Rebecca Makkai pulls back the curtain on how judging for book awards actually works — idiosyncratic judges, no institutional input, winners that surprise even the heads of the prize organizations (Rebecca Makkai). The Commonwealth Short Story Prize went to a story some judges suspected was written by AI — and awarded anyway (The Guardian). And the International Booker doubled its purse and changed its name (Publishers Weekly). Prizes are one of the last reliable attention machines publishing has; still, it turns out we know remarkably little about how they run.
Meanwhile, two orchestras are quietly redrawing their businesses. Paris Opera’s musicians have launched their own self-governing concert orchestra (Moto Perpetuo), and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s budget “jumped” $7 million — not from a windfall, but because live-with-film concerts have become predictable enough to count as a core business (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
In case anyone tells you demand for culture is the problem: online queues for Bayeux Tapestry tickets at the British Museum hit nine hours (The Guardian). For a 950-year-old embroidery.
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