The 70th Carnegie Medal for outstanding children’s literature has been won by Just In Case, “Meg Rosoff’s uncompromising novel about a 15-year-old Luton boy’s existential crisis… The Carnegie is the UK’s longest-running award for children’s writing and, although the winners take home no prize money, it is one of the most coveted.”
Author: sbergman
Is He Likely To Be Terribly Welcome?
“The Pakistani religious affairs minister who sparked uproar with his criticism of the author Salman Rushdie’s knighthood today announced he was planning a visit to Britain” in an effort to clear the air. In a statement to the Pakistani parliament, the minister appeared to condone the idea of killing Mr. Rushdie with a bomb, sparking numerous threats on the author’s life.
Portrait Prize Goes To 59-Year-Old
“A 59-year-old has won the first BP Portrait Award open to artists of any age. Paul Emsley, from Bradford on Avon, in Wiltshire, [England] takes the £25,000 prize for an oil painting of a 67-year-old artist who lives in his town.” The contest was previously open only to artists under 40.
UK Museums: We Like Being Free
Britain’s leading museum directors have issued a statement of strong support for the government program that allowed them to drop all admission charges several years back. “The move comes after the shadow culture secretary, Hugo Swire, told a newspaper that museums should be allowed more freedom in the way they run themselves, including the freedom to charge for entrance if they wish.”
Would Tax Changes Enhance UK Museum Revenue?
What can museums do about the fact that record auction sales are pricing them out of the high-end art market? “For UK museums with decreasing spending power, this inexorable rise in the global art market is a desperate, ongoing problem… One of the most important potential changes that could come from government is the introduction of tax incentives that would create a better culture of giving in the UK – something that galleries and organisations such as the Art Fund have long campaigned for.”
Ancient Artifacts Done Right
Jonathan Jones likes what he sees from the British Museum’s revamped prehistoric galleries. “There is no denying the beauty of prehistoric artefacts. You can disguise it, though, by displaying hundreds of arrowheads in cases that don’t seem to have been dusted since the 1950s – which is why this new set of modern and gracious galleries comes as a joy. The real test of the dynamic new British Museum is how well it does its basic job of displaying the ancient past. Very well, is the answer from looking at this new suite. It’s simple and smart, so as you walk along, you perceive changing time as a succession of colours.”
Maazel Slams The Critics Who Regularly Slam Him
Lorin Maazel has never been a conductor afraid to say what he thinks, and in a new interview, he takes dead aim at music critics, particularly those in America. “American critics are incompetent… If journalists wrote of sports as they do of music, they would be fired a thousand times. But classical music is a niche field, and newspaper editors understand nothing about it.”
Tower Of London Threatened By Development?
The Tower of London is being considered for a spot on UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites because of the skyscrapers rising all around it. “hemmed in by a noisy highway and overrun by tourists, the landmark no longer casts quite the same shadow in an area dominated by brightly lit, glass-canopied office buildings and hypermodern skyscrapers like the Norman Foster building known as The Gherkin.”
Does Amateur Content Really Devalue The Pros?
“Web 2.0 critic Andrew Keen is taking a lot of flak for his book attacking the internet as a refuge for mediocrity and dilettantism… But one of Keen’s central arguments — that the internet, by its all-inclusive nature and easy access, opens the door to amateurism-as-authority while at the same time devaluing professional currency — deserves a full airing.”
A Potter Spoiler, Perhaps
A hacker is claiming that he has seen the ending of the yet-to-be-released final installment in the Harry Potter series, and has posted the identity of the characters who are killed off on his website. “He claims to have hacked into the computer system at publishers Bloomsbury.” Author JK Rowling and her publisher are reportedly unimpressed, and are reiterating their earlier caution that fans of the series should beware false online rumors.