#patrick newbery

[sinceileftyoublog]

Cursive Interview: Be More Eclectic

Cursive at Riot Fest 2024

BY JORDAN MAINZER

"I saw our future and I want to go back," sings Tim Kasher on "Consumers", a standout track from Devourer, Cursive's first album in 5 years and their Run For Cover debut. The line, and song in general, feels especially prescient today, given the results of this week's U.S. Presidential Election; "A billboard sells the rich to the poor," he sings earlier. It's also exemplary of the Omaha sextet's continued ability to deliver big ideas. If early albums like Domestica and The Ugly Organ took the structure of a concept album to communicate their grandiose themes, Devourer expands its reach to other genres and mediums, namely horror, to understand the world we live in. The band has said the album's title refers to consumption, in multiple denotations and connotations of the word, from our taking in of art and online spheres to literal eating. In other words, while watching films, listening to music, and reading books is nurturing, engaging in self-righteous echo chambers can be harmful. And eating and drinking is gross: "Your gut's an old garbage can / Liver's a purple bruised punching bag," Kasher sings on the forward-lurching math rock of opener "Botch Job".

When Devourer presents surreal or heinous imagery, you're more horrified by the context behind it. On "The Avalanche of Our Demise", the narrator can't fit the titular disaster, or recognizing the climate crisis in general, into his busy schedule. "Never mind the ticking clock / Besides, you’re totally swamped today," Kasher sings. “Life’s an abscess or apple pie / So shut those demons up / And devour your slice,” he sneers on "Bloodbather", his vices overtaking his desire to self-improve, Pat Oakes' drums propelling the song along as if to encourage Kasher like the devil on his shoulder. On "What Do We Do Now", a beached whale ends up on a neighbor's curb, and the narrator is mostly concerned with reporting it to his homeowner's association. Throughout Devourer, the characters attempt to reconcile their own importance with that of the world at large, man and nature. We can see they'll eventually come up empty.

Of course, the band itself, especially on stage, continues to blare inspirationally. At this year's Riot Fest, they performed the Devourer songs expressively, Patrick Newbery banging on the keys during "Botch Job". They had played Reggie's the night before, their first time playing "Bloodbather", "Imposturing", and "Up and Away", and the first two of those got a blistering Riot Fest treatment the next day. Still, at the festival, with Devourer out for a mere week at the time, Cursive prioritized older material, which sounded just as urgent. After a plea with the crowd to vote, Kasher yelped throughout "Dorothy at Forty", Newbery's horns and Megan Siebe's cello the chaos elements. When Kasher announced how excited he was to see Mastodon and Slayer, for a moment, you could view them as three loud, rhythmically complex bedfellows.

I caught up with Kasher after Cursive's set for an interview, during which we discussed Devourer, playing live, horror films, and social media. (Halfway through the interview, fittingly, Lamb of God's set started, a sonic explosion in the background.) Tomorrow night, Cursive plays Empty Bottle; I can't think of a better place to channel post-election rage than screaming along to songs from an album whose twisted world may soon resemble our reality.

Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Was last night the first time you played the new songs live?

Tim Kasher: Three of them, yeah. There are two songs off the record we toured around last year, but that's it.

SILY: Was the approach to adapting them to a live stage any different than for the songs from your previous records?

TK: It was an interesting week of rehearsals. It occurred to us, looking at one another, that we prepped them for the studio but didn't know how to play them live. Despite us having a lot of instrumentation and getting a little ornate, we also have six band members, so we have a cello, trumpet, and keys with us. We're actually able to pull off quite a bit of what we do on the album live. It's not verbatim, but that's also not necessary. We're not really interested in that. So over the week of rehearsals, we were making those executive decisions, of why things would work better certain ways, little things here and there. I think they translate pretty well.

SILY: Marc Jacob Hudson, who co-produced it, also does your live sound. Did that help?

TK: Yeah, I think it helped a ton. We kind of had organic pre-production. We wouldn't even call it pre-production; it was literally just us sitting on the bus talking about music, talking about the record, getting ready together to ask ourselves, "What do we want to do? What do we want to get out of this? What do we want it to sound like?" Marc was awesome. He really came across as an additional member, which is the best way to feel about a producer.

SILY: You didn't do a typical record release show, but you presented the album and its music videos in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. It's a cool way to present something as artistically intended in a format that not everybody has access to.

TK: I'm proud of how it all turned out, just because it was kind of ambitious. Doing the 5 genre videos was ambitious. It was a lot of extra work we didn't need to do. As recently as the last couple albums, we had kind of a negative attitude about the videos, because you put all this money and labor into it, and it just sits on YouTube, and what's the big deal? This time around, we had this initial cocktail napkin idea of doing a lot of horror genre videos. I've gotten to know a decent amount of horror directors, so I thought I would reach out to see if they were interested. The responses were awesome, so we decided to do it. We did a real 180 and embraced videos this time. Because we did 5, and made them not just promo material but their own thing, with VHS tapes, it's its own project, connected to the album, but different to the album. We did lyric videos for the rest of the songs. I'm really excited about it. Ultimately, we're going to have them all up on YouTube, and I'd encourage people to consume it in that way. If you want to put it on your TV and watch, it's not the worst idea.

