The prize honors a book-length work of imaginative fiction with $25,000. The nine shortlisted books will be considered by a panel of five jurors. The winner will be announced later this year on October 21st, 2022, Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday. - Electric Literature
"(We) want to change the temperature of the debate ... (and) find a way forward around cultural exchange of a level, intensity and dynamism which has not been conceived hitherto. There are many wonderful things we'd be delighted to borrow and lend. It is what we do." - The Guardian (PA Media)
"I’ve learned over time to always come back and attach to the mission and to the power of music. That has allowed me to be in a way that is less self-conscious.” - Forbes
Linear Elamite is a set of characters that was used in and around the ancient city of Susa (in modern-day Iran) around 4,000 years ago, and it's one of only a few surviving ancient writing systems that scholars still can't decipher at all — until now. (Maybe.) - Smithsonian Magazine
Mostly with his old orchestras in San Francisco and Miami, but elsewhere as well, Michael Tilson Thomas is vigorously raising the baton, receiving the kind of rave reviews he has been well used to in a half-century-long career. - San Francisco Classical Voice
"A recent wave of Thai dramas known as 'boys' love' (BL) ... has attracted a large following across Asia," especially among women around age 30. "As Thailand tries to rebuild its travel industry, the country's tourism authority has sought to capitalise on their popularity." - The Observer (UK)
"With China stepping up military pressure on the self-ruled island, the institution ... which boasts one of the world's finest collections of Chinese imperial relics ... last week conducted its first ever 'wartime response exercise' centered on evacuating its artifacts." - CNN
"The ensemble, to be called Utopia, will bring together 112 musicians from 28 countries, many of them soloists and principal players in renowned orchestras, for a European tour that is to begin this fall and go through 2023." - The New York Times
"The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society is seeking to enforce payment of (more than $140,000 in) owed royalties, fees and pension and health contributions to the musical's director, Moisés Kaufman, choreographer Bill T. Jones, and three specialty choreographers who worked on the production." - The Hollywood Reporter
Culture minister Rima Abdul-Malak: "We're all quite confident that 2024 will be the year of completing a large part of this reconstruction site and the reopening of the cathedral to worshippers and the public, although there'll be more work to do after 2024, of course." - Artnet
From the 1950s through the '70s she was star of TV comedies and game shows before reinventing herself, at 50, as a classical stage actress, winning awards for playing Falstaff, Juliet's Nurse, Mother Courage, and Gertrude Stein. (Oh, and she voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid.) - The New York Times
Three resident theater companies that present work at Victory Gardens have pledged not to work there until the artists’ complaints are addressed. - The New York Times
As it turns out, there's an entire community of people captivated with defunct, abandoned or retired theme parks and attractions around the world. - NPR
The connection is one of the reasons why music — especially old music — is so meaningful to people. It's also why music became such an important coping strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part to connect us with people we could not be with during lockdowns, physical distancing, and travel restrictions. - CBC
Games are kind of ragtag, and there’s not really a standard. For actors, there’s never been a guide what to expect, from auditions to showing up on set.” - Los Angeles Times
