(The following, below, is a quoted portion of the text of the commencement-exercises speech entitled "How to be Hopeful". The speech was written and publicly delivered in 2008 by novelist, essayist, and poet Barbara Kingsolver before graduating seniors and their families at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
The entire text of Ms. Kingsolver's speech can be found on pages 25 through 37 of the copyright-2015 New Press book entitled "The World is Waiting for You: Graduation Speeches to Live by from Activists, Writers, and Visionaries". That book was edited by Tara Grove and Isabel Ostrer. The book's publisher, The New Press, is based in New York City, New York, and in London, England.
The entire text of Ms. Kingsolver's 2008 commencement-exercises speech at Duke University was copyrighted in 2008 by Ms. Kingsolver, and was reprinted in the above-cited book with permission from the Frances Goldin Literary Agency.
The following quoted text from a portion of Ms. Kingsolver's cited speech at Duke can be found on page 26 of the book "The World Is Waiting for You". Please note that some clarifying parenthetical additions were provided by myself, John Kevin McMillan of Austin, for this particular blog.)
"....(W)isdom is what people will start wanting from you, after your last exam (that has already occurred here at Duke). I know it's true for writers----when people love a book, whatever they say about it, what they really mean is: it was wise...My (own favorite writers for wisdom) are...Neruda, Garcia Marquez, Doris Lessing. Honestly, it is harrowing for me to try to teach twenty-year-old students who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please Leave Your Comments Here.