ESSAYS TO BE MORE IMPORTANT

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

In spite of the arduousness of the present era, Hartwell’s Foundation has been able to deliver an inspiring summary of the work of this past year. More than three hundred fictional characters were sent into reality, either for a day or in the case of a dozen or so, a full week. The cost of these excursions has increased considerably since Hartwell’s inaugural campaign more than fifty years ago—the first class of twenty, selected through a mix of juried nominations and a popular vote, included Romeo, Columbo, Gudrun Brangwen, Dino the Dinosaur, Nancy Drew, Blanche DuBois, Tattycoram, Becky Thatcher, James Bond, Holden Caulfield, Frederick Wentworth, Porky Pig, and Rochester. While each character could be inserted into reality for only $500 that first year, the arrangements and accommodations now exceed $3000 for each character. And yet, it was still possible to manifest as factually existent the members of this year’s class, which drew from books (including Easy Rawlins and Janey Smith), comic books (including Archie Andrews and Lobo), movies and television (Newman), video games (Diddy Kong), and even the lyrics of popular songs (Angelina of “Farewell, Angelina,” Jessie’s girl, and others). A review of the process found that diversity, while it has improved considerably over the past decade, remains less than optimal. There has been a proposed change to the selection process which would focus less on the popular vote and more on short essays by the characters. Still, the organizers continue to insist on the importance of the initiative. The week-long program in particular, they argue, is often revelatory, giving the characters insight into factual life that they would otherwise never have had. It seems to be especially memorable for the most fanciful characters. Dino, for example, was so taken by his experience that he joined the Board of Directors and has been an instrumental part of the program ever since.