Attending speakers include:
Gregg Chadwick
Joyce Jenkins
Erin Byrne
Georgia Hesse
Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Mikkel Aaland
Willis Barnstone
"The Dude" himself, Jeff Dowd,
In Burning the Midnight Oil ($15.95), word-wrangler extraordinaire Phil Cousineau has gathered an eclectic and electric collection of soulful poems and prose from great thinkers throughout the ages. Whether beguiling readers with glorious poetry or consoling them with prayers from fellow restless souls, Cousineau can relieve any insomniac's unease. From St. John of the Cross to Annie Dillard, Beethoven to "The Song of Songs, " this refreshingly insightful anthology soothes and inspires all who struggle through the dark of the night. The night writers in Cousineau's vesperal collection range from saints, poets, and shamans to astronomers and naturalists, and tells of ancient tales and shining passages from the most brilliant (albeit insomniac) writers of today. These poetic ponderances sing of the falling darkness, revel in dream-time, convey the ache of melancholy, conspire against sleeplessness, vanquish loneliness, contemplate the night sky, rhapsodize on love, and languorously greet the first rays of dawn.
Phil Cousineau is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, teacher and editor, independent scholar and travel leader, storyteller and TV host. His fascination with art, literature, and the history of culture has taken him from Michigan to Marrakesh, Iceland to the Amazon, in a worldwide search for what the ancients called "the soul of the world." The author of 26 nonfiction books, he's a freelance writer, filmmaker, and an expert on film and mythology. He lives in San Francisco.