Staten Island Academy Welcomes New York Times Bestselling Author Francine Prose on Jan. 21

Staten Island Academy, the borough’s only independent school, will host New York Times bestselling author Francine Prose on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

Staten Island, NY (Vocus) January 12, 2010

Staten Island Academy, the borough’s only independent school, will host New York Times bestselling author Francine Prose on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

Ms. Prose will conduct presentations about her latest book, Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife at 10:55 AM and 12:35 PM. Each presentation will conclude with a book signing. She will also participate in the Academy’s “Diversity, Equity and Social Justice” class for students in Grades 11 and 12 at 9:30 AM as well as the Upper School Poetry Slam at 10:30 AM.

In Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, Prose traces the diaries transformation from the scribblings of a young girl in a red-and-white checked journal to international bestseller, and reconsiders how Anne Frank’s diary—and its copious interpretations and misrepresentations over the past sixty years—has both shaped and been shaped by forces beyond its purview. The fame of the diary grew exponentially after it was adapted into a Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play and Oscar-winning movie. Prose chronicles the sometimes-sordid journey of that adaptation, with a behind-the-scenes drama that included lawsuits between Otto Frank and the diary’s obsessed champion, Meyer Levin, and public squabbling among some of the seminal theater people of the day, including Lillian Hellman, Cheryl Crawford, Kermit Bloomgarden, Elia Kazan, and Garson Kanin.

In order to make Anne Frank’s story more “universal,” many critics have argued that playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett sanitized the material, removing its inherent “Jewishness” and turning Anne into a silly and shallow version of her true self. Prose weighs in on this long-brewing argument, considering both the harm the dramatic version may have done to the material, but also the gains its immense popularity has meant, bringing countless readers back to the source material—Anne’s diary itself.

As a teacher of writing and literature, Prose also gives careful consideration to the ways in which Anne Frank’s diary has been and can be taught in the classroom (unfortunately, it is often introduced to students through the play) and how this deceptively simple document can open the door for studying the Holocaust and other genocides. Tracking the claims of Holocaust deniers who would paint the diary a hoax, she counters with the far greater positive foothold that Anne Frank has gained over the public imagination. Visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, she readjusts her own encroaching cynicism about the dismal state of the world and the role that the testament of one little girl, killed by the Nazis more than sixty years ago, can play in reversing violence and teaching tolerance.

Francine Prose is the author of many bestselling books of fiction, including A Changed Man and Blue Angel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the nonfiction New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer. Her novel, Household Saints, was adapted for a movie by Nancy Savoca. Another novel, The Glorious Ones, has been adapted into a musical of the same name by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, which ran at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York City in the Fall of 2007. She is the president of PEN American Center.

Staten Island Academy has hosted several bestselling authors since 2008 including: Dan Kindlon, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys; Michael Thompson, Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children; Herman Parish, the Amelia Bedilia book series, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters; Mo Willems, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!; Julia Melucci, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti; Marian Fontana, A Widow’s Walk; Carlos Cortes, The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity; Michael Buckley, The Sisters Grimm children’s book series; and Deanna Neil, The Land of Curiosities: Adventures in Yellowstone.

Staten Island Academy offers a welcoming mix of inspiring people, challenging schoolwork, and opportunities for expanded learning. A co-ed, college prep school for Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12, the Academy builds upon its 125-year tradition to focus entirely on providing the best future for children.

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