Senior Leads Eggers Fundraiser

Bestselling author Dave Eggers will share the stage with bands and other artistic luminaries tonight at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston for the concert fundraiser “Revenge of the Book Eaters.”

The concert, partially organized by Kevin J. Feeney ’08, will raise money for 826 Boston, the newest chapter of 826 National, a creative writing program founded in 2002 by Eggers.

“The essential goal [of the program] is to foster a literary creativity, and to engender a new interest in writing,” said Feeney, the founding coordinator of 826 Boston, and one of the earliest participants in Eggers’ workshops in San Francisco.

Eggers, who will be giving a reading at the concert, catapulted into the ranks of hipster icons after the 2000 publication of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” Bass Professor of English and American Literature and Language Louis Menand called the part-memoir, part-novel the “MTV” version of “The Catcher and the Rye” in an article in The New Yorker.

Unlike J.D. Salinger, however, who spent much of his literary career hiding from fans, Eggers has used his fame to promote philanthropic causes. In addition to founding 826 National, the proceeds from his latest work, “What is the What,” which relates the life of a Sudanese refugee, will go to aid people displaced by the political turmoil in Sudan.

The evening will host a variety of performances, ranging from readings of student works to performances by professionals, including Eugene Mirman, Davy Rothbart, Rodney Rothman, and the bands Of Montreal and Via Audio.

“It’s all going to be somewhat kind of low-key,” said David Lizmi, the bassist of Via Audio. “We’re trying to make it special and intimate.”

All the musical acts involved are going to strip down and do something more unique for the event,” he said.

Feeney said this event will very likely be one of his last major contributions to 826 Boston, as he contemplates returning to California after graduation and phasing out his duties on the board of 826 Boston, which will open a branch in the Massachusetts capital this fall.

“This has been a great experience for me and I loved getting to know everyone in the Boston community and working with tons of different types of people as we kind of flushed out this dream,” Feeney said.