Winners of Cuba’s Casa de la Americas Literary Awards Announced

Authors from Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba were among the winners in the 2010 edition of Cuba’s Casa de las Americas literary contest. Some 430 works from 22 countries were submitted.

This year marked the 51st edition of the prizes, which are awarded annually by the Havana-based Casa de las Americas cultural center. EFE

Argentina’s Bruno Di Benedetto won the poetry award for his book “Cronicas de muertes dudosas” (Chronicles of Dubious Deaths), while Chile’s Guillermo Rivera, Panama’s Javier Alvarado and Cuba’s Manuel Garcia Verdecia received honorable mention.

The theater prize was won by El Salvador’s Jorgelina Cerritos for “Al otro lado del mar” (The Other Side of the Sea). Honorable mentions in  same category were Uruguayan author Sergio Blanco’s “Barbarie” (Barbarism) and Cuban playwright Cheddy Mendizabal Alvarez’s “Las dos caras de la moneda” (Two Sides of the Same Coin) were also mentioned.

The poetry collection “Approaching Sabbaths” by Trinidad and Tobago’s Jennifer Rahim was awarded the prize for best work of Caribbean literature in English or Creole, while honorable mention went to Jamaican author Opal Palmer Adisa’s “I name me name.”

In the Brazilian literature category, the jury chose Nelida Piñon’s “Aprendiz de Homero” (Homer’s Apprentice).

Also receiving mention were Luiz Claudio Cunha’s “Operação Condor: O sequestro dos uruguaios” (Operation Condor: Kidnapping of Uruguayans); Leandro Konder’s “Memorias de um intelectual comunista” (Memoirs of a Communist Intellectual); and Maria Isabel Brunacci’s “Graciliano Ramos – Um escritor personagem” (Gracieliano Ramos: Writer and Person).

A one-time essay prize in recognition of the “bicentennial of Latin American independence” was awarded to Cuba’s Sergio Guerra for “Jugar con fuego. Guerra social y utopia en la independencia de America Latina” (Playing with Fire: Social War and Utopia in the Independence of Latin America).



 

Sad Day: WA Minister Axes Literary Award

Australasia's richest literary prize has been axed by the West Australian government.

Originally billed as the 'Southern Hemisphere Booker', the ill-fated  Australia-Asia Literary Award (AALA) has been axed  by WA Culture and Arts Minister John Day after only having been awarded on one occasion. That now, rather dubious honour, went to David Malouf for his collection of short stories, The Complete Collection.


 Launched by the former Labor government led by Alan Carpenter in 2008 the AU$110,000 Australia-Asia has been axed after an external review of the award, in tandem with the WA Premier's Book Award.

Mr Day said AU$80,000 a year would be diverted to the Premier's Book Awards and while the government supported the original intent of the AALA, there was no capacity for it to continue. The Premier's Book Awards have been suspended for the last year whilst the review was underway.

"Given the economic pressures, the AALA does not represent the most prudent use of funds and is unsustainable," he said. Not unlike many of  Quarry Western Australia's mining practices some might say.

The WA Premier's Book Awards would be broadened to allow all Australian writers to enter, widening the award's prestige and bringing them in line with other significant interstate awards, Mr Day said.

The top prize value for the premier's prize combined with the sub-category prize winnings would be AU$40,000.

Opposition culture and arts spokesman John Hyde said the move would hurt WA's image in Asia and discourage young people training in the arts.

The whole affair is rather bizarre given the net cost savings is a mere AU$30,000, that is without factoring in the cost of a Pythonesque external review process. 

The concept of an Australia- Asia Literary award was sound in itself but possibly let down by poor execution with the long and shortlists flawed by the predominance of Australian writers and notable absence Asian writers. Still, it could have learned from it's early mistakes and have become something very worthwhile, a prize that would have brought both prestige to the State and the nation.

It is possible that Western Australia bureaucrats and government members suffer from a cultural deficit and were unable to broaden their horizons; perhaps they  just realised that they were just out of their depth. More likely, it was just a wee bit of political spit(e) as the incoming government sought to kill initiatives of the previous incumbents. 

Fortunately Perth hosts one the most wonderful annual Arts Festivals in the world including an excellent Writers' Festival. The idea to ramp up the WA Premier's Awards is also welcomed, a shame that a promising literary prize had to be killed off in the process.

The reading ability of Mr. Day and his taste in literature are unknown.

Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Award Winners 2010

Claremont Graduate University, California,  has announced the winners of this years Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards.

With a prize of US$100,000,The Kingsley Tufts Award, certainly provides the winner with enough pennies to keep themselves in quills for an extended period.

The prize this year has gone to  D. A. Powell for his collection Chronic: Poems (Graywolf Press).

