a warning: Leave this place while
you still can. This is no life, tostay and not be written about
They've announced this year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards, a leading Australian literary prize.
Deep Time Dreaming by Billy Griffiths was named book of the year, The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, and the NSW Premier's Translation Prize went to translator-from-the Portuguese Alison Entrekin.
We’re Awash In Conspiracy Theories. It’s Hard Not To Get Addicted To Them
America’s mythology seems to encourage alternate theories. Independent thinking. Distrust of the conventional. Following the bread crumbs. It’s just, well, so bad for us… –The Guardian
A Choir For Dementia Patients Shows Real Therapeutic Benefits
Actress Vicky McClure got the idea to form the choir after seeing how much her ailing grandmother was helped by singing together. A BBC crew watches the choir rehearse, perform, and take part in a research study, with a focus on Daniel, a 30-year-old former engineer diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. (text and video) – BBC
Author Susan Choi Says ‘Harmful Stories Are On The Rise’
The author of The Trust Exercise was doing research about cults, Scientology, and some of the power of repetition in molding disparate people into one focused group. But, she says, that wasn’t her intention in writing her book: “I never outline in advance and most of the time I have no idea, in advance, how something is going to end.” – The Millions
How Artists Should Plan For What Will Happen To Their Work After They Die
“For every multi-millionaire dollar Robert Rauschenberg estate, there are thousands of lesser-known talents whose families have to confront the tough decisions about what to do with hundreds of artworks and archives. To sort out the realities facing artists and their loved ones, [Hrag Vartanian] invited two experts in the field.” (podcast) – Hyperallergic
Subtitling Movies Is A Serious, Difficult Craft (And Studios And Filmmakers Need To Remember That)
An outcry over the quality of translation in the subtitles of Roma has received a frustrated response from top professional subtitlers. Yes, they say, subtitling is getting worse — because the industry wants it done on the cheap. “A film-maker wouldn’t outsource their colour correction or audio mix and just think: ‘I’ll leave them to it, I’m sure it’ll be fine.’… Subtitles are the conduit allowing you to communicate your film’s ideas around the globe.'” – The Guardian
Condé Nast Makes Bid To Become The Next Streaming Video Powerhouse
“Condé Nast wants Madison Avenue to believe that its video programming represents a ‘new primetime’ for reaching coveted audiences that are abandoning TV. … All told, [the media company] said it has 50 returning digital video series and more than 175 pilots in production slated to hit over 2019-20.” –Variety
Mark Medoff, Playwright Of ‘Children Of A Lesser God’, Dead At 79
“Medoff wrote 30 plays and wrote, produced or directed 19 movies. He found his greatest success with Children of a Lesser God, the tale of a troubled love affair between a speech teacher and a deaf woman who struggle to overcome the communications gap between their two cultures.” – AP
Meet Four Black Playwrights Who Are Challenging American Theater
“They are the talk of the theater world: a generation of black playwrights whose fiercely political and formally inventive works are challenging audiences, critics and the culture at large to think about race, and racism, in new ways.” A conversation with Jackie Sibblies Drury, Jeremy O. Harris, Antoinette Nwandu and Jordan E. Cooper. – The New York Times
Steven Spielberg Doesn’t Hate Netflix. Really!
“Recent reporting aboutthe now-rejected proposalto bar movies produced by and for streaming services from Oscar contention has tended to portray Spielberg as a reactionary arch-enemy of Netflix. But insiders say that just isn’t true — his company actually helps Netflix produce some of its programming — and have taken pains to let the New York Times know it.” – The New York Times
Happy About The Demise Of The Romantic Comedy? Don’t Be
Wesley Morris: “Romantic comedy is the only genre committed to letting relatively ordinary people figure out how to deal meaningfully with another human being. … This is moviemaking that explores a basic human wonder about how to connect with a person who’s not you. And here we are dancing on its grave.” – The New York Times Magazine
