Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains, which recounts his escape from Iran to Indonesia and onward to Australia by boat, has just won the $25,000 National Biography Award, the fourth prize it has received in a year. Boochani composed the book text message by text message, which he sent from the detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Metro DC’s National Philharmonic Is Officially Saved From Bankruptcy
“On Saturday afternoon, the orchestra’s board voted unanimously for a transition plan … which calls for the exit of the orchestra’s top leadership [and] brings a temporary close to weeks of tension between the orchestra’s musicians and senior administration.” – The Washington Post
The Most Visited Single-Artist Museum In The World? It’s Not The Van Gogh Museum Anymore
“The art collective teamLab’s new, immersive museum in Tokyo attracted more visitors than the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam last year, and twice the combined number of visitors to the three Dalí museums in Spain. … In its first year of operation, teamLab Borderless in Tokyo attracted 2.3 million visitors in total. A further 1.2 million visitors enjoyed the collective’s temporary immersive light experience in Japan’s capital.” – Artnet
Major NHS Hospital In UK Institutes Arts-As-Patient-Care Program
“University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust’s board agreed to continue funding a pilot scheme initiated last year, suggesting that creative activities could reduce the need for certain types of pain relief, help tackle major challenges such as loneliness and mental health, and reduce financial strain on the NHS.” – The Stage
Nine Women Accuse Plácido Domingo Of Sexual Harassment
“For decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women professionally when they refused his advances, numerous accusers told The Associated Press.” – Yahoo! (AP)
Borne on the Winds
The gray-haired man standing outside Jacob’s Pillow’s Ted Shawn Theater during intermission is explaining his reaction to Andrea Miller’s Boat to two attentive listeners. The members of her company, Gallim, he says, never stand still! He can’t get over that. – Deborah Jowitt
“Heedlessly Controversial” — Remembering Oscar Levant
That Levant was what he seemed was doubtless a key to his appeal. His authenticity has never appeared more exceptional: no present-day mainstream media personality – not even our President — is as heedlessly controversial as was Levant every time he opened his mouth. – Joe Horowitz
Iris would have been 100 last month
It’s difficult to remember when I first met Iris Murdoch and John Bayley – in my experience, they were inseparable. – Paul Levy
Bob Wilber, RIP
We have learned that the superlative clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber died at his home in England earlier this month. – Doug Ramsey
Who Was Ira Glass’s Biggest Influence? Roland Barthes (Yes, The Semiotician)
“At college, we were assigned Barthes’s S/Z , which made me understand what I could do in radio. … In S/Z, Barthes takes apart a short story by Balzac, line by line. He asks: How does this story pull you in, engage, and give you pleasure? He … explains: here’s how to structure a narrative by creating a sequence of events that will create forward motion that will create narrative suspense, planting questions along the way that can be answered. That turned out to be an enormously useful way to think about how to do an interview.” – The New York Review of Books