And also the hot topics of 80 years ago. While Rebecca Makkai won best novel for The Great Believers, “Julia Boyd won the History prize for chronicling the Nazi party’s ascent to power in Travelers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism 1919-1945, a project that relied heavily on nearly century-old pieces of paper. ‘For anyone out there who has a box of letters in their attic and is thinking of throwing it out, don’t. Please,’ Boyd said.” – Los Angeles Times
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Issa Rae On Starring In A Movie With The Youngest Producer In Hollywood History
That’s right, Rae (of Insecure fame) shares the screen with a young woman who conceived of the movie when she was 10 and then executive- produced it at 14. “The bullying that the young [character] endures at school resonated with Rae, she says. ‘I really remember that moment, of being 13, and thinking: ‘How do I become someone where this doesn’t happen to me again?’'” – The Guardian (UK)
Writers Rally, Agents Dig In Over The Weekend
Writers vs. agents heated up over the weekend, and the sides don’t look any closer than they were last week. “The contract battle between the WGA and Association of Talent Agents came to a boil on Friday night, just as broadcast TV’s traditional staffing season is starting. With the broadcast network upfronts only a month away, pilot orders will be made in the coming weeks, which means showrunners will need to fill out writers rooms.” – Variety
Ignore The National Theatre’s Male-Playwright-Only Season
The reality is, the National Theatre is a leader in supporting women in theatre, at least according to one of its lighting designers. “If we want to give voices to women, then we need safe spaces to do so. This is about the direction of travel for our whole cultural sector and, while we can, and should, do better – the NT is a world leader.” – The Stage (UK)
Suzanne Farrell Returns To NYCity Ballet For First Time Since Peter Martins Fired Her In 1993
Farrell’s return to the company’s studios could be further evidence that its new leaders — Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Director Wendy Whelan — are continuing to make changes for the good. It also seems like a healing act. – Washington Post
Mark Redhill: The Trap Doors That Make Good Poetry
“Poetry has an inherent ability to not be linear, not be logical, be at times more about sound or suggestion than about direct meaning. This sounds a little bit like how the logic of dreams work.” – Toronto Star
Disney Used To See Netflix As A Way To Make Money. Now It Will Compete. Here’s What That’ll Look Like
Disney has thought about itself primarily as a maker of content. Netflix? That was the railway carrying the content to market. But Netflix has moved into content-making in a big way. So Disney is jumping in with its own streaming service to compete. – recode
Arts Sector Pleads With Arts Council England: Get Rid Of Your Hated Grant Application Portal
The findings follow years of mounting frustration from grant applicants with the “nightmare” system: the ‘Grantium’ hashtag on Twitter reveals virtually no positive tweets. One user described the portal as both “the most hated software” in the arts and “the least intuitive thing you’ve ever had the misfortune of using”. – Arts Professional
Do Environmental Crises Of 500 Years Ago Have Anything To Teach Us?
Indeed, they do. The worst environmental disasters – the ones that killed the most people – were often deliberately worsened by predatory governments, companies and individuals. Societies that escaped environmental disaster were relatively safe from colonial exploitation, and flexible in the face of shifting environmental circumstances. We face an uncertain future but, like early moderns, there is much we can do to either ease human suffering in the face of environmental upheaval – or make it a great deal worse. – Aeon
By Accident, Howard Sherman Finds Himself In A Theatre Audience Of Young People. It Changed His Experience
“Most theatre professionals recognise the value of bringing in younger patrons, especially those seeking careers in the theatre, as essential to the continued welfare of the industry. But there’s another benefit to bringing in such a group – that it has the effect of improving the vitality of the entire audience, broadening the range of responses to the work and breaking down the homogeneity that too often affects that essential element of theatre: the audience.” – The Stage