HONORING OURSELVES

What’s the point of literary awards? They’re such an exercise in self-pleasuring. “Good evening. We are here to honour writers who have already been honoured yet must be honoured and will need honouring again, shortly. We do so because they are our ghastly, yet glorious, companions from the legion of Toronto Lit-Elite.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

BE-BOP FOR BOYS

While women have made notable inroads in the jazz world as singers and instrumentalists, they are still noticeably missing behind the bandstand – a fact not lost on detractors of the plans for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the lavish new home of Wynton Marsalis’s Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Their response to Marsalis’ claim that he runs a meritocracy and is waiting to find more female talent? “The argument that women will eventually be good enough is very old. There have been women good enough to be included for at least 60 years.” – Village Voice