Le Journal

The award, run by Hachette UK and Libraro, aims to ‘sidestep the traditional barricades of the book industry’ and give readers a role in discovering new talentA new £50,000 writing prize that allows readers to select the shortlist from submitted manuscripts – and rewards them with cash prizes for their involvement – has been launched by the publishing platform Libraro, in partnership with Hachette UK.The Libraro prize aims to “sidestep the traditional barricades of the book industry”, according to organisers. Writers upload full manuscripts to the Libraro platform, where readers champion their favourite entries to create a shortlist of six books. Continue reading...

Once the home of Australian artist Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne, Bundanon – set across 1,000 hectares on the NSW south coast – is now home to an art museum, where the latest exhibition celebrates the Boyd women whose artistic careers have been overlooked.Among them is Arthur’s sister Lady Mary Nolan (nee Boyd), who had four children with her first husband, the artist John Perceval, before moving to London and marrying Sidney Nolan in 1978. A painter and a potter, Mary is less known for her photographs, 48 of which are now on show after being unearthed at the National Library of AustraliaThe Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women is open at Bundanon gallery until 15 February Continue reading...

The Swedish actor said that ‘he’s trying to take the world’ and called the recent actions of the US president ‘absurd’The actor Stellan Skarsgård has criticised the attempts of the US president to annex Greenland, calling him “a little man who got megalomania”.Speaking at the European Film awards over the weekend, the actor – now frontrunner to win the supporting actor Oscar for his role in Sentimental Value – called the actions of Donald Trump “absurd”. Continue reading...

Barbican, LondonClemens Schuldt kept the volume high in an inconsistent evening in which the BBC Symphony Orchestra ranged across Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet, Mel Bonis’s Ophélie and a suite from Strauss’s Der RosenkavalierPerformances aside, this somewhat frenetic concert could have benefited from a sharper curatorial eye to bind together its disparate works. Fortunately, Joseph Phibbs’s cello concerto, written for Guy Johnston and here receiving its world premiere, brought its own musical cohesion, distinguishing itself in an otherwise uneven programme.Scrupulously crafted, its five contrasting movements basked in a warm tonality and boasted a multihued orchestration with rich, fluent string writing and imaginative effects in wind, brass and percussion. Emerging from gentle double bass pizzicatos and cushioned cellos, Johnston’s solo line, pensive and unshowy throughout, was neatly framed thanks to Clemens Schuldt’s mindful control over his BBC Symphony Orchestra forces. Continue reading...

An unlikely pair set off on an adventure in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Plus, a debauched Marie Antoinette party in Industry. Here’s what to watch this evening9pm, Sky AtlanticIf you loved the unlikely pairing of the Hound and Arya in Game of Thrones, this lighter, funnier new prequel is way more enjoyable than the dismal drama of House of the Dragon. Set 100 years before the events of GoT, the story is based on a George RR Martin novella, following the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a sweet, courageous hedge knight (“like a knight … but sadder”) and his inquisitive young squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). But it’s not all fun and games – after all, what is Westeros without the cunning characters and grisly bits? As Duncan’s journey begins, expect puppet dragons, projectile poo and a promise to win a jousting tourney. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...