>> they are sick and they should be fought, or else one way or the other, immobilized. [applause]

>> i didn't mean to be solemn tonight, however. i just wanted to use the instance to express my -- likeness on a general basis. it doesn't matter where there are book fairs, wherever books become the commodity of exchange, exposed as a commodity, the basis of humanity is an obsession of me. if i can, i tried to do that. and this award which celebrates books, which brings writers together with one another, with philosophers, scientists, scientist historians and researchers, unearthing the treasure of humanity everywhere. to me one of the noblest undertakings in the organization can have. but i was not -- [applause]

>> i said i was not going to be solemn and i don't intend to be solemn. the question i get asked most of the time, what do you do, what do you do to relax? when you're not writing and your not being jailed or -- [laughter] what do you do? and i said well, i skip. i skipped. i skip well. doesn't matter. just escape into one's self. escape into space. just skip, find spaces around yourself where you can recover what's left of your sanity. one of the escape expenses i had just a few years ago, you can see the kind of fantasy which some of us writers engage in,

divvies are structurally undergo the experience of weightlessness in one of these nasa contraptions. and what i'm going to read tonight is just to invite you to join me in one of my territories of escape. it's a wonderful experience. you should try sometime. i couldn't afford it, but i happen to belong to a certain organization and i got a letter from them one day that said, we have a ticket on one of these space -- you know, pseudo-spaceships. we would like you to recommend somebody to use the ticket. [laughter] so i sent a letter back saying, well, with a 70 year old man in reasonable shape who has kept -- who is willing to even do without wine for a week if --

[laughter] would qualify, would that be acceptable? the man wrote back and said, you're not talking about yourself, are you? [laughter] i said, don't be stupid. of course, i am. [laughter] and i will just -- the other reason i wanted to reach of mere is because the book to which skip referred was written decades ago so i want to be sure that i still write from time to time. so this passage is unpublished. i call it a mock heroic, this space, the astronaut. and the section here is the fragment here is just to share with you that space of space this mess -- space this mess

into which are writers from time to time are able to escape. lens cam sublimity, demure, volunteer her life, frame folded in a lotus pose, rose slowly, floated up towards the roof. she seemed hardly human like the rest. a marvel all too brief, yet the circle formed around what such a transformed in awed silence. we took turns to pacify gently, as she floated to for next nirvana. a body transfer in suspended animation, came close, close to the dream of space. for i must tell you, i have known space through much else, both incongruities and affinities, through solitude,

from space even in hallucinations, not sell ford truck inducted. i levitate in sleep, rise over parked cars. no, not as evel knievel on his demon motorbike or the deadly studies. no. i drifted through bedroom windows, walls, down staircases, vainly clutching banisters. in silence so imprintable, not a sound emerge so i called for help. drifted over the edge of the world, silent, so huge in deep. it made me think and dread the unthinkable, death by drowning in dry air. awake so steeped in sleep, immobilized yet when fill the sails seeking past rescue yet loath to break the spell, loath to end the manifold trajectories of weightlessness.

does is at best, large, pressed to earth, the forest, there is the paradox where closure is of green, here nature opens ever inward, and the forest the seats it. they form serial chambers. one steps over thresholds into silence, hiding confidentiality. host discrete, indivisible. not even the guns in order breaks up, sealed since man learned to milk nature for his confidence. the hunters breach, on the forest it's understanding. here is where all vanished languages of the world convene. each tree is warehoused, cradled

and grade of the earth's beans. the gods, on soundless narratives from time immemorial. you are welcome, to the unspoken banquet. the guest who trespass his own rite of initiation, the gods for site. they are emanations saturate. you're welcome to the banquet. thank you very much. [applause] ♪ >> thank you, skip. and thank you to our 2013 honorees.

it is a privilege and joy to be with your words. i am care and long, as skip making, manager of the anisfield-wolf book awards. this evening would not be possible without the support of the foundation staff, and our partners who are listed on the screen. we are grateful to all of you. to share video tonight with families and friends of this event, i urge you to go visit the anisfield-wolf website, anisfield-wolf.org. and come back often. the site is a vibrant repository of history and up-to-the-minute news and art. you can find poems.

after our authors receive their awards, please join us to cap off a stimulating evening with wine, hors d'oeuvres, and the book sale in the lobby of the state theater. i have just one caveat. our winners, and skip gates, will be autographing their work. if you want to have a book signed, please see to that first. our authors can stay only a short while. now it is time to present our honorees with their anisfield-wolf book awards. each writer will receive a monetary stipend, and a glass sculpture in the colors of his book jacket, handcrafted by the artisans on streets of manhattan, a creative classes duty on east 33rd street and cleveland. we hope these unique works will remind them of our city for many years to come. please stand for a final round of applause as our writers receive their prizes.

[applause] [applause]