In reading Thomas Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem comes an unlikely homage to my friend Scott Huler, who proclaims his love affair with lyrical brevity. Every taxi driver in Beirut, Friedman observes, knows the radio lexicon that developed during the Lebanese civil war: “a road described as amina is totally secured by army or police; a road described as salika is free of snipers or kidnappers, but not policed; hatherah means the road is passable, but with a roughly 30 percent chance of kidnapping or sniping; and finally, ghair amina means the road is unsafe at any speed.”

If only the State Department provided such practical information for travelers.

Today is the 30th annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer, PEN American Center reports, listing a number of disturbing cases of censorship and repression, and noting that “we continue to work towards the time when this sort of day is no longer necessary.”

A whirlwind past few weeks. The same day I finished the residency at A Studio in the Woods — a final update is available here — was the day of the New Orleans Book Fair, which met and exceeded all expectations for a day spent celebrating writing and reading. There’s simply nothing quite like the sight of endless rows of tables of books, pamphlets, zines, and comics swarmed by a crowd that was so obviously enjoying itself — congratulations to the organizers for pulling off such an impressive feat, though next year it may be worth positioning the tables away from the power lines. Death from above; Magda and I found, to our surprise, that the pigeons decided to claim a book or two for themselves.

A few appearances over the next few weeks: first, on The Reading Life hosted by Susan Larson on WWNO, second, a post-Studio reading with Valentine Pierce at the Latter Library, and finally, I’ll join the crowd at the annual author extravaganza at Main Street Books in my hometown of Hattiesburg, MS in early December. Further details here.

In other news, the 17 Poets reading series will be going strong until the holidays, with Trembling Pillow Press sponsoring as well the inaugural Bob Kaufman Book Prize. Both Naomi Shihab Nye and John Jeremiah Sullivan will be in town this next week, and for those who couldn’t make it, Mark Folse at Toulouse Street has been diligently covering the Words and Music Festival — going above and beyond the call to record several sessions.

If you’ve never heard Sandy Denny ask the question, remedy that now.

New to the site: an Events page, with details of upcoming appearances — this coming weekend, I’ll be sitting on a panel discussion at the Louisiana Book Festival on culture after the hurricanes, and next weekend, the always amazing New Orleans Book Fair will be occupying Frenchmen Street. I’ll be there with my dear friend Magda Boreszya of Forest Publications; if you’re in the neighborhood, do stop by and say hello. (In their own words, “The NOLA Bookfair is an annual celebration of independent publishing and alternative media featuring small presses, zinesters, book artists, anarchists, rabblerousers, and more.”)

In other news, a brief reflection from A Studio in the Woods, where my time is swiftly drawing to a close, is here.

For those in the New Orleans area, this coming Tuesday, October 18th, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is hosting the next in its series of “The People Say Project” conversation series, in conjunction with the 2011 New Orleans Film Festival. Featuring Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall and Gabriel Velasco of Los Po-boycitos, two passionate individuals deeply steeped in the city’s culture, it’s bound to be a brilliant meeting of minds. Doors at 5 for a free reception; conversation starts at 6. Da non perdere.