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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 21 February 2018
Eugenides, Chernow voted

into arts academy

By HILLEL ITALIE and musicians Ben John- remembered attending in
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey ston and George Lewis. 1995 and being “suitably
Eugenides, a Pulitzer Prize Honorary members select- awed.”
winning novelist, was in an ed were Ghanaian artist “John Updike gave an elo-
especially inventive mood El Anatsui, Dutch author quent speech,” he said. “I
one night as he was walk- Ian Buruma, Colombian had never seen so many
ing to his office at Prince- artist Doris Salcedo and of my literary heroes as-
ton University. the American conductor- sembled in one place be-
He wondered if he would composer Michael Tilson fore. My old teacher, John
ever be inducted into the Thomas. Hawkes, was also there.
American Academy of Arts Founded in 1898, the acad- The premises were impres-
and Letters, the venerable emy has a core member- sive but the membership
honor society where mem- ship of 250 artists, writers was even more so. That
bers have ranged from and composers. Along year, Richard Ford was
Mark Twain to Dizzy Gil- with its 2018 inductees, the among the inductees. And
lespie. academy also has a new Don DeLillo was there in
"Believe me, I don't spend president: architect Billie the flesh, and spoke to me,
a lot of time thinking about Tsien, who, along with her and had read my first book
things like that," Eugenides, partner Tod Williams, is de- (‘The Virgin Suicides’). He
known for such works as signing the Obama Presi- told me the second would In this Oct. 1, 2016 file photo, author Ron Chernow attends the
"Manchester By The Sea" premiere during the 54th New York
"Middlesex" and "The Mar- dential Library in Chicago. be harder to come by. He Film Festival in New York.
riage Plot," told The Associ- She succeeds the compos- was right.”q Associated Press
ated Press in a recent email. er Yehudi Wyner.
"But for some reason I did For most of the class of
that night. I imagined my- 2018, the induction was
self finally being inducted entirely unimagined. Cher-
at the age of 90, and say- now, whose biography of
ing to the other members, Alexander Hamilton is the
'About time!' That was my basis for the Broadway mu-
self-pitying little fantasy." sical, said the news "came
His answer came much out of the blue" and was
sooner. The next day, the especially welcome "be-
academy called and gave cause so few biographers
him the good news. Eugen- are members." Nottage,
ides was in — at age 57. winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"When I told (academy ex- for "Sweat," was also grati-
ecutive director) Cody Up- fied to see her art form rec-
ton this story, he said that ognized.
they had sent the letter "As I playwright, I often feel
out the day before, at the like an outsider in the liter-
very same time the notion ary world, so it is an exhila-
popped into my mind," Eu- rating feeling to be invited
genides wrote. into a community that val-
Eugenides was one of 12 ues and celebrates litera-
new members, the acad- ture, music and fine arts,"
emy told The Associated said Nottage, who praised
Press on Tuesday. Others the Beaux Arts buildings
voted in include historian that house the academy
Ron Chernow, playwrights in upper Manhattan. "Walk-
Lynn Nottage and Ter- ing the beautiful halls of the
rence McNally and authors academy you get a real
George Saunders, Maxine sense of history."
Hong Kingston and Jayne The new members will be
Anne Phillips. The acade- formally inducted in May,
my also elected the visual when the academy also
artists Jenny Holzer, Nicole hands out a wide range
Eisenman and Sarah Sze of literary prizes. Eugenides

linda.reijnders@cspnv.com

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