Just recognition and vindication to for  Graywolf Press , a 'small as it gets not-for-profit  literary press' that publishes about twenty-seven books annually, mostly collections of poetry, memoir, essays, novels, and short stories.

To quote from the LA Times review of Chronic from John Freeman, Editor of Granta:

"There are poets who show us the exterior world and poets who ferry news of their inner turmoil. Yet very few possess the double vision required to do both. Sylvia Plath surveyed and stoked the fires within her; Gary Snyder is far happier scouting for forest blazes in the Sierras.

Until he began publishing the wickedly well-tuned work collected in "Chronic," D.A. Powell seemed of the Plath school: fierce, inward and wrapped in tongues of camp. To read his poems was to watch a man blow on the embers of erotic memory. This is, after all, a poet who once boasted he "took a bite out of every grocery store clerk / and put them all back."

and Freeman continues elsewhere about one of the poems:

"California Poppy" begins with a roadside view of the sea, a glimpse of flower, then wends its way toward a portrait of what lurks in beauty's gutters. Powell sees:

the grasping fingers and bloated waxy face of the wildly surviving thing
that once was somebody's boutonnière, somebody's flash of light,
trail of phosphorescent streetlamps punctuating the homeless night.

Writing in the shadow of AIDS, Powell is a modern romantic: obsessed, enraged and turned about by love. His language is infiltrated by songs, phrases from movies, the treacle-sweet soundtracks of so many musicals. "Love," he writes in one poem, "is the chorus waiting to be born."

 
Mr. Powell,  from the San Francisco Bay Area, is also  finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s poetry award, also for Chronic. His previous collection Cocktails, was also a finalist for that same honor.


Kate Tufts Discovery Award
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award, a $10,000 prize that is given to a first book by a poet, was won by Beth Bachmann for her collection Temper (University of Pittsburgh Press). Temper, was also the winner of the AWP Award Series 2008 Donald Hall Prize in Poetry.

Lynn Emanuel described Beth Bachman's Temper as:

"... an unforgettable first book. Embodied in a poetry that quakes with sorrow one moment and is steely with forensic detail the next--the drainage gate... the tearing/of a pleated skirt- Temper's account of a murder encompasses the polarities of flesh and spirit, love and horror. The drama of this horrifying event, however, is not what is most compelling about Temper. What is most compelling is the way Beth Bachmann presides over the drama with a courage and restraint which manifest themselves as the beauty of these poems."

Both awards will be officially handed out at a ceremony on April 22 at Pasadena Museum of California Art.

 About the Awards
The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award is an American prize and is one of the world's most lucrative poetry awards. It is presented to an emerging poet who has not yet received great fame or success, but who does have an established body of work.

The award was created by Kate Tufts in honour of her late husband Kingsley Tufts. She also created the smaller Kate Tufts Discovery Award which goes to a first time poet.

Previous Winners
Winners:
2010:     D. A. Powell     Chronic
2009:     Matthea Harvey     Modern Life
2008:     Tom Sleigh     Space Walk
2007:     Rodney Jones     Salvation Blues
2006:     Lucia Perillo     Luck Is Luck
2005:     Michael Ryan     New and Selected Poems
2004:     Henri Cole     Middle Earth
2003:     Linda Gregerson     Waterborne
2002:     Carl Phillips     The Tether
2001:     Alan Shapiro     The Dead Alive and Busy
2000:     Robert Wrigley     Reign of Snakes
1999:     B.H. Fairchild     The Art of the Lathe
1998:     John Koethe     Falling Water
1997:     Campbell McGrath     Spring Comes to Chicago
1996:     Deborah Digges     Rough Music
1995:     Thomas Lux     Split Horizon
1994:     Yusef Komunyakaa     Neon Vernacular
1993:     Susan Mitchell     Rapture

Oscar Time ! Complete list of 2010, 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations

Oscar time again! Boy, it seems to come around quicker each year.

No surprises with 'Avatar' gleaning 9 deserved nominations.

Colin Firth must be a good chance for Best Actor for 'A Single Man' with the vintage Jeff Bridges a strong contender for 'Crazy Heart'. Mr. Bridges is spoken about as 'under rated', Tragic does not agree, an actor of fine pedigree.

Meryl Streep must be favorite this year for her role in 'Julie & Julie', though the great Helen Mirren ('The Last Station') will be challenging for pole. 

Tragic is stunned to see Sandra Bullock nominated for 'The Blind Side' - perhaps she has had a Sandra on the Road to Damascus type acting experience and has acquired some depth and range, amazing; Tragic will make a point of catching the movie to see first-hand - good luck to Ms. Bullock and congrats on her nomination in the  meantime.

Other Tragic tips? Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz, 'Nine. Foreign Language Film,'The Milk of Sorrow,' Peru; Adapted Screenplay: Nick Hornby, 'An Education'; Original Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 'A Serious Man.

