Farrar Straus & Giroux president Jonathan Galassi: “Poetry is not mainstream, but then neither is serious fiction, really. But I don’t think there’s a lot to worry about in this particular ‘problem’. Why does art have to be mainstream to be significant? … Poetry has a vital place in society, whether it’s granted one or not.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why Should England Fund The Arts? (Do We Have To Answer That Question Again?)
“Please God, no. Over 60 years after the foundation of the Arts Council, 50 years after the creation of the RSC, with publicly funded British plays the toast of Broadway, visits to newly free museums doubling in a decade and British concert life the envy of the world, surely we don’t have to justify giving public money to the arts? Again? Well, yes, we do.”
Who’s Responsible For England’s Culture Of Drunkenness? (The Toffs, Of Course)
“The debate about problem drinking and how to stop it nowadays centres mostly on the working-class young. They are highly visible – and audible – as they clog city centres on Saturday nights. But … Philip Withington, a Cambridge historian, argues that it was the educated elite who taught Britons how to drink to excess.”
How Twyla Tharp Pruned Come Fly Away In Las Vegas
“I think what I felt about the Broadway show was that it was ungroomed and needed pruning. Basically, I felt it rambled. I lightened the show. I took out some of the shadows in the underbrush. I made it more interior.” (Chris Jones: “And when Tharp references grooming and pruning, she speaks not of nips and tucks.”)
Photojournalist Eve Arnold, 99
“The longevity of Eve Arnold’s career as a photographer matched the heterogeneity of her work. Despite the success of her portraits of the rich and famous, Arnold … was equally well known for photographing ‘the poor, the old and the underdog’. She said: ‘It’s the hardest thing in the world to take the mundane and try to show how special it is’.”
Why Are We Still Fascinated With Joan Of Arc After Almost 600 Years?
“The self-proclaimed agent of God’s will, she wasn’t immortalized so much as she entered the collective imagination as a living myth. Centuries after death, she has been embraced by Christians, feminists, French nationalists, Mexican revolutionaries and even hairdressers. (Her crude cut inspired the bob flappers wore as a symbol of independence from patriarchal strictures.)”
Fire Dancing On The Rooftops Of Brooklyn
Fire poi dancing – the poi are “large, bulbous wicks attached to lengthy metal springs, resembling tennis balls on ropes. Flaming ones” – became popular at the Burning Man festival and is spreading through the US. In Brooklyn, there are lessons – clandestine, because of fire codes – on apartment building roofs.
Tibet And Comic Books (They Go Together)
“Is there any comic-book character who hasn’t been to Tibet? Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Tintin, superheroes like Spy Smasher and the Green Lama – even hand-drawn U.S. sailors have battled in landlocked Tibet, lobbing grenades into Japanese tanks.”
Fad Diets In History
“As we embark on a new year, many people are undoubtedly beginning new eating regimens in the name of slimmer waistlines. But as they wrestle with the diet du jour, perhaps it’s worth taking a lesson from the methods of the past.”
Artist Duo Creates A Roller-Coaster That’s Safe For The Fearful And Motion-Sick
“Officially called Tiger and Turtle- Magic Mountain, this sculpture of zinc-plated steel and LED lights … reaches heights of 69 feet and stands atop a hill in Anger Park in Duisburg, Germany, with a magnificent view of the Rhine to be enjoyed at whatever speeds you can reach on your own two feet.”