“The small Manhattan publishing house that has published books by famous foodie James Beard, film director Ingmar Bergman, Israeli president Shimon Peres and other authors from around the globe filed for Chapter 11 protection several months after the death of its owner. Arcade Publishing Inc. on Friday filed for bankruptcy in Manhattan.”
Tag: 06.08.09
Creative Writing Workshops: A Bad Idea Run Amok?
Louis Menand: “The workshop is a process, an unscripted performance space, a regime for forcing people to do two things that are fundamentally contrary to human nature: actually write stuff (as opposed to planning to write stuff very, very soon), and then sit there while strangers tear it apart. […] Kay Boyle once published a piece arguing that ‘all creative-writing programs ought to be abolished by law.’ She taught creative writing for sixteen years at San Francisco State.”
Numbers As Abstract Concepts That Even Infants (Unlike Certain Adults) Can Understand
“Abstract numerical thought is the ability to perceive numbers as entities, independently of specific things. It can be demonstrated by the human capacity to link a certain number of objects to the same number of sounds, irrespective of what the specific sounds or objects are. But whether this ability is innate or learned through culture or language wasn’t known.”
JazzTimes Ceases Operation
From the management: “JazzTimes has temporarily suspended publication of the magazine and has furloughed the bulk of its staff while it finalizes a sale of its assets. The brand and operation will undergo reorganization and restructuring in order to remain competitive in the current media climate.”
George MacPherson, 78, Influential Theatre Executive
“[A] theatre executive who played a role in establishing Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ont., and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, … MacPherson had a long and varied career in the theatre, including managing artists such as Harry Belafonte and Victor Borge. But he is most noted for his role in transforming the Broadway touring industry to create the current system of first-class touring shows.”
The Late Tanja Liedtke Is Top Winner At Australian Dance Awards
The former director-designate of Sydney Dance Company, who was killed in a road accident just weeks before taking up her post, took honors for outstanding achievement in choreography and outstanding achievement in independent dance for her 2007 piece construct, which also received an award for outstanding performance by a female dancer (Kristina Chan).
Indian Playwright-Director Habib Tanvir, 85
“Born in Raipur, Tanvir is considered a pioneer for bringing Indian folk theatre – its stories, music, the Chhattisgarhi dialect and even untrained performers hailing from villages – to the contemporary stage.”
A Twitter Play Epistolary Novel Performance
On June 10, California playwright Jeremy Gable begins 140: A Twitter Performance (http://twitter.com/twit_play), which will unfold in the form of tweets from each of four characters over the course of 60 days.
Hard Time: Pharmaceutical Exec Sentenced To Write Book
“A former Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. executive was sentenced to write a book for giving false information to U.S. regulators about a botched 2006 agreement to delay generic competition for the blood thinner Plavix. … ‘I hope he’s capable of writing a book,’ said Michael Shapiro, a Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP attorney in New York who focuses on white-collar criminal defense. ‘What if he were sentenced to hit a home run at Nationals Park?'”
Nextbook Gets A Name Change
“Welcome to Tablet Magazine, ‘a new read on Jewish life.’ That’s our nifty, if somewhat inaccurate, tagline. Tablet isn’t entirely new–it’s a beefed-up, rebranded, refocused update of Nextbook.org, which from 2003 until earlier this year published a range of great writing on Jewish arts and culture.”