SILY: The album is very cinematic, and my favorite type of horror films are, at their heart, social tales that use horror to say something else. Similarly, on this record, you use horrific imagery to talk about climate anxiety and late capitalism. Was that your intention going into it?

TK: I'm still figuring that out. [laughs] When a record comes out, it's an opportunity for me to start understanding a little bit better what the record is about. Everybody is taking it in and giving me their reactions, which informs me. I wanted this album to be more eclectic. I put some extra effort into listening to the whole catalog, and it reminded me that 20-25 years ago, our MOs was to be eclectic. We didn't want to put out a heavy album, pop album, or mellow album. The last few Cursive records--and it's not a bad thing--lean pretty heavy, which is my growth as a writer getting more excited about louder, heavier music. I want to be a part of it. When I was listening to this album, thinking what it was about, what the title should be, I kept thinking to myself, "Damn, this is still pretty aggressive, loud, and angry, so thankfully we have these eclectic, poppy, quiet songs. But this is more pissed off than I realized it was." An early album title I had for it was Bruiser because the album seems like a bully to me. It's got a bad attitude. Devourer ended up being a variation on that. It's the type of title that does fit in with the horror genre. The best analogy is humanity devouring this planet, but with the artwork, I think of it in more sci-fi and horror elements, or a suggestion of the planet turning on us.

SILY: As much as the album sounds hard and heavy, you have the horns and cello to balance it out. You might be the only band with a cello to ever play Riot Fest.

TK: I don't know. I bet not.

SILY: It took me until yesterday to see an acoustic guitar. Horns, though, there's enough ska here to go around.

TK: [laughs]

SILY: I really like the line at the end of "The Avalanche of Our Demise" where you're talking about the apocalypse having to wait because you're too swamped. I feel like the album has a lot of themes of you balancing personal crises with the world's crises. Is that something you think about pretty often?

TK: A song like that gets pretty snarky. I'm not being hard on any specific person, but on a lot of social media, there's a lot of virtue signaling. You see a lot of, "I'm really down for the cause, and I've got some time between 11 and 2 on Saturday." There's hypocrisy in all of us, me included. It's important people understand I'm wagging the finger at myself. I don't want to be like that, but sometimes, you're slammed, and you mean well, but you're coming across like a fucking asshole.

SILY: You touch on that on "Imposturing" as well.

TK: I probably shouldn't be too hard on myself...I just don't want to be virtue signaling, myself.

SILY: I love the image of a beached whale on a sidewalk curb on "What Do We Do Now", how you're worried about what the HOA will think. You do have to laugh at it all. You can have these genuine feelings of concern and empathy for causes while also recognizing that people often post on social media out of the desire to gain social capital.

TK: I wanted to go surreal with that song. I was imaging, "What if some of the world's big crises landed at your doorstep?" How would people react?

SILY: Do you foresee these songs evolving as you play them live?

TK: Absolutely. There's already songs that I think were a little bit too slow on the album.

[screamingforyears]

IN A MINUTE:

A NEW MUSIC ROUND_UP…

“BOTCH JOB” is the second single from @cursivetheband’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Devourer’ (9/13 @RunForCover) & it finds the Omaha-based lifers, consisting of Tim Kasher (vocals/guitar), Matt Maginn (bass), Ted Stevens (guitar/vox), Patrick Newbery (keys), Clint Schnase (drums) & Megan Siebe (cello/vox) bringing a sub-3 min slice of post_harcoring Indie.

“GIVE ME THE PAINKILLER” is the second single from @nailstyranny’s forthcoming @godcitymusic produced LP titled ‘Every Bridge Burning’ (8/30 @nuclearblastrecords) & it finds Todd Jones’ resurrected project, newly rounded out here by Ulthar guitarist Shelby Lermo, Despise You bassist Andrew Solis & Warbringer drummer Carlos Cruz bringing the hurt across a 2:44 clip of scorched GrindyCore.

“EXECUTE” is the latest single from @poisonruin’s forthcoming EP titled ‘Confrere’ (8/2 @relapserecords) & it finds the Philadelphia-based outfit bringing their brand of death_rawking rumble across 3 mins of murkily majestic & stoically sludge’d Punk.

@sunsetrubdown are back w/ “REAPPEARING RAT,” the lead single from their forthcoming LP titled ‘Always Happy To Explode’ (9/20 Pronounced Kroog) & it finds the British Colombian quartet of Spencer Krug (synth/keys/acoustic guitar/vocals), Camilla Wynne (keys/Omnichord/vocals), Nicholas Merz (bass/vocals) & Jordan Robson-Cramer (drums/electric guitar/percussion/vocals) ending their 15 year drought w/ 3 ½ mins of jauntily Psych & giddily Krugian IndieRock.

“ALL AT ONCE” is the second single from @trstonline’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Performance’ (9/13 @daisrecords) & it finds Robert Alfons’ Los Angeles-based project bringing all the proper feels across a bouncy 3:46 clip of aesthetically dialed, electro_waving & tactfully trusted SynthPop.

