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Volume 3, Number 3
Learn more about plans to establish the American Writers Museum™
See what other people are saying about the American Writers Museum
Learn more about the Executive Planning Team and National Advisory Council
Fill out our online survey and tell us what you want to see in the American Writers Museum
Read the museum concept plan.
Add your name to our mailing list and receive updates about the American Writers Museum
The mission of the American Writers Museum Foundation is to establish the first national museum in the United States dedicated to engaging the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, our culture and our daily lives.
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"The American Writers Museum is a grand, highly worthy idea. I'm all for it. Imagine all there will be to work with and what a center of inspiration it will be! The importance of our novelists, poets, dramatists, writers from every part of the country, every kind of background, has been part of the American story for more than 300 years. Think of what we owe them and how much we continue to learn from them!"
- David McCullough, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner | |
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 AWM Founder Malcolm O'Hagan on C-SPAN2 BookTV
 C-SPAN2 BookTV's Peter Slen interviewed AWM founder Malcolm O'Hagan at their Washington, D.C. studios this week. Segments of the interview will air multiple times beginning as early as this weekend. This was a follow-up to an interview that aired more than a year ago. We've come such a long way since then in our quest to establish the first national museum devoted to American writers, and O'Hagan's on-air conversation with Slen provides a delightful progress report. View the segment on Book TV (it won't air for a few more days), or look for a link to the interview at the AWM website next week.
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Chicago Literary Council Meets with Cultural Commissioner Michelle Boone
On September 10th, The Chicago Literary Council (formed by AWM), met with Chicago Cultural Commissioner Michelle Boone to discuss the role of the literary arts in the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan. Members discussed ways the American Writers Museum can help showcase Chicago as a "city of writing" and spoke about the intrinsic role that literary arts play in the city's vibrant cultural landscape.
 
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Illinois Governor Pat Quinn Offers Words of Welcome
The AWM Foundation was delighted to receive these words of welcome from Illinois Governor Pat Quinn:"I welcome the American Writers Museum to Illinois. I cannot think of a better location for the first national museum dedicated to American writers than here in the state that gave us Ernest Hemingway, Ray Bradbury and Abraham Lincoln. Reading and writing are the building blocks of education and independent thinking. It is my hope that the museum will both educate the public and draw more tourists to our vibrant state." Thank you, Governor! We appreciate your warm show of support for locating the American Writers Museum in the great state of Illinois, Land of Lincoln! |
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With Help From The Chicago Community Trust, AWM Engages Leading Consultant for Feasibility Studies
The American Writers Museum Foundation has selected Barrie Projects to conduct important economic feasibility studies. Dennis Barrie of Barrie Projects, is a leading museum consultant whose past projects have included The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, Washington D.C.'s International Spy Museum, and the recently opened Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Barrie Projects will be conducting research that will create a viable and sustainable business plan for AWM. The study will also include an analysis of alternative sites in Chicago. These studies are made possible by a grant from the Chicago Community Trust. |
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Library of Congress Hosts The National Book Festival
 Last month, writers and readers from across the nation gathered on the mall at the Library of Congress's National Book Festival. This year the annual event featured more than 100 authors. The theme was Books that Shaped America, which coincided with the current Library of Congress exhibit featuring 88 titles that have had a transformative effect on the nation. With costumed characters, interactive booths, and book signings galore, the festival was a great success. Members of the AWM Executive Planning Team enjoyed the festivities on the mall and were honored to attend the National Book Festival Gala the night before.
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Your Recommendations to our Leaders, Readers, and Writers Exhibit
 If you haven't already done so, please participate in AWM's first online exhibition, Power of the Word: Leaders, Readers & Writers, before the site is archived in December. Take a look at the titles that have been suggested, then submit one or two (or three!) of your own.
Interested in AWM's next online exhibit? We want your suggestions. Vote for your choice here. |
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AWM Contest: Name that Author! Enter to Win
Recognize this face of an American writer? Send your answers via email (with "AWM Contest" in the subject line and your answers in the email message) to general@americanwritersmuseum.org. Remember to include your name and contact information. We'll have a drawing of all those who submit the correct answers and the winner of the drawing will receive $25.
Hint: This Chicago native once said, "For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment." |
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Spotlight on: American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), headed by Ellen Dunlap, a member of the American Writers Museum's National Advisory Council, has been an independent research library for more than 200 years. AAS, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, houses critical collections ranging from the works of Louisa May Alcott to James Fenimore Cooper. The society aims to "document the life of America's people from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction." Discover more at http://www.americanantiquarian.org/.
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