There Were Women Authors In England Centuries Earlier Than We’d Thought

The first female writers in the kingdom have generally been thought to be Marie de France in the 12th century and Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich in the 14th. But scholar Diane Watt argues in a new book that there were Englishwomen producing serious prose and poetry as early as the 8th century — and that much of their work was “overwritten” by men. – The Guardian

The Trance Effects Of Arts

Effervescence is generated when humans come together to make music or perform rituals, an experience that lingers when the ceremonies are over. The suggestion, therefore, is that collective experiences that are religious or religious-like unify groups and create the energy to sustain them. – Aeon

Literature’s Cult Of The Sad, Suffering Female

Leslie Jamison considers “the enduring appeal of the afflicted woman — especially the young, beautiful, white afflicted woman: our favorite tragic victim, our repository of rarefied, elegiac sadness” — and considers other approaches, both those of other sorts of women writers to suffering and those to life and its misfortunes that don’t focus on despondence. – The New York Times Book Review

Everything It Takes To Put On, And Get Through, Philip Glass’s ‘Akhnaten’ At The Met

Says Anthony Roth Costanzo, who plays the title role, “It brings you back to the most fundamental things about your technique. And if your house is not in order, you’re not going to get through it.” Joshua Barone looks at preparations for the challenging three-hour opera, from designing and assembling the “weird fever dream” costumes and sets to teaching the chorus to juggle to waxing off all the star’s body hair to conductor Karen Kamensek’s karate chop.” – The New York Times