“From stolen Italian masterpieces ending up on the walls of a provincial South Island gallery, to a steady supply of fake Dick Frizzells being sold online,” New Zealand has more than its fair share of forgeries and fraudsters.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Gay-Themed Novel Wins Sebastian Barry His Second Costa Award
The Irish author is the first novelist to win the £30,000 prize for best book of the year in Britain twice. The winning book, Days Without End, is the story of two soldiers who fall in love during the American Civil War.
How Tolstoy’s ‘War And Peace’ Can Be An Inspiration For Resistance To The New Administration
“Thinking in essentialist terms, Tolstoy felt that Napoleon failed to destroy Russia because the collective interests of Russian people aligned against him: a majority of people – wittingly or unwittingly – acted to undermine his agenda. Is it possible that we will see a similar alignment of grassroots interests now?”
Kazakhstan Bids To Become A Real Player In Ballet World
The futuristic new capital of the energy-rich Central Asian republic has two fully professional ballet theaters, and talented dancers no longer need to go to Russia or the West to make a career.
Author Bharati Mukherjee, 76, Pioneer Of India’s Literary Diaspora
She was known for depicting, in books like The Middleman and Other Stories and Jasmine, the lives of young women from traditional societies as they navigate new lives in America. She’s also remembered for a stinging essay about her decision to leave Canada after 14 years for the United States.
After The Ghost Ship Fire, New Efforts To Get Funds To Victims And To Make Spaces Safer
Artist live/work compounds are fireproofing and upgrading where they can, and crowdfunding efforts for victims are looking not to make the mistakes that plagued such funds after previous tragedies.
Why Theories Of Everything Are A Waste Of Effort
In a Q&A, physicist Carlo Rovelli explains why he thinks attempts at a unified theory are wrongheaded (at least for now) and why space and time don’t “really exist.”
How Bad Is It, Really, To Contradict Yourself?
“In philosophy, since Socrates (a troll before there ever was an internet), the answer has been ‘very bad.’ If you find you believe two inconsistent propositions you need to do something about it. You owe a theory. But theories themselves tend to be confusing, unsatisfactory or both.”
Okay, Actors, Here’s What *Not* To Do At An Audition
The Stage‘s anonymous West End Producer, in response to a reader request, lays out “the cardinal sins of auditioning.” For instance: “Avoid slagging off other directors or performers. We will usually know the people involved, and my casting director will often have slept with them – so they will be personal friends.”
‘Graphic Novel’ Is Not An Accurate Name For The Genre, So Maybe We Should Go Back To ‘Comics’
“It used to be ‘comic books,’ or ‘cartoons,’ or ‘the funnies’ – silly names for childish entertainments. Now, we say ‘graphic novels,’ with some rolling their eyes at the puffed-up earnestness of the name.” Joel Priddy looks at where the descriptor came from, why there’s a backlash against it, and why “comics” may be the least-bad option.