Arts Nov 27 What seven teams of architects and engineers built with food Architects, engineers, designers and students build their structures for the 17th annual Canstruction competition in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Photo by Tidewater Community College Every year in more than 150 cities throughout the globe, architects, engineers, designers and…
Poetry Nov 25 Weekly Poem: Brenda Hillman reads ‘Till it Finishes What it Does’ // Brenda Hillman reads "Till it Finishes What it Does" from her new collection "Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire." Till it Finishes What it Does Where is the meaning, the old man asked. The night nurse has put on…
Arts Nov 22 Celebrating a Literary Giant: The 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’s Death C.S. Lewis constructed the world of "Narnia" through seven novels, the most recognizable of which is "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Even today, Gregory Maguire, author of the bestselling "Wicked," gets lost in C.S. Lewis' world of Narnia.
Arts Nov 22 Narnia through the Ages: ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ covers In October of 1950, the first of seven fantasy novels in the Narnia series was published. C.S. Lewis has since influenced and affected generations of readers and writers. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death, we take a…
Poetry Nov 18 Weekly Poem: Michael Davidson reads ‘The Second City’ The Second City for Cathy Simon Even though there are motorized conveyances I am on foot; even though there is a map I negotiate the streets by landmark there are no landmarks but a series of edges common to several…
Arts Nov 15 How many more $100 million ‘pictures’ can the art market absorb? Bidding representatives speak on the phone with their clients during an auction at Sotheby's on Wednesday in New York City. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images Even for the high stakes world of fine art auctions, $1.8 billion dollars is a…
Arts Nov 15 Ann Patchett gets personal in her new collection of essays, ‘This is the Story of a Happy Marriage’ // Ann Patchett reflects on fiction version nonfiction and the state of books today in a conversation with chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown. "Nonfiction is easy and fiction is hard." That's according to Ann Patchett, author of "Bel Canto" and…
Arts Nov 14 Robert MacNeil explores one woman’s cultural awakening in his new novel ‘Portrait of Julia’ Set in 1920 Halifax, "Portrait of Julia" follows Julia Robertson, the young war widow featured in the bestselling book "Burden of Desire." In his fourth novel, Robert MacNeil, longtime anchor and executive editor of the PBS NewsHour, Julia ventures out…
Arts Nov 11 Author Eleanor Catton reads from the 2013 Man Booker Prize-winning novel ‘The Luminaries’ Eleanor Catton reads an excerpt from “The Luminaries” at the PBS NewsHour studios. Eleanor Catton started writing “The Luminaries” when she was 25. At 28, she is now the youngest author to ever win the Man Booker Prize…
Poetry Nov 11 Weekly Poem: David Lehman reads ‘Radio’ Radio I left it on when I left the house for the pleasure of coming back ten hours later to the greatness of Teddy Wilson "After You've Gone" on the piano in the corner of the bedroom as I enter…