Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, 2018 — Hall of Philosophy, Chautauqua, NY A transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel, A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in an elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates Count Rostov...

The 2018 edition of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s award-winning literary magazine will feature online components, such as musical compositions or audio renditions of performance poems. The staff of Baily’s Beads will unveil this year’s issue at the Annual Literary Magazine Celebration at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons at Pitt-Bradford. Edited by three writing majors, Isaac Payne, a sophomore from Kane, Jayden Pire, a senior from Oswayo, and Shahada Thomas, a sophomore from Chester, the 2018 volume incorporates a variety of work. That work included an immersion journalism piece, a play, a screenplay, poetry, literary fiction and genre fiction. Readers will also be able to use web links or QR codes to hear original musical compositions and performance poetry read by the artist. In addition, the issue contains original digital photography and winners of a Seven Word Contest, for which a...

A writing student at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has recently been recognized and published online. Isaac Payne, a sophomore English and writing major from Kane, attended the Alpha Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Writing Workshop in Greensburg in August. During the 11 days that he was there, he met with critically acclaimed speculative fiction authors Tamora Pierce, Alyssa Wong, Daniel Jose Older, E. C. Myers, and worked with other staff members invested in the field. The purpose of this workshop was to develop writing skills for improving speculative short stories, and to gain feedback from peers and staff. Payne used the knowledge gained at Alpha in order to earn an Honorable Mention in the 2017 Writer’s of the Future Award for his short story “The Pursuit of Luck,” which also appears in the 2018 edition of Baily’s Beads. He also has flash fiction forthcoming from The Corvid Review. “Isaac is an inventive writer with impressive initiative,” said D...

Dinner theater is returning to Bradford. Enchante Cabaret will perform its romantic comedy "Journeys" February 7 at Beefeater's. Doors open at 5 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and the show starts and 7 p.m. Tickets are $49.95 and only 100 are available.

Chautauqua Institution today announced the establishment of a new literary prize. The Chautauqua Janus Prize will be awarded for the first time in 2018, celebrating an emerging writer’s single work of short fiction or nonfiction for daring formal and aesthetic innovations that upset and reorder readers’ imaginations, historical narratives, and literary conventions. In addition to receiving a $2,500 award, the winner will give a lecture on the grounds during the summer season and appear in a forthcoming issue of the literary journal Chautauqua. The prize is funded by a generous donation from Chautauquans Barbara and Twig Branch. Named for Janus, the Roman god who looks to both the past and the future, the prize will honor writing with a command of craft that renovates understandings of both. The 2018 winner will be selected by guest judge Kazim Ali, author of a forthcoming book of poems, Inquisition, and a forthcoming hybrid memoir, Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies. An as...

The mother of a teenager finds a Rolex watch, bundles of cash and other items in his bedroom and hires private detective Elvis Cole to find out how he got the loot. Cole learns that the teen and two others are behind a string of home burglaries in rich neighborhoods and, one item they stole is very valuable to the owners -- for a reason other than money. It's so impoCrartant, in fact, that people who get in the way of its recovery are ending up dead. One of my favorite parts of this book is that the mom sees that something is amiss and does something about it. In other words: She's a parent. Hear my interview with Robert Crais here http://wesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LiveLine-01-04-18-Authors-Robert-Crais-and-Brad-Taylor.mp3

Marc Cameron, best known for his "Jericho Quinn" series, is the latest author to continue telling the story of characters created by Tom Clancy. His first book in the Jack Ryan series is "Power and Empire," and it's everything you'd want in a Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan thriller. He can tell the story better than I can, so listen to him here: http://wesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/LiveLine-12-05-17-Author-Marc-Cameron-on-Tom-Clancys-Power-and-Empire.mp3

From Penguin Random House: In this extraordinary debut novel with its deft nod to Dickensian heroes and rogues, Mira Bartók tells the story of Arthur, a shy, fox-like foundling with only one ear and a desperate desire to belong, as he seeks his destiny. If you're looking for a book to read to your kids for a few nights "The Wonderling" is an excellent choice. Not only is it entertaining (for adults, too!) it'll be a great jumping off point for a number of issues. Listen to my chat with author Mira Bartok to hear about some of them: http://wesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/LiveLine-12-11-17-Author-Mira-Bartok-on-The-Wonderling.mp3

If you’ve been thinking you’d like to learn more about Jerusalem, photographer Ziv Koren’s book “My Jerusalem” features a unique collection of photos showing the real people who live, work, worship and demonstrate in Jerusalem. In a recent interview, Ziv told me some of the things that make Jerusalem unique. http://wesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/LiveLine-11-27-17-Picture-Books-Night-Vision-and-My-Jerusalem.mp3 (This interview starts at 8:18)

I just finished an interview with my friend, author Ann McCauley, about her brand new book, "Pressure Cooker Christmas." (It is not cookbook.) It's been getting great reviews, and I'm so happy for her! She's doing a book signing Friday at On the Side Books on Kennedy Street, and then another December 9 at the Main Street Mercantile. You can hear the interview here: http://wesb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/LiveLine-11-30-17-Author-Ann-McCauley-on-Pressure-Cooker-Christmas-not-a-cookbook.mp3

The legendary Peter Yarrow and John Sebastian will be at the Bromeley Family Theater tomorrow, thanks to BCPAC. I had a great chat with Peter Yarrow about that and so much more. You can listen by going to the on-demand page at WESB.com .

