National Book Festival writers listed
WASHINGTON —Novelist Philip Roth, Jeffrey Eugenides who wrote “The Virgin Suicides,” mystery writer Patricia Cornwell and singer Jewel are joining the lineup of authors for the 2012 National Book Festival on the National Mall later this year.
The Library of Congress on Thursday announced the authors and poets who will appear at the festival Sept. 22 and 23. The weekend festival features speeches and book talks by authors, book signings and a chance to meet favorite writers.
Steve Inskeep of NPR’s “Morning Edition” is joining the lineup, along with Walter Isaacson, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times and Chris Matthews of MSNBC.
New Atlanta airport terminal opens
ATLANTA — A sleek new $1.4 billion international terminal featuring airy windows and eye-popping artwork opened Wednesday at the world’s busiest airport in hopes of positioning Atlanta to attract more globe-trotting travelers.
The sparkling launchpad at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, besides helping to grab its share of the lucrative and growing international market, also may convince Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. to route more flights through the city.
“It’s really going to open up new opportunities for Atlanta to grow,” said airport general manager Louis Miller. “It’s going to become a gateway not just to Atlanta, but to the world.”
Mayor Kasim Reed said the massive investment of $1 billion in municipal bonds to be repaid by passenger fees and another $400 million picked up by the airlines will reap dividends long-term.
Smithsonian to have exhibit on genomes
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is developing its first major exhibit on the human genome.
The project is being developed with a $3 million pledge from the philanthropic foundation of Life Technologies Corp.
The museum announced plans Monday to collaborate with the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health to develop a high-tech exhibit. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health has raised $500,000 for the project.
The effort marks the 10th anniversary of researchers producing the first complete human genome sequence as a blueprint of the human body. The Human Genome Project was launched in 1990 to better understand the relationship between genetics, health and disease.
S. Africa’s township gets a theater
JOHANNESBURG — Playwright, director and actor John Ledwaba gave up theater during South Africa’s turbulent 1980s and left his Soweto home to train to be an anti-apartheid guerrilla. But he soon stopped training to lead the fight through theater, staging powerful works that exposed the horrors of racist rule to the world.
The 150 million rand (about $18 million) Soweto Theatre complex with a 436-seat main stage and two smaller performance spaces is part of an ambitious redevelopment plan by the city of Johannesburg for Soweto.
Steven Sack, acting chief executive officer of the new theater, said black South Africans were once “living at the margins of our society.” The theater, he said as he proudly led reporters on a tour Monday, is part of efforts to change that.