With her drama, now on Broadway, about working-class folks in a struggling Pennsylvania factory town, Nottage becomes the first woman playwright to win two Pulitzer Prizes.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Colson Whitehead’s ‘Underground Railroad’ Wins 2017 Pulitzer For Fiction
“The Pulitzer comes after The Underground Railroad won the National Book Award, after it was selected for Oprah’s Book Club, and after Moonlight director Barry Jenkins signed on to adapt it for television.”
Matthew Desmond’s ‘Evicted’ Wins Nonfiction Pulitzer, And Housing Advocates Are Beside Themselves
Henry Grabar: “In short, Evicted the book that everyone who thinks about housing for a living has been reading or giving to their friends.”
Pulitzer Prize For Biography Goes To Hisham Matar’s ‘The Return’
“Matar’s latest book details his return to Libya in 2012 as he sought the truth [of] his father’s fate, decades after he was kidnapped by Colonel Qaddafi’s secret security [forces]. … His first novel, In the Country of Men, was nominated for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.”
History Pulitzer Goes To Heather Ann Thompson’s ‘Blood In The Water’; Tyehimba Jess’s ‘Olio’ Takes Pulitzer For Poetry
“Thompson’s book explores an infamous [1971] riot at the Attica Correctional Facility [in New York state] that involved 1,300 prisoners and ultimately led to the deaths of 39 people. … [Jess’s volume] tells the stories behind America’s blues, work songs and church hymns.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.10.17
Cunningham Redivivus
Compagnie CNDC Angers – Robert Swinston bring three dances by Merce Cunningham to New York. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-04-09
Entertaining Consent — Seriously
Nina Raine’s new drama, Consent, can now be seen in a stunning in-the-round production at the National Theatre’s small Dorfman auditorium – but the play is so good (and has been so well reviewed) that it will not be surprising if it transfers to the West End. Or even to Broadway, despite its essential Englishness. … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-04-10
Extraordinary UTEP
I could say many things about my two days last week at UTEP, the University of Texas at El Paso. … What I most took away was what I learned about the university itself. Certainly one of the most inspiring stories in higher education. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-04-10
Jeff Parker and Jazz Guitar
For months now, one of the most intriguing instrumentalists in Los Angeles has been unspooling his style for the price of a drink in a small bar in Highland Park. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-04-10
The thirty-day movie challenge
The response to my recently posted list of my favorite films from each of the sixty-one years of my life today was so favorable that I decided to respond to yet another popular movie meme. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-04-10
Farm Animal Ballet: Ann Carlson’s ‘Doggie Hamlet’ Becomes Ammo In The NEA Wars
“What exactly is Doggie Hamlet? The 70-minute production, which unfolds at dusk, includes five performers, three herding dogs, a dog handler, a dog trainer and a flock of sheep.” A rough, heavily-edited three-minute video of sections of the piece was picked up by a conservative website and posted under the headline, “Taxpayers Foot Bill for ‘Doggie Hamlet’.” Gia Kourlas investigates, and, as a dance critic, comes to Carlson’s defense.
P.G. Wodehouse Was An American Author (From The Dept. Of Little-Realized Facts)
“As a pre-World War II transatlantic creative, he worked in Hollywood and on Broadway. And after World War II – things had gotten pretty hot for him in Britain because of the radio broadcasts he made for the Nazis as a captive in 1941 – he lived in the U.S. until his death. He became an American citizen in 1955.” And this American-ness, argues one scholar, is key to Wodehouse’s continuing appeal.
Why Chekhov’s Plays Are Relevant In 2017 America
The idea may seem absurd – he wrote about people’s private lives, and he’s known to have disliked all but the most genteel political protests – but the directors and critics who’ve talked with writer Lisa Rothman make a very good case. (For instance, “The central music of Chekhov’s plays is people talking-talking-talking but never listening.”)
Terrence Malick Is Making Films With Actual Scripts Again
“There’s a lot of strain when working without a script because you can lose track of where you are,” he recently told an audience in D.C. “It’s very hard to coordinate with others who are working on the film. Production designers and location managers arrive in the morning and don’t know what we’re going to shoot or where we’re going to shoot. The reason we did it was to try and get moments that are spontaneous and free.”