“Three first novelists remain in contention for this year’s Orange prize for fiction, in a shortlist announced this morning that pits them against three others with a total of 24 novels behind them.”
Tag: 04.15.08
Panter Looking To Remake Australia’s Theatre Scene
“English theatre producer Howard Panter has arrived in Australia with seismic force. While few people even among show business professionals knew his name at the start of the year, he has since unveiled plans likely to change the face of the industry.”
Another Classical Critic Bought Out
Melinda Bargreen, who has served as classical music critic at the Seattle Times for more than three decades, has accepted a buyout offer. Her position will go unfilled, as the Times becomes the latest daily paper to eliminate the position of full-time critic in favor of freelance reviews.
Prof Accused Of Trying To Profit From Nazi Art Find
A professor renowned for his work in returning Nazi-looted art to its rightful owners has abruptly resigned from an important post at Claremont McKenna College after being accused of trying to extort a cash payment in exchange for locating a looted Pissarro painting. The professor is denying any wrongdoing.
Revealed: UK Government Tried To Block Play About Titanic Sinking
BBC archives reveal that the UK government and shipping companies tried to block broadcast of a 1947 play about the sinking of the Titanic. “The liner’s builders and shipping line were concerned it would damage the image of the industry as it tried to recover after the Second World War.”
Huge $35 Million Art Donation Provokes Gossip
When John Kaldor gave the Art Gallery of New South Wales his $35 million collection of modern art he set off waves of speculation about the politics behind the gift…
Music For All The Kids (They Get It In SF)
“The San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music is one of the most ambitious music education outreach programs in the nation, and one that aims to integrate music into the lives of every first- through fifth-grade kid in the San Francisco Unified School District.”
The Feeling Around Bookstores (Not Good)
“It’s rare you visit a store these days that feels robust; more often than not they’re hanging in, defying fate. There are stable bookstores right now, but none that are solid.”
What’s Wrong With Movie Critics
“Things have been wrong in the movie critics’ trade for a while, I think — ever since, in fact, Siskel and Ebert emerged from Chicago newsstand battles into a dreadful and debasing (and popular) Hekyll and Jekyll TV act that popularly defined the trade for decades. Promotion and ridiculous celebrity — in which TV’s movie critics joined the D-list of celebrity that they supposedly wrote about — ran riot. Even so, the worst was yet to come.”
A Closer look At Finalists For “Museum of the Year”
“There might be a feeling that the £100,000 museum of the year prize – by some distance the richest in UK arts – has yet to generate the buzz of the Turner or Booker prize. Locally, however, the unfurling of the giant pink Art Fund banners at each of the contenders has become a very big deal indeed.”