Judith Mackrell on star-rating reviews Who do I write for: dancers or audiences?

'A disturbing but fascinating precedent was set last June, when the New York magazine Village Voice "let go" of its distinguished critic Deborah Jowitt, apparently on the grounds that she didn't write enough bad reviews. For four decades, Jowitt's coverage of the New York dance scene had been almost unequalled in its breadth and detail, yet the Voice decided her descriptive, essentially non-judgmental style was no longer suited to the times; most readers now want and expect star-rated verdicts on every show.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/feb/12/critics-notebook-judith-mackrell

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Open newslist

Guardian open up their newslist. Helpful and insightful or another step towards the takeover of less-informed citizen journalism and media cost-cutting/ job cuts? Discuss... More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/series/open-newslist?fb=native In other media news... The Times and Sunday Times cut 150 editorial posts More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/20/times-job-cuts?fb=native

GIG ALERT: Natalie Ann Holborow at Uplands Poetry Night, Swansea

BOOK REVIEW: 'It deserves to be read far more widely.'

In her engaging review essay 'Fantastical Doubles and Split Selves' in the latest issue of New Welsh Review , author of The Word, JL George, looks at responses to trauma in three recent novels including Fox Bites by Lloyd Markham . Here are three of our favourite snippets: ‘Lloyd Markham’s first full-length novel Fox Bites , set in early-2000s Zimbabwe, takes a similar tack, colliding social upheaval – as viewed through the sometimes-uncomprehending eyes of a young, neurodivergent boy – with smaller, more personal disruptions. The young protagonist, Taban, suffers bullying and isolation among his peers after his family splits apart: his aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin Caleb moving away to a farm which will later be seized during land reforms.’ ‘Taban must resist the temptation to become part of a cycle of abuse, thereby becoming a conduit for the destruction of his world. Although the stakes of the book eventually become world-threatening in the expected way of science fiction...

Wildlife

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