SHOCKING, but true, facts, courtesy of your friends at the (downtown) omaha lit fest.

Shocking fact #1: Books are better than sex. According to a survey conducted by Entertainment Weekly, more people have been spending their spare time during the writers’ strike reading books than having sex. Well, the exact figures are: 40 percent of those surveyed have chosen to read more books during the strike, while only 9 percent are “having more sex.” This is a far more encouraging survey than the endless parade of dismal stats (99.6 percent of Americans haven’t read a book since Judith Krantz’s “Scruples”!) meant to bully the general public into feeling obligated to read.

Shocking fact #2: The influence of Omaha can be felt everywhere. Artist Chris Ware, who grew up in Omaha and is now one of the most acclaimed comic book artists of his generation, designed and illustrated the cover for the current issue of Prairie Schooner, the international literary journal which is part of UNL’s English Department. Check out the cover, and its Nebraska-centric images, here. And if you go to Film Streams to see “The Savages” (among its executive producers is Alexander Payne), you’ll see Chris Ware’s artwork on the poster for the film. Here Ware talks about it, for the LA Times.

Shocking fact #3: Many esteemed writers summer in Lincoln. If you don’t know about the Nebraska Summer Writers’ Conference, please visit here. The website is currently updated to include the entire award-winning faculty.

Shocking fact #4: The (downtown) omaha lit fest will survive. Though our website is hopelessly out of date, and our funding is minimal, we will be back in September 2008. Because, quite simply, we’ve heard that books are better than sex.

Thank you for listening. We like you so much.