Arts Jan 10 National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo wants to spread the joy of reading Kate DiCamillo spoke to chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown about her new role as National Ambassador of Young People's Literature. Kate DiCamillo wasn't always a writer. Self-described as a "late-bloomer," she didn't actually start writing until she was…
Arts Jan 09 Mikhail Baryshnikov wields his ‘chutzpah’ in a new Chekhov adaptation As a schoolboy in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Baryshnikov grew up reading the works of celebrated Russian writer Anton Chekhov. A few of those short stories resonated with the legendary dancer. Chekov, Baryshnikov explained, "puts his characters in strange situations…
Arts Jan 08 The private thoughts of a public man: the ambitions and insecurities of literary giant Norman Mailer J. Michael Lennon, author of "Norman Mailer: A Double Life," spoke to chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown about the ambitions and insecurities of the literary giant. Norman Mailer had quite a public persona. He was a Pulitzer Prize…
Poetry Jan 06 Weekly Poem: Ron Padgett reads ‘Spots’ Spots And so once again Father Time and said to Mother Nature, "Mother, put a few more of those brown spots on him, please," and so she did, dutifully and without malice she placed them here and there among the…
Poetry Dec 30 The poets we read in 2013 Photo by Flickr user Bob AuBuchon As the year comes to a close, Art Beat reflects on our best stories from 2013. On Thursday, we revisited the musicians worth a second listen and on Friday we rediscovered our…
Poetry Dec 24 A Poetic Odyssey: Dick Davis translates Hafez in “Faces of Love,” his new installment in a life dedicated to medieval Persian literature // Dick Davis spoke to PBS NewsHour chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown about his new book "Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz." According to Dick Davis, Hafez is the poetry world's version of Bach. "People say…
Poetry Dec 23 Weekly Poem: Dick Davis reads his translation of a 14th century Persian poem // As a young man, Dick Davis fell in love with Iran and ever since he has dedicated his life to bringing its culture to the west. "Its been a wonderful odyssey." Here he reads his translations of a poem…
Poetry Dec 16 Weekly Poem: David Lehman reads ‘Yours the Moon’ Yours the Moon Yours the moon mine the Milky Way a scarf around my neck I love you as the night loves the moon's dark side as the sky, distant, endless, wears her necklace of stars over her dress under…
Poetry Dec 09 Weekly Poem: Michael Collier reads ‘At the End of a Ninetieth Summer’ Poet Michael Collier grew up in Arizona, but he hadn't lived there for a while when he wrote "At the End of a Ninetieth Summer." His father was celebrating his 90th birthday, but Collier couldn't return to his home state…
Arts Dec 05 Pianist Jeremy Denk looks at the ‘weirdnesses of great music’ // Classical pianist Jeremy Denk spoke to chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown before a recital for the Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C in October. To explain the relationship between aria and variation…