Stories

How Book Prizes Really Work

In every prize I’ve ever judged or heard firsthand reports of, everything else is up to the judges and their idiosyncrasies. There’s no input from anyone else. The heads of these organizations often learn the winner at the same moment the rest of the world does. - Rebecca Makkai

Why The Pittsburgh Symphony’s Budget Jumped By $7M

Special concerts, especially the live-with-film concerts, are now programmed further in advance and are more predictable in terms of their revenue. This has led the orchestra to include these figures in its overall budget, which raises the figure to $42 million and is more accurate. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Wrong Way To Criticize The Humanities

This poorly argued case that it may be time to restrain the principles of academic freedom and faculty autonomy is not helping the situation. - Boston Review

Paris Has Become Europe’s Nexus For Black Culture

“Paris draws together communities from west, central and north Africa, as well as the Caribbean, and its density creates the conditions for encounters that aren’t as easy to manufacture elsewhere. What distinguishes Paris from other diaspora hubs … is the granularity of African identity it sustains.” - The Guardian

Canadian Art Forger Used His Children In Scheme

Labeled Canada’s largest art fraud ever by investigators, the scheme has been the subject of a prolonged court battle that culminated last year in the conviction of Jeffrey Cowan, one of eight people arrested in 2023. He has been accused of taking part in an effort to sell 1,400 faked Morrisseau works. - ARTnews

How A Self-Published Book Became A Mega Bestseller

Theo of Golden is one of the bestselling books currently making all the lists right now, but its beginnings are a little unorthodox. It was written by a 70-year-old former judge who first went the self-publishing route before having his book distributed by a top-five publisher. - Book Riot

How To Open Up Elite Universities?

It seems possible to push wealthy colleges like Princeton to enroll more working- and middle-class students. They surely need that push, because our most prestigious universities enroll a larger share of rich students now than they did in the 1980s. - The New York Times

Sydney’s Second-Largest Nonprofit Theatre Loses Its Set-Building Workshop To Fire

The blaze broke out at the Belvoir St Theatre’s scenery shop on Monday, June 22 and burned well into the next day; at one point 80 firefighters were battling the flames. No one was injured, but tools, materials, and stored set elements were lost and the building is seriously damaged. - Limelight (Australia)

LA Sound Studios See Sharp Decline In Business

L.A. soundstages surveyed by permitting office FilmLA were 93 percent occupied as of 2019. That number has fallen to 62 percent as of last year. With that turn, more complexes have retooled themselves as creator campuses. - The Hollywood Reporter

Conservative Groups Pressure FCC To Punish ABC

Conservative groups are preparing to urge the Federal Communications Commission to revoke Disney’s broadcast television licenses, two representatives told POLITICO — a step that would build on agency Chair Brendan Carr’s already unprecedented efforts to punish President Donald Trump’s perceived critics in the media. - Politico

A New Kennedy Center Mystery

For weeks, a tarp obscuring the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center has baffled observers, prompting speculation about the Washington, D.C., arts complex following the court-ordered removal of the president’s name. But recent court filings have raised a new mystery beyond the canvas. - The Atlantic

Mezzo Mignon Dunn, For Decades A Met Opera Stalwart, Has Died At 98

“Dunn appeared in more than 650 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, where she became one of the company’s leading dramatic mezzos. Although she portrayed a wide range of roles, she was most closely associated with Bizet’s Carmen, which she (sang) more than 400 times in opera houses around the world.” - Moto Perpetuo

Short Story Critics Thought Was Written By AI Wins Overall Commonwealth Prize

“Jamir Nazir’s story ‘The Serpent in the Grove’ went viral after being named as a regional winner in mid-May, with critics on X and Bluesky claiming it showed ‘obvious markers’ of AI use. … Nazir will receive an additional £2,500 on top of the £2,500 he won for being named the Caribbean winner last month.” - The Guardian

International Booker Prize Doubles Its Award Money And Changes Its Name

“The prize, which honors translated fiction and this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, will be renamed the Bukhman International Booker Prize,” with the top award raised from £50,000 to £100,000 (roughly $66,000 to $132,000), split equally between the winning author and translator. - Publishers Weekly

Paris Opera’s Musicians Form Self-Governing Concert Orchestra

The independent ensemble, called Philopéra, will be a collective run by the members, along the lines of the Vienna Philharmonic (all members of the Vienna State Opera orchestra) and the Filarmonica della Scala. Philopéra’s first concert will be at the Palais Garnier on September 6, with Daniel Harding conducting. - Moto Perpetuo

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