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Dominican-American poet and novelist Julia Alvarez was born in New York City in 1950. Shortly after her birth, Alvarez’s parents returned to their native country, Dominican Republic. Ten years later, the family was forced to flee to the United States because of her father’s involvement ...

While at the Yaddo writing retreat, Julia Alvarez found herself suffering from writers block. Inspiration struck when she befriended the maids, housekeepers and cooks and heard their stories, and eventually put together her book of poetry, "Housekeeping." "I wanted to write about the lore that ...

Julia Alvarez and her sisters recount the day they had to escape from the Dominican Republic with their parents, because of her father's involvement in a plot to overthrew the dictator, Rafael Trujillo. The experience inspired a scene in her first novel, "How the García ...

Writing "In the Time of the Butterflies," Julia Alvarez felt a responsibility to bring the story of the assassination of the Mirabel sisters to life through her characters, stating that "a novel is the truth according to character."

For her second novel, "In the Time of the Butterflies," Julia Alvarez wanted to write about dictatorship from a female perspective. She chose the stories of the Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva, María Teresa and Adela, the first three of which were assassinated by the Trujillo ...

Julia Alvarez released "Afterlife" in 2020, about a woman dealing with her husband's unexpected death and meeting an undocumented teenager. The book was dedicated to her oldest sister, Maury, who died in 2015, and was Alvarez's way of "[giving] voice to that landscape of aging."

In the golden era of Hollywood, directors were often artisans as much as they were artists. The studios were factories for storytelling, churning out endless variations in a few core styles—the Western, the crime film, the women’s picture, the musical—and bringing in directors to keep ...

Early in Blake Edwards’ dizzying musical farce "Victor/Victoria," would-be superstar Victoria (Julie Andrews) attempts to explain to faded nightclub mainstay Toddy (Robert Preston) just why their scheme is doomed. Toddy has proposed that Victoria make a splash in Paris’s nightclub scene by pretending to be ...

Blake Edwards, famous for writing, directing and producing slapstick comedy films like "The Pink Panther," received an honorary Academy Award in 2004 for extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement. Presenting the award was actor Jim Carrey, who began his speech speaking in an exaggerated fake Indian ...

Explore the story of director, screenwriter and producer Blake Edwards, known for cinema classics such as “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and the “Pink Panther” series. This version of the trailer contains on-screen ASL interpretation.