“NYMF had altered its contract with participants this year to guarantee the festival 2 percent of the applicant and author’s gross ‘on all income received from the play in excess of $20,000 over 10 years.’ The Dramatists Guild complained that such rights exceeded what NYMF was entitled to as a nonproducing partner.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
How To Tackle The Classics On Your Summer Vacation
On audiobook, Laura Miller advises. “Listening is less work than reading from a page; it feels like a treat rather than an assignment, and treats are what vacations are all about. If your attention goes a little out of focus during a long paragraph of 19th-century landscape description, who’s to know?”
E-Books Won’t Vanquish Print (Thanks, Marshall McLuhan)
“Movies didn’t finish theater. TV didn’t destroy movies. E-books won’t destroy paper and ink. The Internet and e-books may set back print media for a while, and they may claim a larger audience in the end. But a lot of people who care about reading will want the feel, the smell, the warmth, the deeper intellectual, emotional, and spiritual involvement of print.”
Chinese Painter Wu Guanzhong Dies at 90
“Mr. Wu’s education and career were constantly disrupted by war and political turmoil,” as when he was forced to do hard labor during the Cultural Revolution. In more recent years, “Mr. Wu won recognition as one of China’s most original artists and became a darling of Asian and Western collectors. In 2009 his works fetched nearly $40 million at auction.”
Indie Bookstores’ E-Book Ally: Google
“Google is on the verge of completing a deal with the American Booksellers Association, the trade group for independent bookstores, to make Google Editions the primary source of e-books on the Web sites of hundreds of independent booksellers around the country, according to representatives of Google and the association.”
A Creator Dukes It Out With A Teen Pirate, Via E-Mail
“Hey there!” Jason Robert Brown wrote to each of 400-odd people offering his sheet music free online. “Can I get you to stop trading my stuff? It’s totally not cool with me. Write me if you have any questions, I’m happy to talk to you about this.” And he included his e-mail address. Most quickly complied, but one teen worshiper of the composer was a case study in intransigence.
Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones In Driving Miss Daisy
“The production, which will be directed by David Esbjornson, marks the first time that Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 play will receive a Broadway staging.” Opening is set for October.
Prince Charles’ Defense: Just Speaking Up For Regular Folk
“Today Sir Michael Peat, the prince’s private secretary, claimed Charles opposed Lord Rogers’ £3bn modernist designs because ‘it is part of the Prince of Wales’ role and duty to make sure the views of ordinary people that might not otherwise be heard receive some exposure’.”
Inside A Matchbook, A 300-Character Lit Mag
“For a dime an issue, Kyle Petersen publishes a quarterly literary magazine. He charges his customers nothing. And he’s seen enough success to debut Issue No. 2 on Thursday…. Published inside a book of matches, each issue of Matchbook Story has room for only a single 300-character tale.”
When Authors Have To Leave The Writing Cave
AL Kennedy: “Time was, writers didn’t have to appear – they didn’t need to support and maintain an appearance. … Everyone was equally covered in mammoth blood and filth, or olive oil and filth, or leprosy and filth, and all was well.” No such luck these days.