Ambassador Wayne Remarks Introducing Annie Proulx at Buenos Aires Book Fair

April 25, 2009

Good afternoon.  Thank you all for joining us today.

I am very pleased and honored to welcome to the 35th Buenos Aires International Book Fair the U.S. Embassy’s guest of honor, and one of the greatest writers in the United States,  Ms. Annie Proulx.

Annie Proulx is one of the greatest chroniclers of rural life in the United States. In both her short fiction and her novels, she shows how human resilience is shaped in harsh, sometimes merciless, yet ultimately beautiful geographic outposts.

Annie Proulx started as a freelance journalist and then moved on to writing fiction. In the late 1980s her writing career blossomed, and she established herself as a unique literary stylist and a consumate storyteller.  Her first novel, Postcards, won the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1992, while The Shipping News, published a year later, received numerous honors, including the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

This year the United States Embassy’s booth theme is “Books into Movies”, showing the connection between Literature and Film. Annie Proulx greatly represents this connection since both The Shipping News and her short story Brokeback Mountain have been made into famous films.  Argentine and American talents were united in Brokeback Mountain: world renowned Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla created the moving musical score that complemented Annie’s powerful story.

Argentines and Americans alike are justly proud of their contributions to world culture. We have much to offer each other in this area, and we should take every opportunity to foster and celebrate cultural exchanges between our two peoples.

Thank you, Annie, for joining us here in Argentina. We are delighted to have you tonight.  I also want to take a moment to thank our sponsors American Airlines and Clarin for their support.

Without further comment, welcome, Annie Proulx.