Madeline Miller at the Gaithersburg Book Festival

Part 4 in my continuing adventures at the Gaithersburg Book Fest:

Okay, I'm going out of order because, in fact, Madeline Miller was the second to last author I saw at the book fest--but she deserves to jump to the head of the pack.  Ms. Miller has just won the Orange Prize for her debut novel, The Song of Achilles!  For those who don't know, the Orange Prize "celebrates excellence,  originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world."  Congratulations, Madeline! 

I've actually had a galley of The Song of Achilles staring at me since last October.  I've been wanting to read it, and intimidated at the same time.  (I really need to read the book.)  Consequently, I was very interested in hearing the lady speak.  In her opening remarks, posted above, I learned that she's a school teacher, so perhaps that explains her comfort in front of an audience.

Now, I have to apologize for the video being a bit dark.  I was shooting in the ambient light under a tent, and by that point in the late afternoon it was cool and shady, with the sun backlighting the speaker.  Nonetheless, it's not too bad.  Below is a brief (3 minute) reading from the novel, and you'll see that Ms. Miller is an exceptionally talented reader.  She has background in the theater and it shows.

Alas, my little FlipCam holds only 2 hours of footage.  I was erasing earlier authors just to film what I was able to get.  Below is the very beginning of her Q & A session.  Gosh, I wish I could have recorded it all, because it was very interesting.  I filmed until I ran out of "tape."  Enjoy! And congratulations again to Ms. Miller on this huge honor, the first of what will surely be an impressive career.