Category: people

Gao is considered the leading contemporary Chinese dramatist. His plays, which combine Zen philosophy and a modern worldview, have been performed all over the world, from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Australia to the Ivory Coast, the United States, France, Germany and other European countries. – China Times (Taiwan)

A TRUE EXILE WRITER: Those familiar with Gao’s work say he rankles the pro-democracy movement as well as China’s communist government. – Washington Post

WHO, AGAIN? “Xingjian is apparently the creator of Chinese oral theatre as well the author of a classic novel, ‘Soul Mountain’. I have never heard of him and neither – shameful to relate – had anyone else whose opinion I canvassed in the half-hour or so following the announcement, but then neither had many westerners heard of the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz before his triumph in 1988 or Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska in 1996.” – The Guardian

Good thing Oscar Wilde discovered writing. He had fancied himself a bit of a painter. “Wilde dabbled in watercolours as a young man, and his taste in art was conventional and deplorable.” So demonstrates a new art show. – The Guardian

Gong Li is the most recognizable and lauded actress in Chinese film today, yet she still has trouble finding satisfying roles, and when she does they are nearly always historical drama, rather than films tackling contemporary issues. “’Historical dramas are freer from government interference.” – Sydney Morning Herald

Stephen King is a writing industry. He writes 2,000 words a day and churns out a new book every three months or so. “According to Forbes magazine, he makes in excess of $50,000,000 a year (and I didn’t accidentally add a few zeros).” – The Age (Melbourne)

US Congressman Yates was a champion of the arts. “In his nearly 50 years in Congress, he regularly fought off assaults on his beloved National Endowment for the Arts. Without Yates’ support, government funding for theater, music, dance and visual arts might have vanished.” – Chicago Sun-Times

Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is working on his eighth produced script this year. “Unless and until someone can ante up eight produced new scripts this year – and show a couple of musicals and two screenplays in the hopper – it’s probably safe to dub Hatcher America’s Most Prolific Playwright.” – St. Paul Pioneer Press

Andreas Karavis has become something of a literary sensation, with his work turning up in prestigious publications. But he’s never granted an interview, and some wonder whether he exists. Poet David Solway, who speaks on Karavis’ behalf “may well simply be the man who discovered Karavis and been responsible for promoting his work in Canada. Or, according to a growing body of conspiratorial thought among the literati, he and Karavis may be one and the same.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Keith Jarrett has returned to the concert hall after a debilitating illness. “Jarrett, fortunately, is not in that twilight zone, and there is no smell of death in what he is doing. Even so, his recent frailty has intensified his appeal to his followers, a kind of worshippers-come-nigh charisma that has gilded any shortcomings in his own performing.” – New Statesman

A new biography claims that Shakespeare was a highly regarded actor and that he thought of himself as “doing a little writing on the side. – The Independent (UK)

Alberto Vilar has become the Daddy Warbucks of the music world. In the past few seasons he has given some $150 million for projects he likes. “Mr. Vilar has not been shy about demanding displays of gratitude commensurate with such gifts. At the Met, for example, an operagoer may now sit in the Vilar Grand Tier or dine at the pricey Vilar Grand Tier Restaurant. As a result, he has become an easy target for critical barbs, particularly in Europe.” – New York Times