[90secondnewbery]

When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller

2021 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by Patrick T. Franzi L., Lynnea B., Davan K., and Anna L. of Orono Intermediate School (2022)

From Orono, MN

Judges' Remarks: Although sometimes the sped-up nature of some of the scenes made the dialogue (and therefore the story) hard to understand, I loved the bustling energy of this movie. There was an effective use of green screen to take the audience from place to place, and I was impressed by the elaborate tiger costume. It was helpful to include subtitles to clue us in to what the tiger was saying. The script was funny and sometimes brutally direct, with exchanges like "Do you want to be my friend?" "Only if you teach me how to build a trap for a hypothetical tiger" and Halmoni's super-abbreviated death scene (complete with flatlining EKG monitor sounds). The performances had an appropriately comedic, goofy vibe and I liked the odd dancing banana at the end.

[newswireml]

Patrick Bringley's memoir 'All the Beauty in the World' brings us to the Met : NPR#Patrick #Bringleys #memoir #Beauty #World #brings #Met #NPR

All the Beauty in the World, Patrick Bringley’s memoir about his ten years working as a guard at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, brings new meaning to the term “art appreciation.” In the pantheon of winning books about the Met, it is right up there with E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Like the runaway siblings in Konigsburg’s 1968 Newbery…

[oberstcult]

Oberst took time to talk between songs. The band laughed and nodded along as he went on to describe the tour: “This is a family band situation. We are all wearing overalls, no one is allowed to order entrees, it’s all shared plates…” The band is Matt Focht on drums, Stefanie Drootin on bass, MiWi La Lupa on guitar, and Patrick Newbery on keys.

“Blue Angels Air Show” was ushered into the setlist by a strong showing of distaste for the current administration. Oberst talked about children in cages, tax on french wine, and Trump “only being friends with dictators” in a vicious rant that was met with a standing ovation from the crowd.

“This is a song about the good old days when you could watch planes fly around and feel good about it”

The set finished with “Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out”. It’s a song about being with your friends at a place where you feel at home — much like what it seems like it is for the band to be on stage at the end of this short but strong tour.

A cover of Waylon Jennings’ “If You See Me Getting Smaller” opened the encore. It was so warm and special. Vocals were shared between Miwi La Lupa and Oberst. The pair have been friends for many years, even living together back in Omaha in the past.

Oberst talked about his “salt of the earth” mother Nancy before the next song. She is a strong believer in fate. While he doesn’t agree with the ideals of fate, he dedicated “If the Brakeman Turns My Way” to her.

“There’s zero right with the world, but the fact that you’re all here means so much to us. This is for my mom, Nancy.”

The encore ended with a fiery version of “Napalm” featuring Joanna Sternberg on piano. The band hit full force with this addition, and fans couldn’t help dancing in their spots. Newbery’s keys sweltered until the moment the song ended. Oberst graciously bowed and exited the stage.

[askamydaily]

Be a literacy champion! -- Put a Book on Every Bed

Amy Dickinson

December, 2021

Dear Readers: Every year at Christmastime, I ask readers to put “A Book on Every Bed.” I do so in memory of my mother, Jane, whose weekly trips to our town’s library always yielded armloads of books. In our household, we went without some things that other families had, but we always had books in abundance.

The idea to put books on beds at Christmastime originally came from historian David McCullough, who recounted the Christmas mornings of his youth, when the very first thing he woke up to was a wrapped book at the base of his bed, left there by Santa.

The most important part is what happens next: Family members reading together.

Working with my local literacy partner Children’s Reading Connection (childrensreadingconnection.org)[CQ], this campaign has grown to include schools, libraries and booksellers, who have donated scores of books to families that might not have access to them.

This year, I am thrilled that author Jacqueline Woodson (jacquelinewoodson.com) agreed to share a very personal literacy story. Ms. Woodson is the winner of, well -- all of the awards for her genre-spanning work, including the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott, as well as a Macarthur “Genius” grant (2020). Her books, “Brown Girl Dreaming” and “The Day You Begin” are both very important to the children in my life.

She writes:

A Pile of Books

“The other night, a friend was describing her love for books. She said that love began when she was a child and her dad would bring a pile of books to read to her before she went to sleep.

As I listened, I imagined what would it have been like to have 'a pile of books' and someone who had the time at the end of the day to read them to me. Or better, to be able to read them to myself.

The books I had as a child were borrowed from the library or the worn books that had moved through many hands before landing, often in states of disrepair, in my own hands.

Books were both a necessity and a luxury in my childhood.

My mother wanted us to read constantly but didn't have the money to buy us 'piles of books'.

To have a brand-new book to open at night - it's crisp unbroken binding, the scent of its pages, the soft rush of air and excitement that comes with turning them - this is my dream for every child.

A pile of books begins with one. And like a child, it grows.”

Jacqueline Woodson

To support independent bookstores, which have had to pivot during the pandemic (like all of us), I’m presenting some recently published books in various categories, selected by some of my favorite booksellers.

