Beowulf Sheehan
SALMAN RUSHDIE
The “WAM” in WAMFest, an annual event at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham campus in Madison, stands for “words and music.” But really, that is too limiting a description, as this year’s fest, scheduled for Oct. 15-17, touches on film and visual arts as well.
The festival begins Oct. 15 at 2 p.m., with a screening of “Limitless,” the 2011 film by Neil Burger (who also directed “Divergent”), followed by an interview with Burger at 5 p.m.
Oct. 16 at 4 p.m., Neil Gaiman, the author of comic book series “The Sandman” as well as the novels “Stardust,” “American Gods” and “Coraline,” will appear in a conversation titled “The Illuminated Word” that will be “live drawn” by pen-and-ink artist Michael Arthur.
Oct. 17 at 2 p.m., Arthur and Stefan Bucher, creator of the online series Daily Monster, will join each other for a conversation titled “The Art of Illumination.”
And Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., the festival will present the world premiere of “Memory Palace: Music Meets the Page,” a collaboration by novelist Salman Rushdie, poet J. Mae Barizo, composer Paul Cantelon and the American String Quartet.
All events are free (though some require advance registration) and will be hosted by singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding, who also writes novels under his birth name, Wesley Stace.
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