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Show 1011 The Salt Lake Tribune, Monday, January 27, 1'lWj Two literary conferences show different approaches to craft By William Robertson Knight Bidder Newspapers Almost anywhere in the country, maybe the world, you could hear a dull roar coming from New York week before last. The sound and the fury arose from 700 writers gathered for the 48th International Congress of PEN, an organization of poets, playwrights, essayists, editors and novelists. Seldom do so many international literary stars rub elbows, and maybe if not the rarified atmosthe rarity of such conferences is a good phere thing. When they could spare the time from a dizzying round of social en gagements. the writers convened to talk about, among other things, the relationship between the writer and the state From accounts in The Miami Herald, The Set e York Times and The Washington Post, I cannot begin to guess what the PEN Congress did for literature, but it is entirely safe to suggest that the assembly advanced political debate at about the same rate as continental drift created the geography of Earth, which is to say exceedingly slowly if at all. Emotionally Connected Listen to this from Susan Sontag "I feel emotionally connected with writ- FIRST RUNI if "ANNIE TAKES MANHATTAN" ANNIE if DANIELLE FIRST RUNI "LOVE AMERICAN STYLE" RAVEN if GLORIA LEONARO TAIJA RATEO X CO FEATURE RAE RATED X CO FEATURE "ANGEL BUNS" "ALL AMERICAN GIRLS" PART SHAUNA GRANT if SHELL RATED X TIFFANY CLARK VERONICA HART A BRENDA BROOKS RATED X A II CINEMA1 RAY 45 West Hro.idwav 364-364- t Open Daily 11:45 7 A.M. CAPRI I. ale Show & MlH S(. SlfltP 363-174- 0 Couples Prices Sat. ers everywhere," she said, suggesting she lived in a world wide utopian literary community peopled by writers alive and dead Nice sentiment, but some utopia. At the beginning of the Congress run, the bickering broke out over an appearance by Secretary of State George Shultz, at the end there was a smt over the scarcity of women on panels. In between there was almost constant quarreling, although not about writing, which you might reasonably conclude to be the business of writers. The sniping around the St. Moritz Hotel was about politics and who represses whom the most. Exercise in Arrogance From afar, the Congress seemed to be an exercise in arrogance, with the writers presuming as their due a privileged position in the salvation of the world. Well sure, repressive states are bad for writers. And sure, writers in democratic societies dont operate entirely without at least subliminal sanctions. What was left unsaid was that repressive states are bad for ordinary citizens, too, and cit six-da- y izens in democratic societies are not immune from an externally imposed order either. Writers have done a good job of mythologizing their vocation, creating the notion that they are special. Indeed they are, but they are special by virtue of how talented they are at their art, not in their willingness to make proclamations. The pen is arguably mightier than the sword; the tongue clearly isnt. Different Conference These thoughts come to mind because, as it happens, I participated in a literary conference myself recently, though one with a far lower octane rating than the PEN Congress and at a considerable remove from New York. A couple of hundred people got together in Key West, Fla., to consider the work and life of one of that towns best known former residents, the late playwright Tennessee Williams. Among the panelists were some cer- tifiable celebrities: Kim Hunter, for instance, who gave first breath on mm pop mmrn End of Month Special make it, and when theres a juke to make, I make that, too. Good Viewpoint Perhaps Williams was being coy or mugging a little with that statement, but it's a good way for a writer to look at his trade. Writing begins like any other line of work. It starts with a task for which most of us are equipped: ordering words. It often ends there, but sometimes it reaches the level of craft, and occasionally it transcends craft to become literature. One thing writing doesn't require is the belief that merely being a writer confers some god like entitlement to behave exactly as one pleases. That point seems to have gone unacknowledged in New York. Broadway to the character Stella in Streetcar Named Desire," playwright Lanford Wilson, whose innowork might not vative, exist if Williams hadn't changed the rules of writing for the theater, Donald Spoto, who has recorded Williams life in his biography, The Kindness of Strangers. Other participants included Williams scholars, critics and intimates. "A prize-winnin- g Skewed Perspective Part of the conference was devoted to Williams the man. He was affec- tionately sanitized as shy and lonely, but endlessly amused by life. The perspective was somewhat askew because very little was said about the demons that pursued him his homosexual adventures, his struggles with liquor and drugs. Primarily, however, the emphasis of the Key West seminar was on Williams writing and what we all might take from it. Over and over again, panelists remarked that whatever Williams other compulsions, he wrote daily, refusing to exempt himself from the sweat of his chosen occupation. He didnt gussie himself up with exalted ideas of what he was doing when he sat down to write a play. I bring a couple of people together, he once said, and I get them to talk to each other. When I see the point I want to make, I Tribune Advertising Policy The Salt Lake Tribune's basic advertising tasteful policy is to accept the advertising of all lawful services, and of all and manufactured are legally products that distributed. The Salt Lake Tribune does not accept advertisements of films legally adjudged pornographic or legally cited as pornographic in formal complaint. Consistent with this policy. The Tribune accepts no advertising matter in which the exhibitor himself proclaims a film pornographic" by specific description, double entendre, suggestive illustration or any other device. Whats Happening Today St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with guest violinist Lin and Alexander Gibson conducting. Symphony Hall, 123 W. South Temple, 8 p.m. Colorado String Quartet, Eccles Conference Center Auditorium, Utah State University, Logan, 8 p.m. Pep Peters Quartet, azz, D.B. Cooper's, 19 E. 200 South, 8:30 p.m. to midnight. The Wasatch Front, lecture series sponsored by Utah Museum of Natural History, "Avalanche!" by Sue A. Ferguson, Highland High School Auditorium, 2166 S. 1700 East, 7:30 p.m. "The Importance of Being Earnest," Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 South and University Street, 8 p.m. "Crow," dancedrama adaptation of Ted Hughes' poetry, Ladles Literary Club, 850 E. South Temple, 8 p.m. Presented by the Players. The Plonemoker," Babymoon Theatre, Pageant Center, 400 North Center, American Fork, 8 p.m. Tickets, $4. Thank You Papa," Hole Center Theatre, 2801 S. 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