Ballet to "Swamp Gravy" - Something for All Marks Fifth Festival

Celebrating its fifth anniversary Feb. 12-24 is Tallahassee: Seven Days of Opening Nights, Florida State University's festival of the fine and performing arts.

Tops on the star-filled schedule this year are pianist André Watts with the University Symphony Orchestra; United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins; Alonzo King's LINES Contemporary Ballet; Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis; actor Spalding Gray; "Duets," an evening of classical ballet; spectacular sculptures in glass by artists Dale Chihuly and Harvey Littleton, and Georgia's folklife play, "Swamp Gravy."

To celebrate its landmark anniversary, Seven Days features two premieres:

• A special screening of Buster Keaton's silent film classic, "The General," accompanied by a new, original score commissioned for Seven Days. Written by Jeff Beal, creator of the score for the Academy Award-winning film, "Pollock," the music will be performed by the Florida State University Philharmonia.
• The North American public premiere of John Eccles' 18th century Baroque opera, "Semele," with special guest director/conductor Anthony Rooley, who has directed London performances of the work.
• To extend the reach of the festival beyond performances alone, artists and performers schedule master classes, community forums and other educational opportunities for students and arts lovers at all levels. For schedule and ticket information, call 850-644-6500 or see www.sevendaysfestival.org.

A Closer Look at 'Papa'

Perhaps unlike any other 20th century American writer, Ernest Hemingway commands respect as both a literary icon and a celebrity of astonishing endurance. His grizzled face is recognizable to people who have never read a word he wrote.

John Fenstermaker, professor of English and a Hemingway scholar, is producing a two-volume Hemingway biography that includes a detailed chronology of the author's life. The first volume is on track to be published this fall by the Indiana University Press.

Ernest Hemingway: The Days of His Life will be the most comprehensive source of information about Hemingway and the people whose lives and ideas influenced his writings, says Fenstermaker. His research of Hemingway collections at several libraries has uncovered much new information to fill in the gaps about our knowledge of the author's life and work.

The work will include nearly 300 brief biographies of key figures who were important in Hemingway's life. A chronology, or log, will detail the author's writing and activities, sometimes on a daily basis, through his entire life.

Hemingway Biographer John Fenstermaker (center) flanked by images of Hemingway on both ends of his career.

Islamic Scholar Wins Guggenheim

While studying Christian ethics in graduate school, John Kelsay decided to focus on the study of Islam. That decision has made Kelsay, chair of FSU's religion department, an oft-quoted media expert on religious ethics, and since 9/11 particularly on stories concerning Islam.

Kelsay's research has earned him two major fellowships-a Rockefeller, and most recently, a Guggenheim-to finish his latest book, Religion and the Imperatives of Justice: The Islamic Law of War and Peace.

Kelsay is on sabbatical this year as a Laurance S. Rockefeller Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values, where he expects to finish Religion, which is part of a series of books on Islamic law commissioned by Cambridge University Press three years ago.

JOHN KELSAY