair.
With the downsizing comes a change of scene. Previously held at either the Chicago Cultural Center or the Harold Washington Library Center, the dinner moves to the Arts Club, 109 E. Ontario St., beginning with a 6:30 p.m. reception.
Without a George Plimpton or a Rod McKuen to divert guests, Cronin said, the spotlight will fall on the recipients of the four $1,000 Sandburg Awards, given to books by authors born or living in the Chicago area. This year’s winners:
Non-fiction: Anchee Min, a Chicago artist and photographer, for “Red Azalea,” a memoir of her childhood in Mao Tse-tung’s Great Proletarian Revolution.
Fiction: April Sinclair for “Coffee Will Make You Black,” a first novel about a girl’s coming of age.
Poetry: Angela Jackson for her collection “Dark Legs and Silk Kisses: The Beatitudes of the Spinners.”
Children’s literature: Karen Cushman for her novel “Catherine, Called Birdy,” a tale of a 14-year-old girl in medieval England.
For information about the Literary Arts Dinner, call 312-747-4907.
– An influential and innovative poet since the ’60s, as well as a political activist and environmentalist, W.S. Merwin is the winner of the first $100,000 Tanning Prize, the world’s largest literary award, given to poets of “outstanding and proven mastery.”
