Friday, April 01, 2005

Andersen 2005


It is going to be the year of Hans Christian Andersen around the world.

BBC has an article on a three day star-studded celebration of Andersen's life this weekend.
Some 40,000 people are expected to pack Copenhagen's Parken Stadium on 2 April, for a "Once upon a time" show which will celebrate the writer and his work, as well as signal the beginning of 'Andersen Year'.

According to the organisers, the star-studded show, featuring musicians, acrobats and dancers, and based on 12 of Andersen's most famous stories will be "the most spectacular fairy tale ever".

The Toledo Blade has an very informative piece on the 200th anniversary of Andersen's birth including good information about his life and his place in the literary canon.

In the article author Jane Yolen makes a useful observation in the article:
"I think that Andersen's stories have come into such common usage - The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid images, in particular - that we hardly remember they were his own inventions," says Jane Yolen, a critically acclaimed children's author of more than 200 books, including poetry, folk tales, and novels.

Update: Semicolon has lots of great HCA links in the April 2 post.

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