NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville will host celebrations to honor literary legend Mark Twain from now until May 2010.

The celebrations of the legendary American writer will include book club discussions, art exhibits, theater presentations, dance performances, marionette shows and musical tributes as rich and as varied as Twain's writing.

"The viewpoints, stories, and presentations will be as diverse as our community, and will enrich the understanding of learners of all ages," said Elyse Adler, Nashville Public Library administrator in a press release. "We hope that the event will promote both traditional and nontraditional forms of education, and cultivate widespread appreciation for literature and the arts."

The citywide celebration launched Monday with a "river" raft sailing in Public Square in front of Metro Courthouse. The event had live music and a Mark Twain impersonator courtesy of Metro Parks Cultural Arts.

For more information, visit twainandtwang.org.

Schedule Of Events:

John Hartford: Ever Smiling, Ever Gentle on My Mind
Through December 2009
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Raised in St. Louis, where his boyhood fascination with steamboats was rivaled only by his passion for bluegrass and old-time music, John Hartford (1937-2001) was an innovative songwriter, versatile musician and charismatic entertainer. After moving to Nashville, he wrote "Gentle on My Mind" recorded by Glen Campbell, which became a Grammy-winning pop and country hit. Hartford divided his time between music and the Mississippi River, spending his summers working as a pilot on the steamboat Julia Belle Swain. His 1976 album of river songs, Mark Twang, also received a Grammy. This exhibit features John Hartford's handwritten lyrics, album covers, stage clothing, musical instruments and riverboat sketches. For more information, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.com or call 615-416-2001.

Words & Music
September 2009-May 2010
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Students grades 3-12 can refine their writing skills through songwriting in this ongoing program. Using a teacher's lesson guide provided by the museum, teachers will guide their students through the process of writing song lyrics in their classroom. The lyrics will be given to a professional songwriter who will add melodies to a selection from the class. The songwriter will perform the songs for the students at the museum where the students will also take a tour of the exhibits.

Mark Twain: A Film by Ken Burns
September 3 & 10 at 8 p.m.
NPT Channel 8
Nashville Public Television presents an encore broadcast of Mark Twain: A Film By Ken Burns. Drawing from 63 hours of material, thousands of archival photographs and nearly 20 interviews with top writers and scholars, this two-part, four-hour documentary is the story of Twain's extraordinary life, full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and almost unbearable tragedy. Told primarily through the words of Twain himself, viewers of all ages will be personally introduced to this compelling yet contradictory genius.

Scarecrows!
September 5-November 1
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
This seasonal outdoor exhibition features scarecrows throughout Cheekwood's gardens and grounds. In honor of Nashville's Citywide Celebration of Mark Twain, Cheekwood invites participants to create scarecrows with a Mark Twain theme. Big or small, frightening or friendly, silly or serious-there is sure to be a 'crow for everyone! Visit www.cheekwood.org for more information.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
September 22-October 9
Nashville Children's Theatre
The return of the hit NCT production of this toe-tapping Broadway musical about the irrepressible boy growing up along the Mississippi River, written by playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor) and songwriter Don Schlitz ("The Gambler"), based on the book by Mark Twain. For more information, visit www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org.

Thomas Hart Benton in Story and Song
October 2, 2009-January 31, 2010
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
A selection of drawings and watercolors narrating works by Mark Twain-including Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer-created by another promoter of American narratives and everyday life, Thomas Hart Benton. A section of the exhibition will focus on another source of inspiration for the artist: folk music and musicians. Benton's lifelong admiration of Americana music is well known, yet works of this subject matter have not yet been assembled as an exhibition.

Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
March 20-April 10, 2010
Tennessee Repertory Theatre
Adapted from the book by Mark Twain and propelled by an award-winning score by country great Roger Miller, this Tony award-winning theatrical celebration of pure Americana sweeps audiences down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Presented in the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Johnson Theater.

Straight Outta Hannibal! The Life Of Mark Twain, Rock Star
April 15-17 & 21-24, 2010
People's Branch Theatre
Think you know everything there is to know about Samuel Clemens? Meet Mark Twain-rock star! Continuing their tradition of original, provocative new works, People's Branch Theatre presents Straight Outta Hannibal!, an original rock musical by Ross Brooks and Brooke Bryant, based on Twain's autobiography, his world-famous lectures, and his last posthumously published work, Letters from the Earth. This humorous, radical, provocative and profound look at an American icon will introduce a heretofore undiscovered side of Mark Twain and chronicle the events and ideas that led to the creation of the world's first star (rated PG-13).

The Elusive Mr. Twain by Carolyn German
April 28-May 1, 2010
Metro Parks Theater Department and Fort Negley/Two Rivers Mansion
Based on historical record, The Elusive Mr. Twain imagines the story of two women living in the post-Civil War South who develop an unlikely friendship after they discover a mutual dream of becoming newspaper journalists. Encouraged by the popularity of the legendary author and humorist Mark Twain, the pair sets off "up North" determined to win an audience with the man himself.

The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
April-May 2010
Nashville Public Library
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is the short story that got Mark Twain's reputation as a humorist hopping! In the story, "as told to Mark Twain," an old man named Simon Wheeler relates a ridiculous tall tale about a miner and his pet frog. Featuring various puppetry styles and exciting original music, this adaptation by Wishing Chair Productions will delight all ages.

For more information, visit twainandtwang.org.