Yale Press Log

"Grenadine" author enjoys the sweet taste of victory

Playwright Neil Wechsler has been selected as the second winner of the Yale Drama Series Competition, co-sponsored by the Yale University Press and the Yale Repertory Theatre. Wechsler's original work, Grenadine, has been chosen by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee as the second installment in the series, following John Austin Connolly's The Boys from Siam, which will be published in the fall.

A Buffalo-based writer, Wechsler graduated from Yale College, where he studied Philosophy and Psychology, in 1996. Grenadine tracks one man's relationships with his three best friends as they journey through an unfamiliar landscape. The formal presentation of Wechsler's award (which carries with it the David C. Horn Prize of $10,000) will take place at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park on Sunday, September 14, 2008. A reading of the play will be given by Yale Rep in New Haven on Monday, September 15.

Submissions are now being accepted for next year's competition, which will be judged by British playwright David Hare. All entries must be postmarked no later than August 15, 2008. See here for more details.
 

Happy 444th Birthday, Will!

"When we are born we cry that we are come... to this great stage of fools," William Shakespeare once wrote. Well, 444 years ago today, Shakespeare entered this great stage of fools and made a little more sense out of it. To learn about how he did this, check out the wide array of Yale Press titles about the Bard, including Shakespeare the Thinker by A. D. Nuttall.

Nuttall’s profound and elegantly written study of Shakespeare’s thought is a literary tour de force, a marvelous inquiry into the questions that engrossed the playwright throughout his life. Nuttall investigates the dynamic nature of Shakespeare’s evolving answers and provides for twenty-first-century readers an unparalleled guide to Shakespeare’s plays.

Click here for an extended question & answer discussion with Nuttall. View the table of contents or read an excerpt.

To read Shakespeare's words as they should be read, Yale Press offers the Annotated Shakespeare series. Judith McGowan from the American Association of School Librarians says, "The volumes in this series will enrich any library that stocks editions of individual Shakespeaean plays."

Through the Annotated Shakespeare series, today’s readers have immediate access to the tools they need to help them better comprehend the plays of Shakespeare and explore their many possible interpretations. Each volume includes an informative introduction by the editor, Burton Raffel, a critical essay by Harold Bloom, and comprehensive on-page annotations that assist with vocabulary, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. Handsome and affordable, these paperback editions invite every reader to get to know—or become reacquainted with—the genius of Shakespeare.

Sennett's The Craftsman in print, blogs, and air waves

In addition to the blogs Hand Made Theory, Zeigarnika, and Greenjeans Blog that feature Richard Sennett's The Craftsman, guardian.co.uk has two reviews and an article by Sennett himself.

The review that appeared in the Observer on February 17 says, "As in his previous books, Sennett ranges fluently across philosophy, literature, art, music and technology." Meanwhile, the reviewer from the Guardian says, "Richard Sennett is a prime observer of society, an American, a pragmatist who takes the nitty gritty of daily life and turns it into a disquisition on morality.... He is an enchanting writer with important things to say." For a taste of what he has to say, check out his article, "Labours of Love," which appeared last month in the Guardian.

Sennett was also invited as a guest on The Diane Rehm Show, where he talked about everyone's potential to be a craftsman. Listen to the show in Real Audio format here, or in Windows Media format here. If you want to hear more from Sennett, click here to listen to an interview with him on the Yale Press Podcast.

Defining craftsmanship far more broadly than "skilled manual labor," Richard Sennett maintains that the computer programmer, the doctor, the artist, and even the parent and citizen engage in a craftsman’s work. Craftsmanship names the basic human impulse to do a job well for its own sake, says the author, and good craftsmanship involves developing skills and focusing on the work rather than ourselves. In this thought-provoking book, one of our most distinguished public intellectuals explores the work of craftsmen past and present, identifies deep connections between material consciousness and ethical values, and challenges received ideas about what constitutes good work in today’s world.

View the table of contents, or read an excerpt from the book.

The New Republic on Obama's economic guru and Gordin's yikhes

In the March 12th issue of The New Republic, Noam Scheiber writes of the effect of Richard Thaler's economic theories on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Scheiber writes, "Thaler is revered by the leading wonks on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Though he has no formal role, Thaler presides as a kind of in-house intellectual guru, consulting regularly with Obama's top economic adviser." Thaler and Cass Sunstein recently wrote Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Read more about Thaler's influence on Obama here.

Elsewhere in that same issue of The New Republic, Stephen Greenblatt discusses the yikhes--"status or honor" in Yiddish--of playwright Jacob Gordin. Greenblatt positively reviews The Jewish King Lear: A Comedy in America, saying that "the late Ruth Gay's fine and lively translation of Gordin's most famous play, along with the richly informative accompanying biographical and interpretative essays by Gay and Sophie Glazer, enable readers without Yiddish to understand what stirred Gordin's original audience so deeply." Read the entire review here.

The New Republic also extensively reviewed The Origins of Reasonable Doubt: Theological Roots of the Criminal Trial by James Q. Whitman for their February 27th issue. TNR subscribers can read that review here.

