- Britain’s richest prize for writing, the Whitbread, went ga-ga for celebrities this year when it chose its judges. “For the first time in the 30 years of the awards, half the judges are showbiz, television or sporting faces rather than authors or critics. Last year Whitbread drew criticism over the choice of one judge, the actress and model Jerry Hall.” – The Guardian
Tag: 12.15.00
RECORD FOR JOYCE
“An autographed and hand-written chapter of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses has raised a record $1.5 million at auction – and is going back to Ireland. It was bought by the National Library of Ireland, in Dublin.” – BBC
NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS RECIPIENTS —
— named by Clinton this week. Winners include Maya Angelou, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Itzhak Perlman, and National Public Radio’s Cultural Programming Division. – New York Times 12/15/00
YES, MINISTER
As minister of arts you get to decide who gets money to do what. “It’s the feel-good job that basically comes down to deciding which arts companies, projects and artists you’re going to assign money to, the job that makes you look popular even when your other job doesn’t.” And yet there are the downsides too… – The Age (Melbourne) 12/15/00
GÖTZ FRIEDRICH DIED —
— on Tuesday at age 70. Friedrich had been the Deutsche Oper’s general director since 1981. – New York Times