Star Wars: Visions – finally, a spin-off that lives up to the original

In a franchise filled with convoluted additions, this animated anthology feels closest to the pulpy wonder of George Lucas’s first filmsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailSince the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977, lightsabers, Wookiees and the trumpeting blare of Darth Vader’s imperial march have been bulwarks of western pop culture – so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget the sci-fi classic comes from delightfully derivative roots.Before the multimedia franchise that now spans 12 films, a television empire, theme park attractions and tie-in novels, Lucas was simply trying to adapt his favourite Flash Gordon comics. When that failed, he decided to create his own space opera, drawing from hodgepodge boyhood obsessions and romantic nostalgia for pirates, wizards and cowboys. The tense standoffs and backwoods desert towns of Star Wars were sourced from old-school Westerns; the ravaged kingdom, succession dramas and wheel of destiny were drawn from pulpy high fantasy. Add in a dose of samurai tropes, Buddhist beliefs and retro-futurist aesthetics and Lucas had stumbled upon something wholly new.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2025-03-18 14:00:46 UTC ]

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Shock horrors! How Inside No 9 makes the mundane unmissable

Now on its fifth series, the magic of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s comedy anthology remains its ability to turn even the most banal of scenarios into disturbingly thrilling TVThe fifth series of Inside No 9 opens with an episode set entirely in a referees’ changing room. Four... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-03 13:56:16 UTC ]
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WriteGirl Has My Heart: A Conversation with Keren Taylor

I KEEP FOLDING DOWN the corners of pages in this latest anthology from WriteGirl. It’s that kind of book, contains multitudes, it does — 180 young writers represented, and a range of genres, too: poetry, prose, drama, song — and in between selections, tips to keep a writer of any age on task:... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-01-16 18:00:49 UTC ]
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The Controversial Origin of Asian American Studies

Since its release in 1974, the provocative literary anthology ‘Aiiieeeee!’ has been discussed far more often than it’s actually been read. Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2020-01-15 16:00:28 UTC ]
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FX Gives Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story a 3-Season Renewal

As FX expands to a streaming platform this year, with FX on Hulu, the network is making sure its most popular series will continue to be a mainstay on its linear channel for the next three years. FX has given a three-season renewal to American Horror Story, its anthology horror series from Ryan... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-01-09 17:00:29 UTC ]
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'Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre

Publishing’s long established boys’ club in espionage fiction is having its cover blown by a new school led by Stella Rimington, Manda Scott and Charlotte PhilbyWhen Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5 and spy author, wrote a new foreword last year to The Spy’s Bedside Book,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-07 09:00:54 UTC ]
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Apple TV+ will drop every episode of ‘Little America’ on January 17th

Little America, the anthology series based on true stories about immigrants in the US, arrives on Apple TV+ on January 17th. Apple will release all of season one's episodes at once, rather than weekly as it's done with other shows, and more than a mo... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-12-12 23:19:00 UTC ]
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5 Goals for Making Your Anthology the Best That It Can Be

Marika Lindholm, co-editor of the new book We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor offers 5 tips to creating a more appealing and successful anthology. The post 5 Goals for Making Your Anthology the Best That It Can Be by Marika Lindholm appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-12-11 10:00:21 UTC ]
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Bob Geldof anthology snapped up by Faber

Faber will publish a book from Bob Geldof, Tales of Boomtown Glory, which it describes as “the musical life and times of one of our most powerful singer songwriters” Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-10 12:26:27 UTC ]
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How Journalism Made a Poet Out of Me

In 1977––just three years after the publication of Tom Wolfe’s The New Journalism, a landmark, incendiary anthology that declared journalists using fictional technique had erased the novel as literature’s dominant form—I was fresh out of college and had just landed my first job as a journalist.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-06 09:48:12 UTC ]
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The Woman Who Brought Dostoevsky and Chekhov to English Readers

My first publication was a translation, not something I wrote myself. It was an essay in Greek about the poet C.P. Cavafy for a literary anthology of that kind of thing. Before taking up Modern Greek I had spent thousands of hours of my youth translating Homer for my studies—probably too many... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-12 09:50:58 UTC ]
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Netflix's 'Heartstrings' trailer reimagines Dolly Parton songs as dramas

Netflix is turning eight Dolly Parton songs into an anthology series, Dolly Parton's Heartstrings. The first trailer arrived today, and it gives us a glimpse of the dramas based on iconic songs like "Two Doors Down," "JJ Sneed" -- and of course, "Jol... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-11-06 03:18:00 UTC ]
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Unbound launches Irish working class writers anthology

Unbound is launching an anthology of working class writers from across Ireland, featuring original pieces by Roddy Doyle and Lisa McInerney alongside lesser known authors and edited by Paul McVeigh. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-04 02:04:57 UTC ]
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Eve L. Ewing’s debut poetry collection is being adapted for TV.

I have no idea how one goes about adapting a poetry collection into a TV series, but it looks like I’ll find out soon—AMC Studios is creating an Afrofuturistic anthology series based on Eve L. Ewing’s debut collection Electric Arches. According to Shadow and Act, “The Electric Arches anthology... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-10-31 17:27:27 UTC ]
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‘Dickinson’ is another example of pop culture trying to liberate Emily Dickinson

TV show also underscores the poet’s powerful intellect and wry sense of humor, which earlier portrayals too often ignored. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-31 14:15:59 UTC ]
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What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]
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Rowman & Littlefield Has New Audiobook Program

Rowman & Littlefield Audio plans to release 35 audio titles this year and 50 in 2020 in subject areas that include history, self-help, business, and pop culture. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Best of the Horror Story

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reviews a new anthology of classic horror stories Shortly after receiving my review copies of Darryl Jones’s informative and engaging history of the horror genre, Sleeping with the Lights On, the publishers, Oxford University... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2019-10-25 14:00:45 UTC ]
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Sci-Fi Authors Charlie Jane Anders and Madeline Ashby on Imagining the Future

Two authors from the recent Future Tense Fiction anthology discuss how they approach their craft. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2019-10-25 11:30:07 UTC ]
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Your Spot on the Wall: An Introduction to “Graffiti”

LARB presents this exclusive excerpt from Graffiti, the inaugural anthology from artist collective POC United, published this week by Aunt Lute Books. ¤ WHERE ARE YOUR WORDS welcome? Where do you have permission to scribble, scrawl, romanticize, speculate, brag, retaliate, and narrate your own... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-16 17:00:52 UTC ]
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‘Watchmen’ Is Coming. (Actually, It Never Left.)

A new adaptation of the graphic novel “Watchmen” is coming to HBO. The original changed superhero tales — and pop culture at large — forever. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-10-16 09:00:22 UTC ]
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