The Oxford American have bestowed their Lifetime Achievement in Southern Literature upon reclusive True Grit author, Charles Portis. He collected his award at the inagural Best of the South Gala in Little Rock on Saturday, April 3, 2010.

Read this interesting summary of the evening which includes his thoughts on the Coen brothers’ forthcoming adaptation – “I’m all for it,” he said, “as long as the checks don’t bounce.”

According to FirstShowing.net both Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are set to join Jeff Bridges in the cast of the Coen’s forthcoming adaptation of the Charles Portis novel, True Grit.

No reader of YKFK will need reminding of Brolin’s cracking performance in No Country For Old Men but Damon would be working with the Coen brothers for the first time, he joins George Clooney and Brad Pitt from the Ocean’s gang in having worked with them. Neither will play the 14 year-old girl who is the focus of both the novel and the movie, Damon is set to play LaBouef, a lawman alongside Bridges’ “Rooster” Cogburn while Brolin, surprisingly I thought, is due to play the murderer.

EDIT: According to the original Variety article the movie is due to go into production in March with a release date somewhere late in2010 with Paramount Pictures. The Coens reteam with producer Scott Rudin who worked with them on No Country For Old Men but interestingly, Steven Spielberg is also producing…

In a bizarre twist it looks like the zombie article at the Daily Mail from a year ago could have risen from the grave for a good reason. Variety are reporting that the Coen brothers are indeed set to re-make True Grit next. It has apparenlty stepped ahead of “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” in the pecking order.

Good news is that they plan to stick more closely to the plot of the original Charles Portis novel focusing on the story of a 14 year-old girl rather than follow the plot of the John Wayne movie. 

Bad news is- I was really looking forward to ”The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” because the novel is great and right up the Coen’s alley so to speak.

So, the Coens set to do a Western… could be interesting. Now I must read the book…

Thanks to Calvin and Erenik for tipping me off.