In an appearance with Günter Grass, Norman Mailer “said he searched his own life to figure out why Mr. Grass didn’t speak about his (Waffen-SS service) earlier. ‘What have I held onto for so long?’ he asked, and then answered: stabbing his second wife, Adele, in 1960. ‘It’s something I’ll probably never write about,’ he said. ‘I’ve never felt ready to write about it.'” (first item)
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Coleman, Hill Lead Winners Of Jazz Journalists’ Awards
“Ornette Coleman and the late Andrew Hill were the two big winners of the 2007 Awards of the Jazz Journalists’ Association (JJA), an organization comprising 400 journalists, editors, broadcasters, and photographers working internationally.”
The Love Of Writing, Not The Contract, Is The Point
“Getting published by a mainstream company is great, but in all honesty, how many of us can really afford to give up the day job, even when we’ve signed that contract? Such a long, heartbreaking haul for what? The joy of writing should be just that – the writing,” children’s author Beth Webb argues. “Define your audience and publish yourself.”
Film To Stage And Back Again: It Isn’t Pretty
“There’s a new recycling process evident in the arts: the decent film which spawns a lousy musical now spawns an ever more dreadful movie,” Shane Danielsen opines, citing “The Producers,” “Hairspray” and “Grey Gardens” as evidence of the trend. “All this is a little like watching a dog consume its own vomit.”
Beverly Sills Hospitalized, “Gravely Ill”
“Beverly Sills, the opera diva who won over fans worldwide with her sparkling voice and charming personality and later became a powerhouse in the New York arts world, is gravely ill with cancer, The Associated Press has learned. … The Met would neither confirm nor deny news of her illness, but people close to the situation said Sills was at a Manhattan hospital, with her daughter at her side.”
Provenance Of Albertina’s Posters Is Investigated
A collection of 3,600 posters assembled by a Viennese businessman could become the focus of “one of the largest spoliation claims in Western Europe in over 50 years, in terms of the number of objects the museum could lose.” Vienna’s Albertina museum may have obtained the collection, which includes works by Mucha and Klimt, through a “forced sale” by the collector’s nephew as he fled the Nazis.
Purnell In, Jowell Out As UK Culture Secretary
“James Purnell is to be the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport. Mr Purnell, who once worked for the BBC and spent a year after the last election as a junior minister in the culture department, has been given the post by new prime minister Gordon Brown. Outgoing culture secretary Tessa Jowell has retained responsibility for planning the 2012 Olympics and will remain in the cabinet.”
The “Creative Industries” Aren’t Industries
“The financial power of the creative industries … was the subject of a report from the Work Foundation published the day before the change of premiers,” Mark Lawson writes. The foundation “encourages us to view (government) handouts (to cultural powerhouses) as ‘investment’ rather than ‘subsidy’. Yet it’s still startling to read arguments applied to the arts that few politicians or lobbyists would now dare invoke in relation to railways, telecommunications or post.”
For Writers, Has Research Gotten Too Easy?
“Nowadays, thanks to the internet and its many search engines writers can conduct their research at a much-accelerated pace. Chief among the millions of web resources is its most frequently-visited encyclopedia, Wikipedia. … Research has now been boiled down to a few hours on a laptop at a crumb-flecked table in an overpriced coffee shop. This may not necessarily be a good thing.”
Prince CD Giveaway Draws Ire Of Music Industry
“The eagerly awaited new album by Prince is being launched as a free CD with a national Sunday newspaper in a move that has drawn widespread criticism from music retailers. … One music store executive described the plan as ‘madness’ while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores. Prince’s label has cut its ties with the album in the UK to try to appease music stores.”