There are presents to wrap and cakes to bake, not to mention I’ve come down with the flu, so I’ll be taking a break for a few days. Happy holidays!

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University of Louisville. Axton Fellowship in Creative Writing. Writers who have received their terminal degree within the last five years in Creative Writing are invited to apply for an Axton Fellowship in Creative Writing. The purpose of these fellowships is to provide recent graduates with time to further their own work, to associate them with a distinguished faculty, & to allow them to contribute to a vibrant creative writing program. Two fellows, one in poetry & one in fiction, will be appointed for the academic years 2006-2007 & 2007-2008, & will be awarded a stipend & benefits. Each fellow...

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Over at The Millions today, Max gives me the chance to sing the praises of the best books I read this year. Top o’ the Heap: The Death of a Beekeeper, which I’ve surely mentioned in these pages before. You may also find a couple of surprises on the list, as Max allowed us to write about any book we read this year, not just those that were published in 2005. Two gorgeous events to sum up today. On Monday night, I had the pleasure of joining Kate Braverman for her wild and wacky “literary talk show,” Fusion City,...

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Don George, weekly travel columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and editor of the Lonely Planet humor anthology By the Seat of My Pants, will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera tonight at 7:00. I’ll be joining him to talk about my essay, “Blackout in Ushauia,” which involves an electrical outage at the Southern tip of Tierra del Fuego and an awkward encounter my husband and I had with a large family in our hotel room. Other contributors will also be sharing their funny travel stories.

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