Costume award has just got to go to 'Coco Before Chanel,' absolutely gorgeous.

Outside of that, 'Avatar' to take home a car trunk full  - best piece of cinema innovation for ever with a fine blend of technological genius with the rarity of an underlining narrative. 'Up' should rattle the cage slightly.

Full List

1. Best Picture: 'Avatar,' 'The Blind Side,' 'District 9,' 'An Education,' 'The Hurt Locker,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,' 'A Serious Man,' 'Up,' 'Up in the Air.'

2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, 'Crazy Heart'; George Clooney, 'Up in the Air'; Colin Firth, 'A Single Man'; Morgan Freeman, 'Invictus'; Jeremy Renner, 'The Hurt Locker.'

3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, 'The Blind Side'; Helen Mirren, 'The Last Station'; Carey Mulligan, 'An Education'; Gabourey Sidibe, 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'; Meryl Streep, 'Julie & Julia.'

4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, 'Invictus'; Woody Harrelson, 'The Messenger'; Christopher Plummer, 'The Last Station'; Stanley Tucci, 'The Lovely Bones'; Christoph Waltz, 'Inglourious Basterds.'

5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, 'Nine'; Vera Farmiga, 'Up in the Air'; Maggie Gyllenhaal, 'Crazy Heart'; Anna Kendrick, 'Up in the Air'; Mo'Nique, 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.'

6. Directing: James Cameron, 'Avatar'; Kathryn Bigelow, 'The Hurt Locker'; Quentin Tarantino, 'Inglourious Basterds'; Lee Daniels, 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'; Jason Reitman, 'Up in the Air.'

7. Foreign Language Film: 'Ajami,' Israel; 'El Secreto de Sus Ojos,' Argentina; 'The Milk of Sorrow,' Peru; 'Un Prophete,' France; 'The White Ribbon,' Germany.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, 'District 9'; Nick Hornby, 'An Education'; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, 'In the Loop'; Geoffrey Fletcher, 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, 'Up in the Air.'

9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, 'The Hurt Locker'; Quentin Tarantino, 'Inglourious Basterds'; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, 'The Messenger'; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 'A Serious Man'; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, 'Up.'

10. Animated Feature Film: 'Coraline'; 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'; 'The Princess and the Frog'; 'The Secret of Kells'; 'Up.'

11. Art Direction: 'Avatar,' 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' 'Nine,' 'Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Young Victoria.'

12. Cinematography: 'Avatar,' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' 'The Hurt Locker,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'The White Ribbon.'

13. Sound Mixing: 'Avatar,' 'The Hurt Locker,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'Star Trek,' 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.'

14. Sound Editing: 'Avatar,' 'The Hurt Locker,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'Star Trek,' 'Up.'

15. Original Score: 'Avatar,' James Horner; 'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' Alexandre Desplat; 'The Hurt Locker,' Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; 'Sherlock Holmes,' Hans Zimmer; 'Up,' Michael Giacchino.

16. Original Song: 'Almost There' from 'The Princess and the Frog,' Randy Newman; 'Down in New Orleans' from 'The Princess and the Frog,' Randy Newman; 'Loin de Paname' from 'Paris 36,' Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas; 'Take It All' from 'Nine,' Maury Yeston; 'The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)' from 'Crazy Heart,' Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

17. Costume: 'Bright Star,' 'Coco Before Chanel,' 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' 'Nine,' 'The Young Victoria.'

18. Documentary Feature: 'Burma VJ,' 'The Cove,' 'Food, Inc.' 'The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,' 'Which Way Home.'

19. Documentary (short subject): 'China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province,' 'The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner,' 'The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,' 'Music by Prudence,' 'Rabbit a la Berlin.'

20. Film Editing: 'Avatar,' 'District 9,' 'The Hurt Locker,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.'

21. Makeup: 'Il Divo,' 'Star Trek,' 'The Young Victoria.'

22. Animated Short Film: 'French Roast,' 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty,' 'The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte),' 'Logorama,' 'A Matter of Loaf and Death.'

23. Live Action Short Film: 'The Door,' 'Instead of Abracadabra,' 'Kavi,' 'Miracle Fish,' 'The New Tenants.'

24. Visual Effects: 'Avatar,' 'District 9,' 'Star Trek.'

2010 Classical Music Grammy Winners

A suggestion to the Grammy organizing committee. Split the Grammys into three separate occasions -
• The Classical Grammys, covering an expanded classical music and jazz selection;  
• The Grammys featuring pop, hip-hop, R&B. country etc;
• The Production Grammys for the video, engineering, production, sound mixing side of things. 

Advantages - more prominence given within particular spheres; a shorter presentation; less clash of cultures; opportunity to present the awards evening in a manner that will appeal to both fans and skilled professionals/artists within their area.

