The ‘Poetry Detective’ Who Tracks Down Plagiarists

“Some people see British poet Ira Lightman as a champion of poets whose verse is being shamelessly ripped off. Others view him as a blowhard who delights in ruining other people’s reputations. … Does Ira valiantly defend the original words and ideas of struggling poets? Or is his sleuthing just a way to feed his need for schadenfreude? In this episode of [The World in Words], Leo [Hornak] and Nina [Porzucki] do a little sleuthing of their own.” (podcast)

London’s Southbank Centre Picks A New Creative Director

Madani Younis will be in charge of the Southbank Centre’s literature, dance, performance and free programmes, working in a new management structure alongside the director of music, Gillian Moore, and the director of the Hayward Gallery, Ralph Rugoff. His arrival follows the departure of one of the UK’s highest-profile arts leaders, Jude Kelly, who was artistic director for 12 years. The centre stressed that Younis was not replacing Kelly and would be taking a new role.

Why Plagiarists Plagiarize

Kevin Young analyzes two notorious cases of text theft: Harvard undergrad Kaavya Viswanathan, whose How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life got national press before it was published and even more publicity after reporters and writers discovered that it was almost entirely pastiche, and Adam Wheeler, who plagiarized his way into and through Harvard, nearly got a Rhodes Scholarship and Stanford admission with stolen material, and used so much fake material on his resumes that he ended up in jail for fraud.

Judge Roy Moore Sues Sacha Baron Cohen For $95M Over ‘Who Is America? Segment

“The horse-ridin’, pistol-packin’, Donald Trump-backed conservative had signed a release before meeting for the show with Baron Cohen, who was posing as an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. But the suit filed today in D.C. District Court (read it here) claims that the release Moore signed ‘was obtained through fraud’ and therefore is ‘void and inoperative.'”

Major Marcel Duchamp Collection Given To Hirshhorn Museum

“Timed to the 50th anniversary of Duchamp’s death, the gift [from Aaron and Barbara Levine] includes 35 works by Duchamp as well as 15 portraits and related photographs and works on paper by his contemporaries Tristan Tzara, Man Ray and others.” Says the Hirshhorn’s board chair, “This is the art-world equivalent of the Wizards getting LeBron James.”

‘Garish, Soulless Leisure Shed’ Wins 2018 Carbuncle Cup

“The warehouse-like buildings of Redrock Stockport beat five other shortlisted candidates to win the Carbuncle Cup, awarded by Building Design to what its readers deem to be the biggest architectural eyesore of the past year. Judges were left unimpressed by the ‘awkward form, disjointed massing and superficial decoration’, while readers called it an ‘absolute monstrosity’.”