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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An Anthology That Gives Voice to the Realities of Reproductive Freedom and Abortion

Shelly Oria’s new collection, I Know What’s Best for You: Stories on Reproductive Freedom, is the latest in a string of new anthologies that reclaim and challenge the conversation surrounding reproduction. The collection deals with the choice of whether or not to have children, and also explores... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Netflix's Love, Death and Robots finds the 'nerd joy' of adult animation

What happens when animation geeks get the greenlight to produce whatever they want? You get Netflix's Love, Death and Robots, an anthology series that's meant to remind viewers that cartoons aren't just for kids. You'd think that would be a foregone conclusion in 2022, decades after anime has... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-05-21 13:00:32 UTC ]
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In Conversation

The authors of Flèche and physical discuss the state of queer poetry in Britain, how to make poetry alive and what an anthology can mean. The post In Conversation appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2022-05-18 16:20:21 UTC ]
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Help Copper Canyon Press raise $80,000 for an anthology and film on translator Red Pine.

This seems like a cause worth supporting, if you’re able: Copper Canyon Press has launched a Kickstarter to help fund two projects featuring Red Pine, whose work translating Chinese poetry and Buddhist texts has reached audiences around the world. Here’s how Copper Canyon describes Red Pine: He... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-17 16:02:50 UTC ]
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A new 'Black Mirror' season is in the works after a long hiatus

It seems Black Mirror is making a comeback. Three years after the fifth season of the sci-fi anthology series arrived, Variety reports that Netflix has greenlit a sixth season.Details are scant for now, though it seems casting is in progress for a season that's expected to have more episodes... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-05-16 14:22:10 UTC ]
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A Summary and Analysis of Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘The Nine Billion Names of God’

‘The Nine Billion Names of God’ is a short story by the British-born science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). It was first published in the 1953 anthology Star Science Fiction Stories #1, before being collected in Clarke’s The Other Side of the Sky. A short tale about religion,... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2022-05-16 14:00:02 UTC ]
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What It Means to Anthologize the Literature of Abortion

About twenty years ago, I had an abortion and discovered that literary writing exploring the experience was not easy to find. So I began editing an anthology of literature about this major, suppressed literary theme, a physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, political, and cultural reality... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-05 08:52:40 UTC ]
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Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Sequoia Nagamatsu on Affirming and Subverting Pop Culture in Fiction

Fiction writers Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Sequoia Nagamatsu join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, where they talk about pop culture in the literary sphere, the blurring of the line between literary and popular fiction,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-28 08:56:36 UTC ]
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How a search for kindness grew into an anthology of poems

Editor James Crews talks about how poems of kindness reminded him during the pandemic that “the world could still be a joyful, connected place.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-04-25 15:06:52 UTC ]
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What to Read When You Feel Uprooted

Mine is the story of the woman who thought she was making a book about others; realized only as it was about to be published, that she was the broken one the book talked about. The fragmented, the dispersed, the uprooted.  When I was editing the anthology Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-03-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Quarry' is a teen horror game from the creators of 'Until Dawn'

The producers of Until Dawn are returning to their roots after years of Dark Pictures Anthology games. Supermassive Games and 2K have unveiledThe Quarry, a teen horror title that has you once again deciding the fates of frightened youth. You control nine camp counselors as a night of celebrating... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-03-17 20:15:57 UTC ]
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Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan on the Freedom of Writing Anonymously

How’s this for fun? Take 27 incredible writers—including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, PEN Awards, Women’s Prize for Fiction, Edgar Award, and more—and invite each of them to write an erotic short story. Then publish the collection in one steamy anthology with the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-17 08:50:16 UTC ]
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Dancing with Words: The Poetry of Jean-Baptiste Para, by Alice-Catherine Carls

Essay Para on Lake Baikal in southern Siberia / Photo courtesy of the author Editorial note: “Siberian Romance,” a suite of Para’s poems, accompanies this introductory essay. Born in 1956, Jean-Baptiste Para is a poet, art critic, essayist,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-03-08 19:30:36 UTC ]
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Robin Davidson’s Mrs. Schmetterling, Quiet Revolutionary

Book Reviews Photo by Chris Wood / Flickr Houston’s Second Poet Laureate (2015–2017) and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters since 2019, Robin Davidson is the author of three books of poetry: Kneeling in the Dojo (2013), City That Ripens... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-22 21:17:17 UTC ]
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Robin Davidson’s Mrs. Schmetterling, Quiet Revolutionary, by Alice-Catherine Carls

Book Reviews Photo by Chris Wood / Flickr Houston’s Second Poet Laureate (2015–2017) and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters since 2019, Robin Davidson is the author of three books of poetry: Kneeling in the Dojo (2013), City That Ripens... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-22 21:17:17 UTC ]
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Charlie Brooker: ‘Mr Dystopia? That makes me sound like a wrestler’

As he releases the latest fruits of his new megabucks deal with Netflix – an interactive cartoon about a cat – the Black Mirror creator discusses gaming, nuclear war, and why his generation has wrecked the UKCharlie Brooker is sitting at a desk, a big cardboard box in the background, miscellany... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-02-21 06:00:24 UTC ]
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Amazon is reportedly fast tracking a live-action Blade Runner series

A few months back, Blade Runner director Ridley Scott said a live-action series set in that universe is in the works. The project looks to be a step closer to reality, as Amazon Studios has reportedly put it in development. Amazon's TV and film production arm is said to be fast tracking scripts... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-11 18:28:55 UTC ]
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In ‘Anonymous Sex,’ No Strings — and No Bylines

An anthology of erotic short fiction keeps the award-winning writers a dirty secret. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-02-09 20:55:35 UTC ]
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In ‘Anonymous Sex,’ No Strings — and No Bylines

An anthology of erotic short fiction keeps the award-winning writers a dirty secret. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-02-09 14:43:51 UTC ]
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Comma commissions heroic protest anthology with Newland, Goldie and Master

Comma Press is to publish The Cuckoo Cage, the latest anthology in its History-into-Fiction series, featuring stories by British authors including Courttia Newland, Luan Goldie and Irfan Master. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-25 11:00:43 UTC ]
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