I had the pleasure of chatting with authors Preston Rice and TK Bethea (separately) recently. You can hear the interviews here: http://wesb.com/liveline-ondemand/ Preston, and his brother Brock, have written these adventure stories to help promote good behavior and outdoor play for young children. The latest is "Little Forces and the Haunted House," just in time for Halloween. http://www.littleforces.com/ TK Bethea has written about a single dad and his son who adopt a dog, Doc Holliday, who overhears a conversation that makes him think the father and son don't want him, so he sets off to find his birth parents. You can also go to https://www.adventuresofdoc.com/ for lots of very cool surprises.

The St. Bonaventure University Department of Visual and Performing Arts will host the National Players production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” on Monday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The production is part of the department’s Martine Performing Arts Series, designed to bring a broader variety of music, theater and dance to the university community and selected by the faculty-artists of SBU’s music and theater programs. “Othello” is the story of a celebrated black general returning home from war and the hatred he encounters because of his race. His most trusted aide, Iago, devises a plot to ruin him. Soon, Othello and his loving wife, Desdemona, are caught in a terrifying trap of lies and murder. In the National Players’ production, directed by the company’s artistic director Jason King Jones, “Othello” is given a contemporary design. Shakespeare’s brilliant words combine with the resonance of identity and racial tension to transform “Othello” in...

The Main Street Movie House has announced its fall Independent Film Series, and something new is being added to it this year. The Movie House is partnering with restaurants Beefeater's and A Slice of the 80s for a couple of special promotions. After each film Beefeater's will offer wine tastings, and A Slice of the 80s will offer half price whole pizzas Films will be shown every Monday evening at 5:30. Tickets are on sale for $7 each or a Season Pass can be purchased for $63 and includes a free medium popcorn for each show.

Yes, this is over. But I loved this idea so much -- and the kids, too -- I wanted to keep it here for posterity. Kids getting turned on by the arts -- any art -- is one of my favorite things. Pictured, teacher Michelle Chapman points out elements of the mural in Old City Hall painted by former University of Pittsburgh at Bradford art professor Kong Ho. Listen to the kids (& Michelle) on LiveLine here .

Artists who sell their art on line, and/or teach. People who watch musical performances online. Authors who offer sample chapters. These people, and so many more, would feel the impact. Listen to a Penn State professor talk about net neutrality here .

FINALLY: The interviews are finally uploaded! You can listen here . UPDATE: Spoke too soon on that. No one is more frustrated than I am. Believe me. (See what I did there?) We've been having problems with our website all summer and I have been able to upload interviews sporadically at best. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. I was able to upload the show featuring Linda Fairstein and Ace Atkins, but the page it's on -- http://wesb.com/liveline-ondemand -- won't load. Baby steps, I suppose. Baby steps. Other interviews coming up include T. Jefferson Parker, Katherine Nouri Hughes, Augustus Rose. Stay tuned!

Charlottesville, VA – The second annual “Drink Outside the Grape” competition took place in Charlottesville, VA on August 9, resulting in 95 medals for fruit wines, meads, ciders & fruit brandies. Drink Outside the Grape is a truly International Competition, with entries from the U.S., Canada, Estonia, & India. “Beverages in these categories are often misunderstood or not given the same respect as is given to traditional table wines,” explains Richard Leahy, Competition Chair & Conference Manager of the Eastern Winery Exposition. “This competition gives fruit wine, mead, cider, & fruit brandies a place where they can be judged fairly without being compared to traditional graped-based table wines. The growth in this competition shows that producers of these beverages want to get the word out about the good products they are making.” FLICKERWOOD WINE CELLARS of Kane, PA won medals with all 6 of their entries: The Competition was judged by industry professional...

( From CNN ) Glen Campbell, the upbeat guitarist from Delight, Arkansas, whose smooth vocals and down-home manner made him a mainstay of music and television for decades, has died following a battle with Alzheimer's disease, his family announced on Facebook. He was 81. Campbell is best remembered for a string of country-inflected hits that ran from the mid-'60s to the late '80s: "Gentle on My Mind," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" among them. They fit in neatly on both pop and country radio, with two of them -- "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights" -- hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was also famous for "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," a TV variety show that ran from 1969 to 1972. In 2011, he announced he had Alzheimer's. Despite the diagnosis, h...

The radio station's website has been kind of wacky lately so I haven't been able to upload everything on a timely basis. And, even if I could have, you might not have been able to get there because we were getting "400" and "500" errors/messages. So, while it seems to be somewhat normal right now I'll let you know you can go to the "on-demand" page at wesb.com . You can check out Fiona Barton, Mary Higgins Clark, CJ Box, Joseph Finder, Steve Berry, Christina Baker Kline, Reed Farrell Coleman, Robert Knott Alex George, Brad Taylor, and more. I have more that have to be uploaded, including Ace Atkins and Linda Fairstein. Stay tuned.