“Hoffman was one of the first book retailers to employ aggressive marketing techniques in the service of creating mass market bookselling. Despite occasional criticism from authors and publishers that Walden emphasized the sales of commercial books over more literary ones, Hoffman never backed down on his belief that more books should be published with mass appeal.” – Publishers Weekly
How American Theater Pros Are Figuring Out The Logistics Of Safely Reopening
“The COVID-19 Theatre Think-Tank (CTT) deliberately draws from as many of theater-making corners as possible, from stage managers to directors, from the Great White Way to regional theaters. Since March, the group has been in talks with public-health officials, pooling knowledge and letting epidemiology experts steer the conversation about what a post-shutdown theater might look like. [Founder Matt] Ross and one of the first additions to the group, Hadestown director Rachel Chavkin, spoke to [Helen Shaw] about the think tank and what it hopes to achieve.” – Vulture
Judgment Of Movies Now Includes Backstories Of Their Creators
“Discomfort has now become an essential part of pop culture connoisseurship, and it has forced audiences to become much more sophisticated as they decide what, if anything, is worth salvaging in the films, music and novels they most cherish, by people they find morally flawed.” – Washington Post
In Russia, Independent Booksellers Begin Championing Neglected Writers
“The most widely-read books are translated foreign bestsellers. There is little space for Russian talent — and if you want to be one of the chosen few to secure a book deal, that means satisfying big publishers’ often conservative tastes. … Change, however, is already coming — driven by a new wave of young literary activists and independent startups challenging the status quo. Many are led by young women, on offshoot from Russia’s growing feminist movement. They search for the forgotten Russian writers of the past, look for young new voices, and translate the queer foreign titles that would otherwise never make it into Russian.” – The Calvert Journal
Louvre Expects Attendance Will Be Down By 70% After Reopening
The Paris landmark, which had been the world’s most visited museum, opens its doors on July 6 following the coronavirus lockdown. But safety limitations have been placed on crowd flow, and France will continue to have travel restrictions in place; three-quarters of the Louvre’s ticket-buyers come from abroad. The museum’s director does not expect attendance to return to normal until 2023. – ARTnews
The Foundation Trying To Help Indie Bookstores Live Through This, And Everything Else
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (called “Binc”) is a nonprofit created to help booksellers. “Since the pandemic started, Binc has seen requests for assistance increase by 321%. And [communications coordinator] Weiss says she fully expects that number to grow.” – LitHub
Taking Theatre Ed Online
In a sudden shift, Asolo Theatre in Florida had to figure out whether to keep going with its education programs even as students and parents were competing for limited Wi-Fi and screen time, and being assaulted with an awful lot of Zooms. “Among the questions they asked themselves … were, ‘What resources do we have? What videos can we make? Who can we interview? What pictures can we take? What archival footage is there? What can we do to continue this conversation with our community so that we as artists can continue to create?'” – American Theatre
Dancer Hobbies For The Quarantine
There’s DJing with the dance glitterati on Instagram Live, there’s the brewing of kombucha, and, of course, there’s learning how to make pancake tutus. – Dance Magazine
Artists Paint Mural Of George Floyd Near Where He Died
Five artists finished the mural in 12 hours last week after the officers involved in George Floyd’s death weren’t all four arrested and charged with a crime. “The mural has quickly become a memorial site for locals, who come to honor Floyd and mourn his death.” – Hyperallergic
The Telluride Film Festival Says It’s Going On As Planned
OK, that’s nice and optimistic, but “Telluride organizers promised that safety would be paramount. ‘We are not ignorant of the devastation facing the world,’ festival organizers wrote. ‘We feel the fear and distress too. This is why we are committed to observing all guidance as suggested by the consensus of voices of the scientific community with whom we are consulting now.'” – Los Angeles Times
