Veterans Read the Iliad at Grace Cathedral on May 27th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kathryn Hohlwein, President and Founder The Readers of Homer, Inc Tel: 917.597.2520 Email khohlwein@mindspring.com Website URL: http://www.thereadersofhomer.org The Readers of Homer Announce Reading of HOMER’S ILIAD AT GRACE CATHEDRAL, A PUBLIC READING BY and For VETERANS SAN FRANCISCO, MAY the 27th, 2008 NOON to 9 P.M. This Memorial week, The Readers of Homer is sponsoring a reading by veterans, their families, and the public of the greatest war poem of them all, The Iliad, which reveals the motivations and tragedies of war in great and simple poetry, with the glorious Grace Cathedral in San Francisco as our setting. Veterans of any war, of any persuasion, their families, and the public are invited to read short, pre-assigned passages from Homer’s ILIAD for a shared, communal experience of this universal work. Who May Read: Anyone can read; there is no need to know Homer or to be a spectacular reader. Children and young persons are encouraged to participate.. What Is Included: Attendance includes a catered meal, snacks, music, a documentary film, and a bound copy of the edited-down poem. Admission Fee: For ”Listeners” - those who do not read, the admission fee of $50 helps also sponsor the veterans who will not pay. Registration is required to read or attend. First come, first served. For more information, see our web-site http://www.thereadersofhomer.org During the 5 pm “break” there will be partial screenings of two films by Charlie Berkowitz based in part on the books by Dr. Jonathan Shay: Achilles in Vietnam:: Combat Trials and the Undoing of Character and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. Dr. Shay compares the travails of the ancient warriors of the poem to contemporary men and women who suffer the circumstances of war. The Readers of Homer is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that presents audience participation readings of Homer’s ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY, and has been producing these readings for a decade now, in locations both humble and sublime, both indoors and out, either all day or all night long. We have done bi-lingual readings of both epics at the purported birthplace of Homer, at Daskalopetra on the Northern Aegean island of Chios. In October we will present a daytime reading at the great Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. The Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation and the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation have provided us with generous grants. We dedicate this reading to the memory and work of Professor Robert Fagles of Princeton University, who inspired generations of students to love Homer, one of whom donated the major funding necessary for our presentation. For additional information about the Memorial Week reading of THE ILIAD at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, contact: Kathryn Hohlwein 917.597.2520 register@thereadersofhomer.org http://www.thereadersofhomer.org