If it’s January and it’s really cold outside, it must be Winnipeg. It used to be necessary to marvel at the enormous crowds that flock to the Winnipeg Symphony’s annual festival of contemporary music in January. But after eight years, one of North America’s most successful new music festivals has firmly established itself. – Toronto Globe and Mail
Blog
MP3 SMACKDOWN
Copyright Control Services is in the business of stamping out the pirating of music on the internet. In a year, the group says, it has closed down 5,000 internet sites. – Wired
MODERNIZATION
- Christie’s turns some new corners under new leadership and modernizes its London headquarters. – The Telegraph (UK)
MASTERS OF THE NEW WORLD
Prices and sales of Old Master paintings are rising in New York. Many London dealers of Old Masters have opened branches in Manhattan, leading to speculation the Big Apple may surpass London as the center of the trade. – New York Times
CANADA DECIDES —
— to write the history of its art. The question is: what, and whose history should it be? – CBC
THE EXAMINED LIFE
The late writer Patrick O’Brian was famously private about his own life. O’Brian’s biographer Dean King, explains why he was drawn to write about the novelist: “I felt that by not telling the truth to reporters and to his live audiences in the United States during visits here, O’Brian forfeited the right to not have a closer look taken. There’s a right way and a wrong way to go about these things. My motive was not to bring down this man, it was simply to set the record straight, to present an accurate record of a great writer.” – The Idler
TAKING STOCK
Author Carol Shields puts aside her struggles with cancer as she publishes a new collection of stories and finishes her biography of Jane Austen. – National Post (Canada)
WORKSHOPITIS
- There are so many writers’ workshops these days it’s difficult not to trip over one. So the question is revived again – can good writing be taught, Hilma Wolitzer wonders? – New York Times
KURT VONNEGUT hospitalized —
— for smoke inhalation after a fire in his Manhattan home. – Boston Herald (AP)
TAKING STOCK
Author Carol Shields puts aside her struggles with cancer as she publishes a new collection of stories and finishes her biography of Jane Austen. – National Post (Canada)