From Jill Yoemans, owner of White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, PA -- three recommendations for Early Readers:

“Mia Mayhem is a Superhero!,” by Kara West and Leeza Hernandez.

“I’m On It! (Elephant and Piggie Like Reading!),” by Andrea Tsurumi and Mo Willems.

“Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea” (a Narwhal and Jelly Book), by Ben Clanton.

From Lisa Swayze, General Manager of Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY (Buffalostreetbooks.com):

“The Young Adult category has some of the most diverse, exciting, and revolutionary writing happening today. Buffalo Street Books' #1 pick this year is ‘This Poison Heart,’ by Kalynn Bayron. Once you're entangled in this heart-stopping story, you won't be able to put the book down.

“We also recommend: ‘The Firekeeper's Daughter,’ by Angeline Boulley, ‘We Are Not Broken,’ by George M. Johnson, and ‘We Are Inevitable,’ by Gayle Forman.”

From the bookselling staff of Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington DC, Adult non-fiction (politics-prose.com):[CQ]

“Empire of Pain,” by Patrick Radden Keefe: A riveting account of the Sackler pharmaceutical dynasty. Over decades they engaged in aggressive marketing of drugs, culminating in the promotion of oxycontin, which fostered the opioid crisis.

“Crying in H Mart,” by Michelle Zauner: In moving prose, the singer paints a vivid picture of the pain she endured growing up as the biracial daughter of a Korean mother and an American father.

“All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake”

by Tiya Miles: Winner of the National Book Award, this historian pieces together the lost lives of a Black American family -- through the contents of a flour sack from the 1840s. The story of the sack carries "all the drama and pathos of ancient tapestries depicting the deeds of queens."

[You can share your own literacy stories on my Facebook page @AdickinsonDaily, or through Instagram: @booksonbeds.]

[lissy-strata]

Christopher Barry in Servants and Masters: The Making of the Power of the Daleks.

Picture: Three still frames of the Second Doctor playing his recorder, then back to Newbery in the interview. BARRY: I think it was Patrick’s idea that he should play the little penny whistle, and it provided a delightful little piece of character for him.

[balkinbuddies]

The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

A list of all the 2019 award winners follows:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:

“Merci Suárez Changes Gears,” written by Meg Medina, is the 2019 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Candlewick. 

Two Newbery Honor Books also were named:

“The Night Diary,” written by Veera Hiranandani and published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

“The Book of Boy,” written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

“Hello Lighthouse,” illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall is the 2019 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Little, Brown/Hachette.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: 

“Alma and How She Got Her Name,” illustrated and written by Juana Martinez-Neal, published by Candlewick;

“A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” illustrated and written by Grace Lin and published by Little, Brown/Hachette;

“The Rough Patch,” illustrated and written by Brian Lies and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins

“Thank You, Omu!” illustrated and written by Oge Mora and published by Little, Brown/Hachette. 

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African-American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:

“A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919,” written by Claire Hartfield, is the King Author Book winner. The book is published by Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Three King Author Honor Books were selected:

“Finding Langston,” written by Lesa Cline-Ransome and published by Holiday House;

“The Parker Inheritance,” written by Varian Johnson and published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic;

“The Season of Styx Malone,” written by Kekla Magoon and published by Wendy Lamb/ Random House/Penguin Random House.

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:

“The Stuff of Stars,” illustrated by Ekua Holmes, is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book is written by Marion Dane Bauer and published by Candlewick.

Three King Illustrator Honor Book were selected:

“Hidden Figures,” illustrated by Laura Freeman, written by Margot Lee Shetterly and published by HarperCollins;

“Let the Children March,” illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Monica Clark-Robinson and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop,” illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Alice Faye Duncan and published by Calkins Creek/ Highlights.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: 

“Monday’s Not Coming,” written by Tiffany D. Jackson, is the Steptoe author award winner. The book is published by Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award:

            “Thank You, Omu!,” illustrated and written by Oge Mora and published by Little, Brown.

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: 

Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy is the winner of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton.

 Dr. Bracy is Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She successfully merged scholarship and service with publications such as “Libraries, Literacy and African American Youth” (co-edited with Sandra Hughes Hassell and Casey H. Rawson), her work with the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and with workshops and conferences dedicated to promoting African American books for children and teens. She recently served as co-organizer for Celebrating Our Voices: Black Children’s Literature Symposium and Book Festival held at NCCU.

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:

“The Poet X,” written by Elizabeth Acevedo, is the 2019 Printz Award winner. The book is published by HarperTeen/HarperCollins.

Three Printz Honor Books also were named:

“Damsel,” written by Elana K. Arnold and published by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

“A Heart in a Body in the World,” written by Deb Caletti and published by Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster

“I, Claudia,” written by Mary McCoy and published by Carolrhoda/Lerner.

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

“Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship,” written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon and published by Candlewick (ages 0 to 10).

One honor book for young children was selected:

“The Remember Balloons,” written by Jessie Oliveros, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte and published by Simon & Schuster.