At the moment the whole, whilst obviously prestigious, is a bloated affair that loses viewers interest as they hone in on their particular area of passion.

Scanning the early headlines, Beyonce and Taylor Swift dominate - Yo Yo Ma - nowhere to be seen.

Incidentally, has a classical album ever won album of the year?

• Engineered Album, Classical: Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10, Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony
• Producer of the Year, Classical: Steven Epstein
• Classical Album: Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10
• Orchestral Performance: Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
• Opera Recording: Britten: Billy Budd, London Symphony Orchestra; Gentlemen of the London Symphony Chorus
• Choral Performance:  Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10, Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Elza van den Heever, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef and Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus and San Francisco Girls Chorus
• Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra): Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3, Philharmonia Orchestra
• Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra): Journey to the New World, Sharon Isbin
• Chamber Music Performance: Intimate Letters, Emerson String Quartet
• Small Ensemble Performance: Lang, David: The Little Match Girl Passion, Ars Nova Copenhagen & Theatre of Voices
• Classical Vocal Performance: Renée Fleming, Verismo Arias
• Classical Contemporary Composition: Higdon, Jennifer: Percussion Concerto, Jennifer Higdon
• Classical Crossover Album: Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace, Yo-Yo Ma
• Surround Sound Album: Transmigration, Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Choruses

Please double check that the links  above correspond to the winning nominee to your satisfaction as haven't got time to double check recordings are 100% as per citation. Apologies. Family duties. Tragic

Sundance Film Festival Annual Award Winners

 The Sundance Film Festival, held annually Park City, Salt Lake City and Ogden, as well as the Sundance Resort in the state of Utah, in the United States has declared the 2010 winners.

The largest independent cinema festival in the U.S the festival is the premier showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers.

The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature-length films and short films.

Tragic was particularly pleased to see Animal Kingdom, David Michôd’s gut-wrenching film about the Australian underworld, winning the  World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic category. As if we didn't have enough to do attracting visitors Down Under, what with all of our poisonous spiders and sharks, word will now get out about our criminal classes- fortunately most of them are confined within parliamentary walls.

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim, won the the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.

 Debra Granik won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic for Winter’s Bone, a spare and poignant film set deep in the Ozark hills. A metaphore for many an art house film goers life those Ozark Hills......

No doubt the alternative cinema circuit will be bracing for a massive increase in ticket sales- if only  the Excellence in Editing, Documentary winner, Penelope Falk's, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,

could be presented in 3D, bound to knock Avatar off of No.1.

Parker Posey hands Debra Granik the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic for Winter’s Bone, a spare and poignant film set deep in the Ozark hills. Read the full story of all the awards.

Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s visceral documentary about the war in Afghanistan, Restrepo, just won the Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.

Happythankyoumoreplease is happy, thankful, and pleased since the film just received the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Honda.

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim, is now the recipient of the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Honda.

The striking and haunting Peruvian film Contracorriente is the winner of the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic.

Waste Land, Lucy Walker’s documentary about the world’s largest landfill, just nabbed the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary.

No sibling rivalry here: The Barnes Brothers just won the Best of NEXT Presented by YouTube for their screwball romantic comedy Homewrecker.

Animal Kingdom, David Michôd’s gut-wrery.

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Winter's Bone, directed by Debra Granik

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:
Restrepo, directed by Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger

World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Animal Kingdom, directed by David Michôd

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary:
The Red Chapel (Det Røde Kapel), directed by Mads Brügger

The Best of NEXT:
Homewrecker, directed by Todd Barnes & Brad Barnes

Special Jury Prize, Documentary:
GasLand, directed by Josh Fox

Special Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Sympathy for Delicious, directed by Mark Ruffalo

World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary:
Enemies of the People, directed by Rob Lemkin & Thet Sambath

Excellence in Cinematography, Dramatic:
Zak Mulligan for Obselidia

Excellence in Cinematography, Documentary:
Kirsten Johnson & Laura Poitras for The Oath

Waldo Scott Screenwriting Award:
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for Winter's Bone

Excellence in Directing, Dramatic:
Eric Mendelsohn for 3 Backyards

Excellence in Directing, Documentary:
Leon Gast for Smash His Camera

Excellence in Editing, Documentary:
Penelope Falk for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

The Alfred P. Sloan prize for a feature film with science as a theme, or featuring a scientist, engineer, or mathematician main character, was awarded to Obselidia, directed by Diane Bell, at this year's Sundance.

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

Audience Award, Dramatic:
HappyThankYouMorePlease, directed by Josh Radnor

Audience Award, Documentary:
Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim

World Cinema Audience Award, Dramatic:
Contracorriente (Undertow), directed by Javier Fuentes-Leõn

World Cinema Audience Award, Documentary:
Wasteland, directed by Lucy Walker