Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
In 1999, Barbara Kingsolver founded the Bellwether Prize, the "largest monetary prize for an unpublished work of fiction in North America." In other words: sacks of cash. Administered by the PEN foundation since 2012, it's now known as the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. We'd say The Poisonwood Bible has gone beyond socially engaged to socially married. Barbara Kingsolver and social justice are quite the power couple. (Source.)
The Poisonwood Bible wasn't just one of Oprah's Book Club picks from back in the day (we guess we should now call that one Oprah's Book Club 1.0), it's one of Oprah's top ten favorite books of the past decade. (Source.)
Authors rock! Barbara Kingsolver was an original member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock group consisting of popular authors, including Stephen King and Amy Tan. Wonder what instrument she played? (Source.)
African ants, which feature prominently in a few chapters in The Poisonwood Bible, are on this list of top 10 deadliest insects. After reading about them in this book, we'd rather take our chances with the Asian Hornet. (Source.)