“The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle,” written by Leslie Connor and published by Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, is the winner for middle grades (ages 11-13).

One honor book for middle grades was selected:

“The Collectors,” written by Jacqueline West and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

“Anger Is a Gift,” written by Mark Oshiro and published by Tor Tom Doherty Associates, is the winner for teens (ages 13-18).

One honor book for teens was selected:

“(Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health,” edited by Kelly Jensen and published by Algonquin/Workman.

Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:

“The Black God’s Drums,” by P. Djèlí Clark, published by Tor.com/Tom Doherty Associates/ Macmillan.

“The Book of Essie,” by Meghan MacLean Weir, published by Knopf/ Random House/ Penguin Random House.

“Circe,” by Madeline Miller, published by Little, Brown/Hachette.

“Educated: A Memoir,” by Tara Westover, published by Random House/Penguin Random House

“The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After,” by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil, published by Crown/Penguin Random House.

“Green,” by Sam Graham-Felsen, published by Random House/ Penguin Random House.

“Home After Dark,” by David Small, illustrated by the author, published by Liveright/ of W.W. Norton.

“How Long ’Til Black Future Month?” By N. K. Jemisin, published by Orbit/ Hachette.

“Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison, published by Algonquin/Walker.

“Spinning Silver,” by Naomi Novik, published by Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the U.S., have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. 

The 2019 winner is Walter Dean Myers, whose award-winning works include “Somewhere in the Darkness,” published by Scholastic (a 1993 Newbery Honor Book), and “Monster,” published by HarperCollins ( a 2000 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book). In addition, Myers received the first Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010.

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:

The 2019 winner is M.T. Anderson. His books include: “Feed;” “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party;” and “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves,” all published by Candlewick Press.

2020 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site.

Neil Gaiman will deliver the 2020 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Born in England, Gaiman is a U.S resident. His work has been honored with many awards internationally, including the Newbery Medal. He is credited with being one of the creators of modern comics, as well as an author whose work crosses genres and reaches audiences of all ages. Gaiman is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama and a vocal defender of the freedom to read. 

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the U.S, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the U.S.:

“The Fox on the Swing” is the 2019 Batchelder Award winner. Originally published in Lithuanian as “Laime Yra Lape,” the book was written by Evelina Daciūtė, illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė, translated by The Translation Bureau and published by Thames & Hudson.

Four Honor Books also were selected:

“Run for Your Life,” published by Yonder/Restless Books, written by Silvana Gandolfi and translated from the Italian by Lynne Sharon Schwartz;

“My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder,” published by Graphic Universe/Lerner, written and illustrated by Nie Jun, originally published in Mandarin and translated from the French by Edward Gauvin;

“Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure,” published by NorthSouth, written and illustrated by Torben Kuhlmann and translated from the German by David Henry Wilson;

“Jerome By Heart,” published by Enchanted Lion Books, written by Thomas Scotto, illustrated by Olivier Tallec and translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick and Karin Snelson.

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States:

“Sadie,” produced by Macmillan Audio, is the 2019 Odyssey Award winner. The book is written by Courtney Summers, narrated by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and more and published by Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press.

Four books Odyssey Honor Audiobooks also were selected:

“Du Iz Tak” produced by Weston Woods Studio/Scholastic, written by Carson Ellis and narrated by Eli and Sebastian D’Amico, Burton, Galen and Laura Fott, Sarah Hart, Bella Higginbotham, Evelyn Hipp and Brian Hull;

“Esquivel! Spaace-Age Sound Artist,” produced by Live Oak Media, written by Susan Wood and narrated by Brian Amador;

“The Parker Inheritance,” produced by Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Varian Johnson and narrated by Cherise Booth;

“The Poet X,” produced by HarperAudio/HarperCollins and written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Pura Belpré Awards honoring a Latinx writer and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

“Dreamers,” illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales, is the Belpré Illustrator Award winner. The book was published by Neal Porter/Holiday House.

Two Belpré Illustrator Honor Books were named:

“Islandborn,” illustrated by Leo Espinosa, written by Junot Díaz and published by Dial/Penguin Young Readers Group/Penguin Random House

“When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana,” illustrated by Jose Ramirez, written by Michael Mahin and published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

"The Poet X,” written by Elizabeth Acevedo, is the Pura Belpré Author Award winner. The book is published by HarperTeen/HarperCollins.

One Belpré Author Honor Book was named:

"They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems," written by David Bowles and published by Cinco Puntos Press.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:

“The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science,” written by Joyce Sidman, is the Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Five Sibert Honor Books were named:

“Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild,” written by Catherine Thimmesh and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America,” written by Gail Jarrow and published by Calkins Creek/ Highlights;

“The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees,” written and illustrated by Don Brown and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,” written by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac and published by Charlesbridge;

“When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana,” written Michael Mahin, illustrated by Jose Ramirez and published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster. 

The Inaugural Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award is being given in 2019 to a digital media producer that has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience. 

The 2019 in Early Learning Digital Media Award winner is Play and Learn Science, produced by PBS Kids. 

