“Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart will compete with works by Hilary Mantel, James Meek and Stephen May for the Costa novel of the year, while a biography-cum-memoir by Mary Talbot, drawn by her husband Bryan Talbot who also worked on Judge Dredd and Batman, is one of four books in the best biography shortlist.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Vancouver’s MusicFest Cancels 2013 Edition
The ten-day August event, which features jazz, folk, classical and world music at numerous venues, has an accumulated deficit of more than $150,000. The financial troubles are attributed to insufficient ticket income, corporate and government support.
Iranian Rock Star Defies Triple Fatwa
“His name is Shahin Najafi. Last May, at least three ayatollahs called for his execution after he released a song they interpreted as insulting to Shia Islam’s 10th Imam. … Najafi is probably the most incendiary Iranian musician there is. His songs take on issues like sexual freedom, women’s rights, the sanctity of virginity, government corruption, rape in prison, and the rule of mullahs.”
Is British Theatre Really Being Destroyed By The Disappearance Of Repertory Companies? (No.)
Lyn Gardner: “But most regional theatres couldn’t afford to operate in that way and neither would they want to: programmers and audiences want a far broader range of work that would have been seen in the rep-style theatres of 73-year-old [Ian] McKellen’s youth.”
Was A Major Collection Of Edward Hopper’s Art Looted By His Minister?
One of the world’s top Hopper scholars has alleged that the late Rev. Arthayer Sanborn acquired his trove of Hopper paintings, drawings and artifacts (all now at the Hopper House Museum) by taking them from the artist’s house after he and his wife died.
Tamara Rojo, Taking The Helm At English National Ballet
“Seen as the toughest job in British ballet today, the position sits at the head of a company that has no London-based theater, tours the country extensively, and has serious funding restraints. But Rojo is a woman who loves challenges.”
The Movie That’s Cheering Up The Troubled Greeks
“But heroes have been in short supply in the country’s hour of need, which could explain the rush to cinemas to spend time in the company of an 18th-century pirate turned luxury foodstuffs tycoon.” The film’s title: God Loves Caviar.
Is Hollywood Moving Recording Of Movie Scores From The US To Europe?
Film industry figures say that the big studios are pulling their film score work out of L.A., recording instead with orchestras in London or with cheaper Czech or Slovak musicians – and these figures argue that restrictive US musicians’ union rules are to blame. Union officials not only dismiss the charge; they claim that the alleged exodus of film score work from L.A. is exaggerated.
Marina Abramovic On Finally Being Famous
“People listen to me now. Before, they didn’t. Now they give me much more platform to do things. That makes you superstar! If you use [fame] otherwise, you can also sit at home, indulge yourself in drugs and waste all the time. Which I have never done and never will!”
Art Historians Are Flunking The Internet
Getty Trust president James Cuno: “Of course we have technology in our galleries and classrooms and information on the Web … But we aren’t conducting art historical research differently. We aren’t working collaboratively and experimentally. As art historians we are still, for the most part, solo practitioners working alone in our studies and publishing in print and online as single authors and only when the work is fully baked.”