Fighting Over Who Gets To Use The Term Anglo-Saxon
Racists would love to co-opt the term “for their ethno-historical myths,” but that doesn’t mean historians and archaeologists have to abandon it altogether, argues one. “When researchers and educators today talk about the ‘Anglo-Saxons’ and ‘Anglo-Saxon England’, they aren’t discussing a ‘racial’ group. The terms don’t even encapsulate one thing, but rather seven centuries of change and very different kingdoms and communities, from Kent to Cumbria, from East Anglia to the Welsh borders.” (But will facts matter to white supremacists?) – Aeon
And Now For The Awards For Best Books In Translation
The awards, announced in a socially distant livestream, contains “A final work that continues on like a river” and poems that “bloom with the beauty the world has to offer as well as those who have created these human-made gifts through the ages.” – The Millions
Emma Amos, Acclaimed Figurative Painter And Guerrilla Girl Member, 83
Amos’s “careerlong belief in art as a form of ethical resistance carries new weight when the promises of the civil rights era seem again under threat.” – The New York Times
Video Games Can Teach Reluctant Learners A Lot More Than You Might Think
Hey, parents, when your kids are using video games to deal with the pandemic, you may think they’re not doing schoolwork. True, but games like Assassin’s Creed, Minecraft, and Roblox have a lot to teach. – NPR
Mark Morris And The Art Of Zoom Choreography
Morris on creating during the pandemic: “The idea that our lives are on hold irks him, he said. Or ‘the idea that you’re waiting to come back to your life, and I’m sorry everybody: This is your life.'” – The New York Times
How Covid-19 Will Reshape Building Design, According To Architects
In short: “COVID-19 is likely to reshape the ways in which today’s architects design houses and offices, transit hubs and medical facilities. It will have architects reaching for new technologies and reintroducing old ones — say, a little less air conditioning and a lot more cross ventilation.” – Los Angeles Times
So Here’s The Sotheby’s Plan: One Auctioneer And A Lot Of Screens
This is the scintillating way auctions will happen this summer (and perhaps beyond, of course): “The Sotheby’s auctioneer, Oliver Barker, will be live, by video, in London, looking at screens showing his associates live in New York, Hong Kong and elsewhere, who will be on the phone with live bidders all over the world.” – The New York Times
As Asian And European Orchestras Open Concerts Up, U.S. Orchestras Wonder When They’ll Be Onstage
Take a look at Taiwan: “A livestream of the May 24 concert offered a possible crystal ball for post-coronavirus concerts: temperature checks, face masks and enhanced disinfection protocols. On stage, adjusted layout created 1.5 meters between musicians. Unmasked musicians used plastic guards.” – The Observer
Jane Moss, Director Of Lincoln Center, Will Step Down After 28 Years
As the pandemic has wiped out all cultural programming at Lincoln Center for months, Moss has been thinking harder about something she’d been considering long before Covid-19 hit the city. She says, “Now is the obvious time,” though that may not seem true to those who would like to see strong leadership during the crisis. – The New York Times
Well, Nobody’s Using The Airport These Days, So Let’s Use It As A Drive-In
That’s what Uruguayans are doing with Carrasco International Airport near Montevideo. The movies, screened every evening, range from The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog to Bohemian Rhapsody and Joker. Viewers, in their cars, can order snacks and drinks via WhatsApp, and they can put on masks and go inside to use the airport’s (constantly cleaned) restrooms. – The Guardian
Minnesota State Troopers Arrest Black CNN Reporter And Crew Live On Air
“Police arrested CNN journalist Omar Jimenez and his crew on air early Friday during a live broadcast in Minneapolis, as they covered riots sparked by George Floyd’s death, sparking intense outrage as well as an apology by Minnesota governor Tim Walz to top executives at the cable-news network . CNN called the arrests a ‘violation of First Amendment rights.'” – Variety
Loneliness As Punishment And Inspiration
In 2018, the first British Minister for Loneliness was appointed and the government published A Connected Society. In the preface, the country’s then prime minister Theresa May referred to research that “shows that loneliness is as damaging to our physical health as smoking”. – Times Literary Supplement