The poetry world has been rent asunder by fierce arguments, in the past several weeks, over who deserves to be called a poet. Is it young women on Instagram and YouTube reading spoken word pieces? Is it Rupi Kaur, who came to fame with her “period photo” being banned from Instagram (and who has now sold a startlingly large number, inching toward a million, of copies of her poetry books)? Or is it the “serious poetry establishment” that takes them down? Says a publisher, “Poetry is most definitely not a broad church, but nor does it consist of 40 mutually exclusive sects. … One can worship at more than one altar.”
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Who Won At Sundance?
Well, The Miseducation of Cameron Post took top honors, and Kailish won on the documentary side, but there’s a long list of winners, some of which will be on screens both large and small in the next year.
Top AJBlogs For The Weekend Of 01.28.18
Weekend Extra: Meet Laila Biali
Among the many Canadian musicians attracting the attention of listeners outside Canada is the pianist and singer Laila Biali. She was born in Vancouver, B.C., in 1980 and trained in classical piano … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2018-01-27
The Grammys Show Support For More Diversity This Year, But There’s Much More To Be Done
Good work, Grammys, on the male side of the spectrum, with diverse nominees across major categories. But … “let’s hold off on patting too many backs. Even a casual look at the nominations reveals a woeful shortage of women up for the most coveted Grammys, which include album, record and song of the year.”
The Politically Outspoken Director Of The Queens Museum Steps Down
The board, Laura Raicovich said, was not very happy with the decision to close the museum for 2017’s presidential inauguration. Then “she recently proposed to the board that the museum — in collaboration with other institutions — consider becoming a kind of sanctuary space that connects immigrants with social services. ‘It was made very clear to me that that was not something that was of interest,’ she said.”
A Day In The Life Of A TV Dancer
Eight hours of rehearsal with cameras blocking every move and choreographers telling them what angles look best, then on set with two hours of hair and makeup, and – for a two-minute on-screen dance – three to four hours of takes. Plus the bacting, of course (that’s “background acting,” for those not in the know).
The Nominated Musicians We Won’t See At The Grammys
The New York Times‘ Jon Caramanica: “The seeming arbitrariness of the Grammy nominating process sometimes provides left-field gifts: unexpectedly excellent nominees in categories that almost certainly will not be televised in prime time. Here is a selection of 17 under-heralded artists as worthy, if not more so, than their better-known compatriots.”
The Secret Tape That Sheds Light On The Feud Between Francis Bacon And Lucian Freud
The estrangement wasn’t ever explained in their lifetimes, but here’s a bit more info from a tape made by one of Bacon’s close friends: “Bacon poured scorn on Freud, ridiculing one of his paintings in the Charles Saatchi collection and lamenting in 1982 that Freud ‘doesn’t want to see me.'”
What Happens When You Publish A Novel
Mira T. Lee: “I always told myself that once I’d written the book I wanted to write, anything else would be gravy. But suddenly I find myself plagued by feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, everything from ‘Will my sales meet my publisher’s expectations?’ to ‘Why didn’t that reader like my book?’ I thought I was old enough to be over all that ego-type stuff, but it’s a constant battle to stay grounded.”
Murals Mean As Much As Marches (And We Need Both)
Héctor Tobar: “We need to bring the ambitions, the foibles and the soul of immigrant America into the collective American mind. And for that we need television shows and movies, and more novels, poems, paintings and songs. High art and low. We need stories told in Spanglish and Korean slang, and erudite English, and in bright and moody colors by artists who represent the sons and daughters of the African, Latino and Asian diasporas.”