Yale Press authors explore Broadway, investigate Roswell, and report on Latin America

Especially in these winter months, it's hard to imagine a world without "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and other classic Frank Loesser tunes. Mark Steyn, reviewing Thomas L. Riis' Frank Loesser for the Wall Street Journal, realizes that "a world without Frank Loesser and 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' would be very cold indeed." Steyn calls Frank Loesser by Yale Press author Thomas L. Riis "a solid overview of an underappreciated talent." Steyn not only praises this "invaluable" book, but also Yale University Press as a whole for the "important and valuable Broadway Masters series of musicological studies." You can read the entire review here.

Frank Loesser, most famous for composing the ever-popular musical Guys and Dolls (1950), also wrote the music and lyrics for the Pulitzer prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and other hits. This book is the first to bring the full story of Loesser’s life and creative achievement in Hollywood and on Broadway into the light.

Elsewhere in the Wall Street Journal, Max Holland listed the "Five Best" books on untangling the rise of conspiracy theories. Number 2 was Yale Press' Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America by Robert Alan Goldberg, which Holland called "unrivaled" for books published within the past decade. You can see Holland's entire list here.

In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on conspiracy theories in post-World War II America, examining how they became popular and why they remain so. He investigates conspiracy theories surrounding the Roswell UFO incident, the Communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America. Those who suspect conspiracies are not confined to the lunatic fringe, Goldberg shows. In fact, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly widespread and have become an integral part of American political culture.

You can tune in tomorrow to KERA Texas public radio to hear Michael Reid, author of Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul. His hour-long interview for Think with Krys Boyd will start at noon, February 12, and can be heard online here.

Latin America, home to half-a-billion people, the world's largest reserves of arable land, and 8.5 percent of global oil, is in the midst of a vast transformation. Michael Reid, a journalist with many years of experience in the region, explores Latin America's current shift to the political left, its struggle to compete economically, and the potential for democracy to flourish there.

At the Met, New York meets Oklahoma!

This year marks the centenary year of the state of Oklahoma. So, Tim Carter, author of Oklahoma!: The Making of an American Musical, is speaking today in a lecture at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. This "informative, entertaining, and topical tribute to Oklahoma (state and musical)" is part of the Met's "The Sound of Broadway" series. Also, keep on the lookout for Bud Elder's interview with Carter on WKY Radio, Oklahoma City.

For more information on the lecture, click here.

Oklahoma! premiered on Broadway in 1943 under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, and today it is performed more frequently than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In this book Tim Carter offers the first fully documented history of the making of this celebrated American musical.

Drawing on research from rare theater archives, manuscripts, journalism, and other sources, Carter records every step in the development of Oklahoma! The book is filled with rich and fascinating details about how Rodgers and Hammerstein first came together, the casting process, how Agnes de Mille became the show’s choreographer, and the drafts and revisions that ultimately gave the musical its final shape. Carter also shows the lofty aspirations of both the creators and producers and the mythmaking that surrounded Oklahoma! from its very inception, and demonstrates just what made it part of its times.

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents.

Panel at Yale in honor of Nuttall's Shakespeare the Thinker

Shakespeare's inner thought process will be the subject of a panel discussion held at Yale tomorrow, October 30. "Shakespeare the Thinker" will be at 4:30 p.m., in the Yale Center for British Art Lecture Hall, 1080 Chapel Street. The panel is free and open to the public.

Among the notable panelists are literary critic Harold Bloom and Connecticut Poet Laureate John Hollander. The event is hosted by Yale University Press, the Yale Center for British Art and the Whitney Humanities Center.

According to the Yale University Office of Public Affairs, the event was organized in honor of the late A. D. Nuttall and the recent publication of his book, Shakespeare the Thinker.

A. D. Nuttall’s study of Shakespeare’s intellectual preoccupations is a literary tour de force and comes to crown the distinguished career of a Shakespeare scholar. Certain questions engross Shakespeare from his early plays to the late romances: the nature of motive, cause, personal identity and relation, the proper status of imagination, ethics and subjectivity, language and its capacity to occlude and to communicate. Yet Shakespeare’s thought, Nuttall demonstrates, is anything but static. The plays keep returning to, modifying, and complicating his creative preoccupations. Nuttall allows us to hear and appreciate the emergent cathedral choir of play speaking to play. By the later stages of Nuttall’s book this choir is nearly overwhelming in its power and dimensions. The author does not limit discussion to moments of crucial intellection but gives himself ample space in which to get at the distinctive essence of each work.

Read an excerpt, or view the table of contents.

For more information about the panel discussion, click here or contact Manana Sikic at 203 432-0673.

Yale Rep gives free staged reading of John Austin Connolly's The Boys from Siam

Yale Repertory Theatre will present a free staged reading of John Austin Connolly's new award-winning play, The Boys from Siam, on Monday, October 1 at 7:30pm at The New Theater (1156 Chapel Street) in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Boys from Siam won the The Yale Drama Series' first David C. Horn Prize, selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee from more than 500 submissions from the US, UK, Canada, and Republic of Ireland. In addition to the reading, John Austin Connolly was awarded $10,000 and publication of his play by Yale University Press.

