Page 10 - Black Performance News Today

Mark Athitakis Special to USA TODAY When Philip Roth began his literary career in the 1950s, he started at the University of Chicago, where he said his ambitions were simple: “bibliography by day, women by night.” That’s something of a blunt organizing principle for Blake Bailey’s hotly anticipated biography, "Philip Roth" (Norton, 912 pp., ★★★ out of four). It’s a well-researched and engrossing book, but at times a frustratingly narrow one, despite its heft. The arc of Roth�...

Performance occurs in a myriad of ways, from spoken and written poetry to taking the stage, to playing a game of spades. In fictional universes, particularly in fantastical worlds, a character’s performance can range from their abilities to their descriptions. This week, the intricate tapestry of Black performance is explored through many different lenses in the books. This week, poetry once again takes the national stage with Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Co...

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, has seen his fair share of ugly things. His alcohol and drug addiction sent him spiraling for years and led him to cook his own crack cocaine. But hes seen a lot of beautiful things, too – namely the love he shares with his father and brother Beau Biden, who died of glioblastoma in 2015.  Biden wrote about all of it in in his new memoir, "Beautiful Things" (Gallery Books, 255 pp.), out April 6. His candid chronicle of his drug- and alcohol-fueled bi...

comments The idea of being Black and poor in America often makes people think about the gun violence, drug trade and pain that wraps the existence of that reality. And because those factors are prevalent means that too often we overlook the joys that make up the heart of the community. These joys exist by way of family gatherings, community affairs like block parties, and other forms of fellowshipping, with one thing tying all of these types of events together –– dancing. You better know ...

Listen up, LGBTQ youth – and really all LGBTQ people – "The Sky Blues" by Robbie Couch is about to hit shelves and will give you the warm and fuzzies.

Elvira Dyangani Ose is director of The Showroom in London © Maureen M. Evans The new gallery platform South South, dedicated to art from the Global South, launches today with the live selling event South South Veza that will bring over 50 galleries from five continents together using auction technology and an online viewing room. Accompanying the event will be a series of talks and think tanks, including Institutional Hybridity, led by the curator and director of The Show...

23 books to read in 2021 Todays best articles Daily business briefing Solving COVID newsletter It has been nearly a year now since most of us have enjoyed a book in any of the usual places: a coffee shop, on a commute, in an airplane, on a beach. But that hasnt stopped people from reading — in fact, the opposite. Speaking personally, 2020 made me extra grateful for all the moments I spent with paper and ink, away from yet another screen containing no good news. Now we seem on the cusp of ...