 |
The American Writers Museum in
Chicago is the first of its kind and is dedicated to writers who helped shape
America's history and culture -- from Ernest Hemingway to chef Julia Child to
rapper Tupac Shakur
|
At US City of Chicago's newly-opened American
Writers Museum, Jack Kerouac's biographer tells an audience how the Beat
Generation's bible was inspired by the author's deep affection for his country.
"'On the Road' is a love letter to
America," says Dennis McNally, standing just steps from the 120-foot
(36.5-meter) scroll on which Kerouac typed out his best-known book.
"He loved being an American and he
romanticized it," he said of the novel depicting a post-World War II
generation looking to break out of the societal constraints of the 1950s.
The first-of-its-kind museum is dedicated to
writers who helped shape America's history and culture -- from Ernest Hemingway
to chef Julia Child to rapper Tupac Shakur.
"The theme of the museum is to really look
at American writing and American writers, and celebrate them in the way that we
celebrate all kinds of people, like sports heroes and movie stars," said
museum president Carey Cranston.
- An outsider's perspective -
This museum is in fact the brainchild of an Irish
immigrant. Malcolm O'Hagan, a retired businessman, was surprised to discover
that the United States had no institution dedicated to its authors.
It took seven and a half years to make plans and
raise the necessary funds to get the project off the ground.
 |
A timeline representing
500 years of American literary history greets visitors at the American Writers
Museum in Chicago
|
"I think it took someone with an outsider
perspective," said Cranston, adding that Chicago was chosen for its rich
literary past and tourist draw.
The museum's exhibits breeze through hundreds of
years of American literature, culture and history, offering quick glimpses into
the works of writers in various genres and media.
A timeline exhibit begins with Alvar Nunez Cabeza
de Vaca, born in 1490, who penned a memoir depicting Native American life. It
concludes 500 years later with Oscar Hijuelos, the son of Cuban immigrants, who
wrote about assimilating into American culture.
"To see the ways in which the words of so
many people have moved populations throughout time, I think it's really
inspiring," said Nura Mazmabi, 38, who was visiting the museum with
members of her writing group.
- 'We celebrate their words' -
The museum also includes a "surprise
bookshelf" -- an interactive wall that reveals morsels of information
about authors through video, sound or text.
 |
The new American Writers
Museum in Chicago includes a "surprise bookshelf" -- an interactive
wall that reveals morsels of information about authors through video, sound or
text
|
The late rapper Shakur is featured for the lyrics
to his 1995 song "Dear Mama," exploring, as the exhibit puts it,
"the realities of addiction, violence and poverty."
Nearby is a tribute to Harper Lee, author of
"To Kill a Mockingbird," the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel dealing
with race inequality.
"Even though a lot of people are suppressed
at some point in their lives or at some point in our history, their words are
still out there, and we celebrate their words. And, I think that's what makes
it American," said visitor Alex Messina-Schultheis, 25.
One thing conspicuously understated are books
themselves, as museum organizers wanted to avoid replicating a library.
While there are rooms with books and places to
read, the space is dominated by touch screens, multimedia exhibits and
interactive elements such as manual typewriters on which visitors can hammer
out a few sentences.
"When you think American writing museum, you
think: I'll just be reading a wall of text. But, it's very interactive,"
said Jennifer Depoorter, 24, who was playing a word game on a touchscreen
table.
Also inconspicuous is the museum itself, which
occupies the second floor of a nondescript downtown Chicago office building,
marked by only one sign.
The humble real estate is a function of the
private museum's relatively small annual budget of US$1.9 million and a staff
of 10.
By contrast, the world-renown Art Institute of
Chicago, just a few blocks away, has an approximately US$250 million annual
budget.
"Our initial goal was to raise enough to build this," said Cranston, adding that plans are for the institution to grow over time.
 |
US rapper Tupac, his
mother Afeni Shakur (Image credit: METRO) and the lyrics of “DEAR MAMA”
|