 The committee selected two honor recipients: 

Coral Reef, produced by Tinybop Inc. 

Lexi’s World, produced by Pop Pop Pop LLC. 

Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award is given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.

The 2019 recipients are respectively:

“Julián Is a Mermaid,” written by Jessica Love and published by Candlewick

“Hurricane Child,” written by Kheryn Callender and published by Scholastic

Two Honor Books were selected:

“Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World,” written by Ashley Herring Blake and published by Little, Brown/Hachette

“Picture Us in the Light,” written by Kelly Loy Gilbert and published by Hyperion/ Disney.  

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book is:

“Fox the Tiger,” written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor and published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

Four Geisel Honor Books were named:

“The Adventures of Otto: See Pip Flap,” written and illustrated by David Milgrim and published by Simon Spotlight/Simon & Schuster;

“Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories,” written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier and published by Chronicle;

“King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth,” written by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers and published by Peachtree;

“Tiger vs. Nightmare,” written and illustrated by Emily Tetri and published by First Second/Roaring Brook/Holtzbrinck.

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens is:

“Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” written by Adib Khorram, published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

Four William C. Morris Award Honor Books were named: “Blood Water Paint,” written by Joy McCullough and published by Dutton/Penguin

“Check, Please!: #Hockey,” written and illustrated by Ngozi Ukazu and published by First Second/Macmillan

 “Children of Blood and Bone,” written by Tomi Adeyemi and published by Henry Holt/ Macmillan;

 “What the Night Sings,” written and illustrated by Vesper Stamper and published by Knopf/Penguin Random House.

 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: 

 “The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees,” written and illustrated by Don Brown, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the 2019 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

Four books were finalists for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:

 “The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor,” written by Sonia Sotomayor and published by Delacorte/ Penguin Random House;

 “Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam,” written by Elizabeth Partridge and published by Viking/Penguin Random House;

 “The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler,” written and illustrated by John Hendrix and published by Amulet Books/Abrams;

 "Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction," written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and published by Graphix/Scholastic.

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.  The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The award offers three youth categories including Picture Book, Children’s Literature and Young Adult Literature.  The award is administered by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association.  Here are this year’s winners:

The Picture Book winner is “Drawn Together,” written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat and published by Hyperion/Disney;

The Children’s Literature winner is “Front Desk,” written by Kelly Yang and published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic;

The Young Adult Literature is “Darius the Great is Not Okay,” written by Adib Khorram and published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries since 1968, the award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature. Here are this year’s winners:

The Younger Readers winner is “All-of-a-Kind-Family Hanukkah,” by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky, published by Schwartz & Wade/Random House

The Older Readers winner is “Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster,” by Jonathan Auxier, published by Amulet/Abrams;

The Teen Readers winner is “What the Night Sings,” by Vesper Stamper, illustrated by the author, published by Knopf/Random House.

Please join us in congratulating all the award winners!

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

Yesterday for Feathursday we featured some 1957 wood engravings by Robert Gibbings who had been the owner/publisher of the Golden Cockerel Press, 1924-1933. Gibbings did quite well in the 1920s, but by the 1930s his fortunes with the press had turned south, so he sold the business in 1933 to three business partners:  Christopher Sandford, Owen Rutter, and Francis J. Newbery. The partners were determined to place the production of the press on a more commercial footing while still maintaining its fine-press roots. 

This book, produced in 1937, was the first in a series of successful collaborations between the partners and the English illustrator and wood engraver Clifford Webb. Ana the Runner: A Treatise for Princes & Generals Attributed to Prince Mahmoud Abdul, a speculative story by Patrick Miller about the potentially greater efficiency of using female over male message runners, was printed by Sanford and Rutter. By this time, Newbery had been replaced as a partner by the even-more business-minded Anthony Sandford, who expected a return on his investment. The result was that although a limited press run was reserved for subscribers, Ana the Runner was produced in an unlimited edition for the commercial market. Our copy is one of the unlimited copies, but still retains much of the fine press production values. Anthony Sanford’s business model was not a success, and he left the partnership in 1938. Owen Rutter died in 1944, and Christopher Sanford carried on the business alone until 1959, when he sold it to the American publisher Thomas Yoseloff. Yoseloff produced a few notable editions, but ended up closing the business in 1961 after 41 years of operation.

View more Fine Press Friday posts. 

[meret118]

The Winners

Newbery Medal: Merci Suárez Changes Gears, by Meg Medina.

Caldecott Medal: Hello Lighthouse, illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (for "the most distinguished American book for beginning readers"): Fox the Tiger, written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor.

Children's Literature Legacy Award (for an author or illustrator whose books "over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children's lives and experiences"): Walter Dean Myers.

Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media (for "distinguished digital media for an early learning audience"): Play and Learn Science, produced by PBS Kids.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal (for "the most distinguished informational book"): The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science, by Joyce Sidman.

Mildred L. Batchelder Award (for the publisher of the most outstanding books originating in a country other than the U.S. and in a language other than English, later translated and published in the U.S.): The Fox on the Swing, published by Thames & Hudson, written by Evelina Daciūtė, illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė, and translated from Lithuanian by the Translation Bureau.