Connolly's The Boys from Siam is based loosely on the lives of Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874), the original so-called "Siamese twins," joined at the sternum.  Much of the action of the play takes place on the day of the twins' deaths. Under the direction of Yale Repertory's resident director Liz Diamond, Broadway's Francis Jue ("Thoroughly Modern Millie") and Jason Ma ("Miss Saigon") are set to star as Siamese Twins Pigg and Pegg.

Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations, made by calling 1-800-YSD-CUES (1-800-973-2847) are strongly recommended. Seating is limited.

Click here to listen to a podcast of the The Yale Drama Series ceremony, held earlier this year.

Winner of The Yale Drama series: John Austin Connolly’s The Boys from Siam

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee announced his selection for the first winner of The Yale Drama Series competition at a ceremony held in the Lincoln Center on Thursday, April 26.

John Austin Connolly, in attendance at the ceremony, is an Irish citizen and retired clinical psychologist who resides in Dublin. The Boys from Siam was selected by Edward Albee from more than 500 submissions. The play is based loosely on the lives of Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874), the original so-called "Siamese twins" joined at the sternum.  Much of the action of the play takes place on the day of the twins' deaths. In addition, Edward Albee announced that The Secret Agenda of Trees, by Colin McKenna, and Open Rehearsal, by Lazarre Seymour Simckes, had been chosen as runners up for the 2007 competition.

As the winner of the 2007 competition, John Austin Connolly was awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of The Boys from Siam by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Yale Rep.

ABOUT THE SERIES
Yale University Press and Yale Repertory Theatre, are partners in a new venture to support emerging playwrights. They jointly sponsor The Yale Drama Series, a major new playwriting competition. The winner of the annual competition will be awarded the David C. Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of his/her manuscript by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Yale Rep. The Yale Drama Series and David C. Horn Prize are funded by generous support from the David Charles Horn Foundation.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee serves as first judge of The Yale Drama Series. His appointment extends two years; he will select winners for the 2007 and 2008 competitions. Future judges of the series will include both distinguished playwrights and directors.

Submissions for the 2008 Competition must be postmarked no earlier than July 15 and no later than August 15, 2007. Click here for details.

Yale University presents 24-hr Shakespeare Marathon

A 24-hr Shakespeare marathon, the first of its kind at Yale Unversity, will be held this weekend at the Old Campus. According to the Yale Daily News, a full reading of all of his 39 plays, 5 narrative poems and 154 sonnets will be performed and read on campus. A similar marathon was peformed at Wellesley College in 2004 and several Yale students who attended the even decided to bring the project to New Haven. Taking place in four classrooms on Old Campus, the event is open to the public and participation is encouraged.

Released last week by Yale University Press, A.D. Nuttall's Shakespeare the Thinker is hot on the heels of this one-of-a-kind event.  A. D. Nuttall's profound and elegantly written study of Shakespeare's thought is a literary tour de force, a marvelous inquiry into the questions that engrossed the playwright throughout his life. Nuttall investigates the dynamic nature of Shakespeare's evolving answers and provides for twenty-first-century readers an unparalleled guide to Shakespeare's plays.

For full text of the Yale Daily News article, written by contributing reporter Rebecca Arzoian, click here.

Eugene O'Neill on Broadway (and at Yale)!

The first American playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Eugene O'Neill has grown steadily more popular with audiences and critics alike in the decades since his death in 1953. This month, Kevin Spacey and Eve Best star in a new Broadway production of A Moon for the Misbegotten, widely considered one of O'Neill's greatest works.

Perhaps the only one of O'Neill's works more highly acclaimed than A Moon for the Misbegotten is the play to which it is a sequel: Long Day's Journey into Night was first published by Yale in 1956 and won the Pulitzer Prize the next year.

Both plays, along with The Iceman Cometh, Hughie, and other classics by O'Neill, are available in updated paperback versions from Yale University Press.

Remembering Richard Gilman

Richard Gilman, noted theater critic and former professor at the Yale School of Drama, passed away last fall at his home in Kusatsu, Japan at the age of 83.

Yale University Press published three books by Mr. Gilman: Chekhov’s Plays, winner of the Choice 1996 Outstanding Academic Book Award, The Making of Modern Drama and a collection of his essays, The Drama is Coming Now: The Theater Criticism of Richard Gilman, 1961-1991.

Aileen Kelly wrote in The New York Review of Books of “Chekhov’s Plays” that “Gilman’s exposition of the relation between Chekhov’s ideas and his dramatic techniques should be required reading for the producers and critics who persist in interpreting the plays as studies in failure and despair.”

A re-print of his obituary by current New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley can be found on the website of All About Jewish Theatre.

Millennial Stages

This week, New York Magazine's "Approval Matrix," the magazine’s “deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on [its] taste hierarchies,” includes Millennial Stages by Robert Brustein. The magazine placed it in the “Highbrow” and "Brilliant" quarter and called it an “essential collection of dramatic criticism.” View the entire Matrix here.

In Millennial Stages (Yale University Press, 2006), Brustein considers crucial issues relating to theater in the post-9/11 years, assesses specific plays and performing artists, and reminds us why theater matters.