Find more information about this and lots of other news (including the upcoming release of Janis' autobiography as an audio book!) in the Newsroom.

The inside scoop from Janis:

Last year, when I was working with Japanese artist Angela Aki on her last album, we wrote a piece called "Every Woman's Song." (Gold in Japan now.) In part it was based on a 1979 article by Miriam Therese Winter of the Medical Mission Sisters, titled "Womenchurch." A few weeks later I got a call from Dan Paulos,who runs the St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred art. He asked whether I would record one of MT's songs for a tribute album of her music. (She was very successful in the 60's/70's, played Carnegie Hall, kind of an American Singing Nun.) Of course, I thought "How great to do a tribute to someone still living!" (She was born in '38.)

I searched and searched her catalogue but couldn't find anything that felt like it would be good enough on my voice to do her life justice. Plus, it all felt pretty dated. Then, listening to an early album, I heard the most wonderful spoken word piece. I emailed her and said "I'm pretty familiar with the Bible and I don't recall this. Sounds like it's from Ecclesiastes - where, though??" Turned out she wrote it herself.

I asked permission to set it to music, and she hesitated, saying people had been asking for almost 5 decades, and she'd always said no. I replied that if she didn't like what I did, I would set it aside forever. Then I got to work. Of course, once I began writing, it took a life of its own, and I discovered the piece wanted a third and fourth verse... yikes! With heart in hand, I went ahead and wrote as I felt it should be. Then I sent MT a very rough copy, just me at home singing into a little dictating machine... and she loved it!

What you hear in this final version was the first take, no edits, all live. I think it's one of the best things I've ever done. Go here to listen to a sample, then purchase the full version on iTunes.

"Married In London," Janis' wry look at gay marriage, is available for free download here. You can post it on your own site, or a social networking site, or use it for a wedding, or whatever you like. All we ask is that a) Janis be credited as the writer and singer and b) you don't make any money or receive another consideration for it.

Of course, a donation to the Pearl Foundation never hurts!

First two Janis Ian shows in Israel SRO in record time. (Ditto Belfast - thank you Ireland!) People on the Internet begging for tickets, offering ridiculous money until we ourselves were tempted. And now, a third show added at 1 pm on the afternoon of Friday January 20th. Be there or be square!

Janis was recently featured in The London Times. David Sinclair wrote a glowing, four star review of her recent show at Cadogan Hall in London.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

"A teenage prodigy who enjoyed her first hit record when she was 15 and was a "has-been by the age of 16", Ian has since survived a succession of emotional trials and upheaveals to become the 60-year old grande dame of the singer-songwriter tendency that she is today. A short, silver-haired, Jewish woman from New Yor City, Ian stood alone on the stage - no sitting around for her. The show was all about the songs, the lyrics, the person; but posterity also demands a quick mention of her acoustic guitar. She played it so beautifully, with an attention to touch and tone far exceeding that of the great majority of singers accompanying themselves in this way. As she san encores of "Jesse" and "Stars" (there was) a joy among the audience that was palpable."

You can read and/or download a clipping of the review here.

Janis was recently honored to be asked to address the annual start-of-school convocation of Nashville school librarians. She spoke deeply and from the heart about what libraries have meant to her, both in and out of school, bringing many in the audience of several hundred to tears. A quote from the speech has been reprinted at the American Library Association's site, and the full text can be read on the Metro Nashville public school site here:

Janis' song "Welcome Home" has won the 2010 Asimov's Readers' Award for best poem! She joins (among others) fellow honorees Carol Emshwiller, Michael Swanwick, and Michael Whalen.

Said Janis: "As a loyal Asimov's reader since the magazine began in 1977 - and also as a former neighbor of Isaac Asimov's in Manhattan - this is a wonderful honor. I wrote 'Welcome Home' from the heart, and I'm so glad the readers agreed!"

See a list of all the winners.

Read the lyrics.

Free download.

Users currently with @yahoo.com will not be able to register or post. Please re-register with a different ISP to continue membership and posting privileges. Sorry, but we're really tired of dozens of false applications every day!

For those fans having troublefinding the download link, here it is:

http://www.janisian.com/freedownloads.php

Enjoy, and remember - it's fine with Janis if you send it to friends or post it on your site!

Just hit the Newsroom link on the home page to see what we're talking about! Outside of an impending trip to Japan, work with Kevin Eubanks and plans for a European tour, Janis and her fans were able to donate a stunning $90,000 in scholarship funds this year!

Stars: Original Stories Based On The Songs Of Janis Ian is now available in eBook format from Barnes & Noble (and in a day or two, from Amazon on Kindle). This wonderful anthology, edited by Janis and Mike Resnick, features over thirty short stories from authors such as Tad Williams, Joe Haldeman, John Valey, Mercedes Lackey, Gregory Benford, Robert J. Sawyer and more. It received three "best" & seventeen honorable mentions (including Janis' story!) in Year's Best SF 2004, ed. by Gardner Dozois.

"This dazzling, highly original anthology, ignited by the meeting of songwriter Ian and a host of SF writers affected by her music at the 2001 Worldcon, showcases 30 mostly superior stories, each based on one of her songs. Some contributors take Ian at her word that science fiction is 'the jazz of prose,' responding to many of society's sharpest wounds with bittersweet improvisatory descants, like Terry Bisson in 'Come Dance with Me,' David Gerrold in 'Riding Janis' and Orson Scott Card in 'Inventing Lovers on the Phone,' tales that probe the angst of adolescence… The entire anthology seems to vibrate with the death throes of one world passing away, while far stranger ones struggle to be born. Their commonality, Ian tells us in her introduction, is that 'They have heart. They have life. They have truth.' No artist - nor any reader - could ask for more." - Publisher's Weekly

Download the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Yes, it's true. And because so many of you responded so quickly to my plea for "likes," I actually got a Facebook domain name: http://www.facebook.com/janisianpage. I'll try to keep up with it as often as possible! Meanwhile, remember, I'm going for 5,000 "likes." I can't remember what happens when I reach that, but everybody needs a goal... so please help me get to 5,000 "likes" by going to www.facebook.com/janisianpage and "liking" it!

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If you click on a search result that is pointed to an old, deleted page you will arrive at our custom "Page Not Found" page.

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