“Canadian Alice Munro won the third Man Booker International Prize, overcoming competition from authors including Peter Carey, Mario Vargas Llosa and Joyce Carol Oates for the cash award of 60,000 pounds ($94,900). First bestowed on Albanian writer Ismail Kadare in 2005, the prize is granted once every two years in recognition of a living author who has made an outstanding contribution to world literature.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
The Industry That Frets Together: Gearing Up For BEA
“This weekend’s BookExpo America will be a good time for promoting, predicting, mingling — and worrying. … Like the industry itself, this year’s booksellers convention seeks to be smaller, more economical and more committed to a digital future.”
Apple Gives Okay To Kama Sutra On Your iPhone
“The Eucalyptus ebook reader program was initially rejected because people could use it to read the Kama Sutra, but Apple has since allowed the software to go on sale. The app, made by James Montgomerie, enables iPhone and iPod touch users to access thousands of free books from the Project Gutenberg library, including the Kama Sutra, which Apple deemed offensive.”
In Publishing And Entertainment, Intemperance Is The Rule
“People working in media, publishing and entertainment sectors are the heaviest drinkers, according to the Department of Health. They consume an average of 44 units a week, almost twice the recommended maximum amount of three-to-four units a day for men, and two-to-three for women.”
Rat Droppings In Makeup (And Other West End War Stories)
“Impresarios behind some of the West End’s best-known musicals have been criticised for putting on plays in filthy conditions that include claims of rat infestations and floods of raw sewage. While theatregoers have become accustomed to enjoying shows in comfort, actors at the capital’s leading venues claim they are forced to endure ‘awful’ backstage conditions.”
Charlotte Symphony Musicians Warn Of Funding-Cut Perils
“The Charlotte Symphony’s musicians are ‘shocked and outraged’ by the Arts & Science Council’s decision to slash the financially troubled orchestra’s funding, the Charlotte Symphony Players’ Association says in a letter to the ASC.” Noting that they understand the symphony’s need “to address its serious financial problems,” the musicians add: “Unfortunately, the ASC’s ‘tough love’ approach could kill the patient.”
Padel Apologizes For ‘Grave Error Of Judgment’
“Ruth Padel has ruled herself out of standing again for the Oxford professorship of poetry after she resigned the position last night. … Padel also took the opportunity to apologise to [Derek] Walcott ‘for anything I have done which can be misconstrued as being against him’.” She apologized to Oxford as well.
For Actors & Actresses, Age Matters, But Does It Have To?
“Whether on stage or screen, actors depend on casting directors (and, indeed, audiences) being willing to see them play characters of a wide variety of ages. If it becomes too widely known that Actor X is, say, 40 years old, Actor X is going to worry that he’s not going to be taken seriously when the next part for a 25-year-old ingenue is up for grabs.”
Feeling The Void Where Updike Used To Be
“I miss John Updike. … It’s not that I miss waiting for his next novel to appear. I don’t think I read one since the wonderful ‘In the Beauty of the Lilies’ was published in 1997. I didn’t hold my breath in expectation of those often-convoluted book reviews that showed up in The New Yorker. It’s not that. I miss his being around.”
Now Playing On The Sydney Opera House: Eno’s Paintings
“The artwork of music producer Brian Eno is illuminating the iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House as part of a sound and light festival in the city. They have become a canvas for audio-visual work 77 Million Paintings which uses ‘self-generating software’ to manipulate 300 of Eno’s drawings. He says it aims to provoke ‘visual ecstasy’ and ‘heightened calm’.”