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award (selecting an honoree "who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children's literature"): Neil Gaiman.

Pura Belpré Award (for "a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth"):

Illustration: Dreamers, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales

Text: The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo

Michael L. Printz Award (for "the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit"): The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Excellence in Nonfiction Award (for "the best nonfiction book published for young adults — ages 12-18"): The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, by Don Brown.

William C. Morris Award (for work "published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature"): Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram.

Odyssey Award (for the "best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the U.S."): Sadie, produced by Macmillan Audio, written by Courtney Summers, narrated by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman and more.

Margaret A. Edwards Award (for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature"): M.T. Anderson.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards (for "books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values"):

Author award: A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, by Claire Hartfield

Illustrator award: The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Marion Dane Bauer

Virginia Hamilton Award (lifetime achievement): Pauletta Brown Bracy

John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator): Thank You, Omu!, by Oge Mora

John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Author): Monday's Not Coming, by Tiffany D. Jackson

Stonewall Book Awards (for work of "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience"):

Children: Julián is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love

Young adult: Hurricane Child, by Kheryn Callender

Schneider Family Book Award (for "a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences"):

Children: Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Middle grade: The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, by Leslie Connor

Teen: Anger Is a Gift, by Mark Oshiro

Sydney Taylor Book Award (for "outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience"):

Young readers: All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah, written by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky

Older readers: Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster, by Jonathan Auxier

Teen readers: What the Night Sings, by Vesper Stamper

Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Award for Literature (for outstanding "work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage"):

Picture book: Drawn Together, written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat

Children's literature: Front Desk, by Kelly Yang

Young adult literature: Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram

Congratulations to this year’s Caldecott and Newbery winners! Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina and Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall took the top honors – our full coverage is here.

[screamingforyears]

IN A MINUTE:

AN INDIE EXPRESS...

@cursivetheband are back w/ “UP & AWAY,” the lead single from their forthcoming LP titled ‘Devourer’ (9/13 @RunForCover) & it finds the Omaha-based lifers, consisting of Tim Kasher (vocals/guitar), Matt Maginn (bass), Ted Stevens (guitar/vocals), Patrick Newbery (keys), Clint Schnase (drums) & Megan Siebe (cello/vocals) sounding wholly recharged across 3+ mins of thicccly bass’d, whimsically quirked & properly kasher’d PostIndieRock.

“ELUDE THE TORCH” is the second single/title-track from THE DRIN’s forthcoming LP (6/28 @feelitrecordshop) & it finds the Cincinnati-based project, consisting of Eric Dietrich (The Wind), Ryan Sennett (Electric Strings/Drum), Jean-Luc Cornett: Deep Bass Strings/A Voice/Other Strums), Cole Gilfilen (Many Drum/A Voice/Electric Strings/Distortions), Dakota Carlyle (Many Drum/Spaces/Strums/Clangs) & Dylan McCartney (Blood on the Cover) dropping some “nebulous verbiage” across a nervy 3:46 clip of post_punk flavoured PsychRawk.

@jamie___xx is here w/ “TREAT EACH OTHER RIGHT,” the lead single from his long awaited forthcoming LP titled ‘In Waves’ (9/20 @young_) & it finds the London-based producer bringing that melancholic bliss across 4 mins of euphorically bodied, graciously glitched & aesthetically housed ElectroPop.

[90secondnewbery]

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

2018 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Max Spector, Christopher Kedryna, and Patrick Kedryna of Lincoln Hall Middle School (2018)

From Lincolnwood, IL

Judges' Remarks: A fantastic idea to tell the story in the form of a rap—and very well-done, too! By starting with disconnected images of an elevator and a gunshot, the movie gets the themes of the story out front and center early, preparing us for what it’s all about. I appreciated that the lyrics were subtitled, too, so the audience can catch every word. The lyrics tell the story quickly and efficiently, and the performers’ movements and emotional gestures helped too. The editing was tight, matching the rhythm of lyrics at some points. The rhymes were solid throughout and sometimes even ingenious. Fantastic job!

[testlitsoc-blog]

Recommended Reading: LGBT+ literature (and an introduction!)

Every time I go to a Literature Society discussion group, I come away from it with a huge list of books in my head that I desperately want to read. But LitSoc is on a Friday afternoon – by the second pint in the pub that evening, any and all of the books I had in mind have faded forever from my memory. I can only imagine that this must be a common problem for everybody in the society. So, in the interest of preserving the mental reading list, this blog series will now record all the literature (and probably other mediums as well!) that is recommended each week, theme by theme.

This first post comes after last Friday’s discussion group on LGBT+ literature, with a focus on Bi/Pan literature as part of UUEAS’s Bi/Pan Awareness Week. It was a lively and passionate discussion, which are the best kind because they leave you with a sense of community and excitement. They also tend to result in the longest list of recommendations, funnily enough.

This week’s recommended reading list includes many novels, comics, several poets, and some bonus television programmes. If you read something from this list and enjoy it, let us know! We’re always here for a major literary nerd-out session.

