Former GOP presidential candidate and governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee surprised practically all of the country a few months back when he ably and deftly spoofed himself on an episode of Saturday Night Live, proving that he was not only a good sport about his candidacy and didn’t take himself too seriously, but that there were some discernible comedic chops there. Last night at the DC Improv, Huckabee proved his SNL appearance was no fluke,…

Former GOP presidential candidate and governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee surprised practically all of the country a few months back when he ably and deftly spoofed himself on an episode of Saturday Night Live, proving that he was not only a good sport about his candidacy and didn’t take himself too seriously, but that there were some discernible comedic chops there. Last night at the DC Improv, Huckabee proved his SNL appearance was no fluke,…

The National Book Festival, which has become a flagship event for area bibliophiles, just announced its 2008 author line-up. The festival, held rain or shine on the National Mall, will take place on Sept. 27 and once again be hosted by First Lady Laura Bush in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Retaining its inclusive tradition, the event will feature writers, readings, book and activities for readers of all ages. This year’s line-up features over…

MONDAY: Those of you interested in questions of population growth and its relationship to female sexual autonomy will want to catch Robert Engelman, vice president for programs at the Worldwatch Institute, as he discusses his new book, More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want, at Busboys and Poets. 6:30 p.m. Sorry folks, Salman Rushdie’s discussion and signing of The Enchantress of Florence at Politics & Prose is, sadly, sold out. TUESDAY: Bestselling author Lauren Weisberger…

Last month was National Poetry Month. But for poets and proselytizers of poetry, the work never stops. Local poet and human dynamo Deborah Ager is the driving force behind 32 Poems, one of the most respected poetry journals in the country, one that has, in the short time its been around, attracted the attention and the work of such notable poets as Brigit Pegeen Kelly and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Ager and 32…

Most first-time novelists never actually become first-time novelists; in most cases “first novels” end up abandoned as real life overwhelms the time commitment and intellectual energy necessary to take a book from concept to completion. Those lucky enough to finish sometimes never find a publisher, ending up instead with dashed hopes and a pile of rejection notices that begin with “While we found your book intriguing and well-crafted…” and end with “…and we’re sure that…

You’re sitting around with your friends at a local dive bar. The beer and the conversation are flowing. It’s late, and you start thinking of those “let’s-pursue-our-dreams” things you should all do together. Maybe it’s “we should start a band,” or “we should run the Marine Corps marathon” or “we should all knock over a convenience store.” Whatever. Usually nothing ever comes of it, perhaps a good thing, on occasion. The convo digresses, you all…

Wendy Kaufman over at The Happy Booker (via City Desk) alerts us to the sad news that Candida’s World of Books, the 14th Street independent bookstore that focused primarily on travel and international titles, will soon be shutting its doors after only four years in business. Candida’s had a niche, and its niche was “travel,” for want of a better word. But referring to Candida’s as a “travel” bookstore didn’t really do justice to what…

Virgil Griffith has a lot of time on his hands. A lot. Where he finds the time is a mystery: he’s a grad student in Computation and Neural Systems (uh huh) at CalTech by day, something that probably keeps him late at the lab while the rest of us are playing Wii. When he’s not doing that, Griffith is, like the rest of us these days, fascinated by what gets thrown onto social networking sites,…

Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes, his history of the triumphs and tragedies of the Central Intelligence Agency, continues to garner accolades, having been named a nonfiction finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Award on Saturday in San Francisco. We last talked about Weiner, a DC-based reporter for The New York Times, when he won the National Book Award for Legacy of Ashes in November. Other nominees for this award include the ever-prolific Joyce Carol…