The first African writer to win a Nobel, Soyinka had to sneak out of his homeland after dictator Sani Abacha confiscated his passport; he claimed asylum in the States when Abacha sentenced him to death. Though the playwright since moved back to Nigeria, he regularly took temporary gigs at American institutions. Now, in the face of you-know-what, he’s given up his green card.
Category: people
Is Rape Charge Against Moscow’s Scrotum-Nailing Artist Actually Legit?
News broke yesterday that Pyotr Pavlensky, Russia’s most notorious protest artist, had fled the country and sought political asylum in France due to allegations of sexual assault that he says are bogus and politically motivated. Rachel Donadio looks into the situation and finds that it’s not at all so clear-cut.
Presidential Libraries As Political Monuments
“The collections are of value to historians, but can self-aggrandizing presentations even be considered drafts of history? They are really ante-historical. Or anti-historical. They resemble the self-tributes that royalty once erected. Former presidents create monuments celebrating their own excellence, and the results are managed in perpetuity by the National Archives.”
William Peter Blatty, Author Of ‘The Exorcist’, Dead At 89
He sold vacuum cleaners, drove a beer truck, joined the Air Force and USIA, and spent the ’60s writing comic novels and screenplays in L.A. before creating the book and film that changed the horror genre and conquered pop culture.
Artist Who Nailed His Scrotum To Red Square Flees Russia After Rape Charge, Seeks Asylum
Pyotr Pavlensky – the protest artist who not only fastened his junk to the pavement in front of the Kremlin but also physically sewed his lips together while Pussy Riot was in prison and set fire to the front door of Russia’s secret service headquarters – has fled to France with his wife and children after an accusation of sexual assault (which he says was trumped up) and a seven-hour interrogation at Moscow’s airport.
Walker Art Center Artistic Director Fionn Meade Resigns
“Meade had served since March 2015 as the Walker’s artistic director, a newly created role at the museum. Prior to that, he had served for ten months as the Walker’s senior curator of cross-disciplinary platforms, another newly created role. He effectively took over as chief curator after Darsie Alexander left the institution to become director of New York’s Katonah Art Museum.”
Dev Patel On Being A Young Actor ‘Hungry To Show Emotional Range’
The star of Slumdog Millionaire and the new film Lion moved directly into acting from being a teenager in school. “Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from great directors and my co-stars. Acting is about honesty. When I began, I was trying to squeeze as much emotion out of roles as I could and get big laughs. Now it’s about doing less.”
What – And To Whom – Zaha Hadid Left Behind
The architect, who died suddenly last March, left money to relatives and her architecture firm’s partner, who has stoked controversy by speaking against public housing and art schools and advocating for building in Hyde Park. He’s also one of four partners in charge of the 60-million-pound trust that is her architecture firm.
The Man Who Figured Out How To Bridge The Chinese And Roman Alphabets Has Died At Age 111
Zhou Youguang didn’t create the first system to convert Chinese characters into another alphabet, but his Pinyin, which was adopted in 1958, not only made external communication easier but also helped Chinese people speaking widely varying dialects learn to communicate with each other.
Jennifer Holliday Pulls Out Of Inaugural Concert
In an open letter, provided exclusively to TheWrap, the “Dreamgirls” star apologized to the LGBT community, saying she was “uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans.”