LITERATURE:

Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith

The Shell House, Linda Newbery

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters

The Night Watch, Sarah Waters

Havemercy Cycle, Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

Chaos Walking Trilogy, Patrick Ness

More Than This, Patrick Ness

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Beauty Queens, Libba Bray

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson

Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan

Wide Awake, David Levithan

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon

The Beauty, Aliya Whitely

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tom Robbins

Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter

Orlando, Virginia Woolf

A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

Regeneration Trilogy, Pat Barker

Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

Dykes to Watch Out For, Alison Bechdel

More authors mentioned included Emily Dickenson, Sappho, Tennessee Williams, William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, and Anne Rice

TELEVISION:

Please Like Me

Brooklyn Nine Nine

Oz (warning: graphic physical and sexual violence)

Mina Murray’s Journal (webseries)

In the Flesh

Class

Orange is the New Black

Teen Wolf

Bojack Horseman

The 100 (the final four shows are all fairly tentative recommendations)

We’ll be back next week, with a recommended reading list on the theme of speculative fiction! See you soon.

LitSoc Love!

Lucy Schofield

[pcasabona]

La importancia de la Experiencia de Usuario en el mundo financiero

La importancia de la Experiencia de Usuario en el mundo financiero

  Patrick Newbery, co fundador de Method, empresa que adquirió GlobalLogic, se presentó en el país y en Chile para disertar sobre cómo la adopción de tecnología y diseño tienen un impacto en el crecimiento del negocio y una mejor experiencia para el usuario final.

GlobalLogic, empresa líder en Innovación y Desarrollo de Software, reunió a los líderes de la industria financiera tanto en Chile…

[w-kww]

Experience Design

        Experience design is seemingly the designing of an experience, in business this would usually be utilised for the act of customer engagement. Patrick Newbery states; “An engaged customer is worth more than a loyal customer” (Newbery, 2020), this engagement is the crux of any capital minded pursuit within experience design- though the discipline isn’t inherently profiteering.

        Experience design can operate within the technological as for example an interactive app, would be considered an experience. This is perhaps the most distinct school of design as there is essentially no direct focus on a product- in part for this reason, it is also quite a boring discipline. In the humble opinion of this writer though, I can’t even truly claim to agree that it is a school of design, instead more appropriately being just an accumulation of skills vaguely related to other aspects of design. I’m not meaning to be a design purist but if this is a school of design then it isn’t the experience that is being designed, instead an interface or a graphic e.g. depending of the situation. Regardless, user design has existed for as long as technology but largely this was a subconscious process or if not, then it was simply not refereed to as user design. Though there is this inextricable relation user design aims not to be limited by technologies and instead to enhance and drive forward these experiences.

Newbery, P., 2020. Experience Design: When Innovation Isn’T Enough. [online] WIRED. Available at: <https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/03/experience-design-innovation-isnt-enough/> [Accessed 10 March 2020].

[unt2017]

Blog Reading List

1.      Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having A Disability by Shane Burcaw-Informational Book

2.       Go Ask Alice by Anonymous-Biography

3.      The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak-Picture Book

4.       School's First Day of School by Adam Rex, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

5.       No, David! by David Shannon

6.      Fly Guy’s Ninja Christmas by Tedd Arnold

**books 3,4,5,6 are Easy/Picture books

7.       Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell-Realistic Fiction

8.       I Can Only Imagine by Bart Millard and Laura Neutzling, Illustrated by Sumiti Collina-Inspirational/Religious

9.       People Like Us by Dana Mele-Mystery/Suspense

10.   Girl Stolen by April Henry -Mystery/Suspense

11.   Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh-Multicultural & International

12.   Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum-Romance/Poetry

13.   Love Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han-Romance/Poetry

14.   The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig-Fantasy

15.   The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis-Fantasy

 Blog Set # 2

16.   Dog Man by David Pilkey- Graphic Novel

17.   Amulet Book # 1: The Stone Keeper by Kazu Kibuishi-Graphic Novel

18.   2x2: Festival of Colors by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Simon & Schuster, 2018)

19.   IslandBorn by Junot Diaz (Tejas Star)

20.   Letters to the Lost (Lonestar 6th-8th list)

21.   Starry Eyes-High School  Tejas Star List

22.   Long way down-Jason Reynolds -NewBery

23.   Wishtree-Katherine Applegate-Tejas

24.   The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Bradley -Newbery

25.   Leave Me Alone  by Vera Brosgol -Calcott Award Honor

26.   The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo - Pura Belpre Award

27.   Coming Home Soon by Jacquline Woodson- Caldecott Medal Winner or Honor Books

28.   The Kindness Club: Designed by Lucy by Courtney Sheinmel

29.   Queer There and Everywhere by Sarah Prager-LGBT+

30.   The Day You Begin- Jaqueline Woodson- Tejas Star Award

31.   Islandborn by Junot Diaz-Award Winning Book

32.   A Monster Calls -Patrick Ness-Horror

33.   City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau-Science Fiction