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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a program in VOA Special Englishabout music and American life. And we answer your questions.
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This is Doug Johnson.
This week, we answer a question about Groundhog Day, coming upthis Monday. And we continue our series about music nominated forGrammy Awards this year.
But first, we take you to a writing conference in the southernUnited States.
Key West Literary Seminar
HOST:
More than four-hundred people took part in a series of literaryevents in Key West, Florida, earlier this month. They explored theworks of immigrant writers. Faith Lapidus tells us about thetwenty-second yearly Key West Literary Seminar.
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The seminar was called “Crossing Borders: The Immigrant Voice inAmerican Literature.” It examined ways in which the writings ofimmigrants have enriched and changed American literature and life.Nineteen well-known and award-winning writers took part in theevents. They represented many different cultures and countries.These include Bosnia, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic,Guatemala, India, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Trinidadand Vietnam.
Some of the writers were born in other countries and have madethe United States their home. Others are American-born writers whosework describes the immigrant experience. The writers took part infour days of talks, readings, discussions and parties. More thanfour-hundred people who love literature attended these events.
Bharati Mukherjee was one of the main speakers at the Key WestLiterary Seminar. She spoke about her life and her writing. She haswritten several books that explore the experience of Indianimmigrants in America. The other main speaker was Amy Tan. Shetalked about how her mother’s life influenced her writing. Tan isthe daughter of Chinese immigrants. She completed her first book,”The Joy Luck Club,” after a trip to China with her mother. “The JoyLuck Club” has been translated into seventeen languages.
Elizabeth Nunez also took part inthe Key West Literary Seminar. She was born in Trinidad and came toAmerica for her college education. Nunez writes about being animmigrant in America:
“I woke up one morning to find nothing beneath me. I was a treewithout roots, standing uneasy on unfamiliar ground. A light gust ofwind and I would topple down. No one, nothing here – friends,places, things, the very earth, the smell of the wind, the feel ofthe sun – nothing I could see, touch or taste was from the placewhere I was born, where I grew up as a child, where I ended myteenage years. What fear! What loneliness! Then it came to me: Ibelonged to the world.”
Groundhog Day
HOST:
Our VOA listner question this week comes from Mako, Hungary.Ervin Nemeth asks about the American observance of “Groundhog Day.”
Groundhog Day is observed on February second, but only in oneplace in the United States. That place is Punxsutawney, a small townin the state of Pennsylvania. Early in the morning, a ceremony takesplace on a hill just outside the town. It stars a small animal namedPhil that is brought there to “tell” the weather.
Tradition says that if the groundhog sees its shadow on theground, there will be six more weeks of cold winter weather. Thetradition goes back to an old German story of Candlemas Day, aChristian observance. The old story says there will be six moreweeks of winter if an animal makes a shadow on February second.
Groundhog Day was first observedin Punxsutawney in eighteen-eighty-six. Over the years, the story of”Punxsutawney Phil” spread throughout the country. Phil may notalways be right about the weather. But he is important to the localeconomy. Businesses earn a lot of money from visitors each year.
The celebrations have become much more popular since the movie”Groundhog Day” came out in nineteen-ninety-three. Bill Murray starsas a television weather reporter who is not happy with his life. Heis sent to Punxsutawney to report on Groundhog Day. Only somethingstrange happens. He lives the same day over and over again, until… well, we don’t want to give the story away. The movie is even apopular subject of study for experts from different religions.
Since the release of the movie, local officials saythirty-thousand people or more come to Punxsutawney to watch thereal Groundhog Day.
The White Stripes
HOST:
We continue our countdown to the Grammy Awards. The Americanmusic industry will present them one week from Sunday, on Februaryeighth. The ceremony in Los Angeles will include a performance bythe two members of the group, the White Stripes. And, as PhoebeZimmermann reports, they could go home with some awards of theirown.
ANNCR:
The White Stripes are Jack Whiteand Meg White. We do not know if they are brother and sister or, asother stories say, formerly husband and wife. But we do know theyformed the band in Detroit, Michigan, in nineteen-ninety-seven. Andthey like to perform dressed in red and white clothing.
One of their songs is nominated for two Grammys: best rock songand best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal. Here it is.The song is called “Seven Nation Army.”
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“Seven Nation Army” is on their newest record album, “Elephant.””Elephant” is nominated for best alternative music album and albumof the year.
Jack White wrote all but one of the songs on “Elephant.” Thealbum also includes a song from the nineteen-sixties by BurtBacharach and Hal David. It is called “I Just Don’t Know What to Dowith Myself.”
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We leave you with another song from “Elephant,” by the WhiteStripes. This one is called “Ball and Biscuit.”
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HOST: This is Doug Johnson.
If you have a question about American life, send it tomosaic@voanews.com. Be sure to include your name and mailingaddress. If we use your question, we’ll send you a gift. Our postaladdress is American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and Nancy Steinbach,and produced by Caty Weaver. Our engineer was Andreus Regis. I hopeyou enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week for VOA’s radiomagazine in Special English.