performance

No Poetry Aloud…?

No Poetry Aloud…?

July, 2007. The Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. The Italian comedian Roberto Benigni takes the stage and begins to recite poetry. Pausing between cantos of Dante’s Divine Comedy, he offers observations about the poem and anecdotes from his own life. Maybe this type of event sounds simple, or even familiar, to you. Apart from…

The Ploughshares Round-Down: Stop Fearing the Business of Writing

The Ploughshares Round-Down: Stop Fearing the Business of Writing

Last week, Guernica published an interview with art critic Ben Davis, which begins with Davis questioning the premise that “the central tension of the art empire is that between creativity and money.” Davis says there can obviously be tension between what sells and what an artist wants to express, but he argues that money also funds innovative creative work. “If things were…