A former US poet laureate is urging writers to use their words to publicly take a stand against human encroachment on nature and the effect of climate change on wildlife. Robert Hass “claimed that there has been little if no news reporting on the plight of these… animals as he made his case for international literature as an effective way to send out warnings.”
Author: sbergman
Canadian Writing Advocate Dies at 65
“Constance Rooke, a champion of Canadian writing, an editor, a writer, a scholar and a beloved teacher has died after a long bout with ovarian cancer.” She and her husband “founded the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival in 1989 when they were living in a former stagecoach hotel in the centre of the village. The festival, held on the first weekend after Labour Day each year, continues to celebrate the finest writing in Canada.”
Artist Could Be Jailed For Defacing His Own Mural
“Artist Ed Stross faces a 30-day stint in jail unless the American Civil Liberties Union manages to overturn his conviction for painting the word “love” on his mural in this Detroit suburb. Stross’s long-running dispute with local officials is over his addition of the word to his mural in 1997 in memory of Princess Diana.”
Atwood On The Credit Crisis
Margaret Atwood seems to have a knack for bringing out new novels just as some catclysmic event in real life makes her book seem all the more immediately relevant. So it should come as no surprise that her latest book, a non-fiction companion to a Toronto lecture series, is called “Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.”
Former Simpsons’ Writer Wins Thurber Prize
“Larry Doyle, a former television writer-producer for “The Simpsons,” was named Monday the winner of this year’s Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was cited for the novel I Love You, Beth Cooper… Previous winners include Jon Stewart, David Sedaris and Christopher Buckley.”
Will Aging Visionaries Save Us From Ourselves?
It’s a young man’s world, especially in the entrepreneurial arts, but Clive Thompson says that, given the crises we’re currently facing, we would do well to turn our attention to what the venerable figures of the business world are saying. “Young founders hack information; old founders hack atoms. But we’re moving to a world where we need more and more of the latter.”
Design Museum Announces Major Renovation
“Having already finished more than half of the fund-raising, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum plans to begin work in January on the renovation and expansion of its ornate [Manhattan] mansion. The project is aimed at energizing the Cooper-Hewitt, regarded in recent years as a somewhat sleepy institution, by carving out space for more ambitious shows and the display of works from its permanent collection.”
Remixing Obama/McCain ’08
A trio of artists in Boston is presenting live “remixes” of the presidential debates at the city’s new Institute of Contemporary Art. “For the members of Sosolimited, their remix, called “ReConstitution 2008,” is an act both of political engagement and mischief, examining the language of politics while gently mocking its repetitious nature with a kind of scorecard.”
Looking For Artificial Intelligence
“Can machines think? That was the question posed by the great mathematician Alan Turing. Half a century later six computers are about to converse with human interrogators in an experiment that will attempt to prove that the answer is yes.”
The Art Of Asking Permission
“Artists Christo and Jeanne- Claude conceived the idea of suspending huge swathes of fabric over a river back in 1992. They scouted dozens of Western locations before settling on a mountainous stretch of the Arkansas River, a southern Colorado playground for whitewater rafters in view of old U.S. 50. The couple, both 73, are still waiting for a Bureau of Land Management permit to install their ‘Over the River’ project.”