Page 31 - atoday
P. 31
PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Wednesday 2 March 2016
Toni Morrison receives $25,000
honorary award from PEN
BY HILLEL ITALIE In this Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, U.S. novelist Toni Morrison ap- In this Aug. 8, 2013, file photo, Blues music legend B.B. King per-
AP National Writer plauds as she attends the America Festival at the U.S. embassy, forms on Frampton’s Guitar Circus 2013 Tour at Pier Six Pavilion,
NEW YORK (AP) — Nobel in Paris. in Baltimore.
laureate Toni Morrison has
received an honorary prize Associated Press Associated Press
named for another Nobel
winner, the late Saul Bel- Robert Cray to
low. celebrate B.B. King at
PEN America, the literary Playboy Jazz Festival
and human rights organi-
zation, told The Associated tion, a $25,000 award. John and Branden Jacobs-Jen- LOS ANGELES (AP) — The the smooth jazz group
Press on Tuesday that Mor- Schulian, a sports writer for kins as an Emerging Ameri- Robert Cray Band with Fourplay celebrating its
rison has been given the numerous publications, can Playwright. guest guitarists Sonny Lan- 25th anniversary, “Late
$25,000 PEN/Saul Bellow received the $5,000 PEN/ Two translation awards also dreth and Roy Gaines will Night” bandleader Jon
Award for Achievement in ESPN Lifetime Achieve- were announced: The PEN offer a special tribute to Batiste and Stay Human,
American fiction. Morrison, ment Award for Literary Award for Poetry in Trans- the late blues legend B.B. and Los Van Van. Among
85, is known for such nov- Sports Writing. Ed Roberson lation was given to “The King at the 2016 Playboy those making their Playboy
els as “Beloved,” ‘’Song of was given the $5,000 PEN/ Collected Poems of Chika Jazz Festival. debuts will be singers Seth
Solomon” and “Jazz.” Voelcker Award for Poetry. Sagawa,” translated from The Los Angeles Philhar- MacFarlane, Cecile McLo-
“Revelatory, intelligent, Three playwrights received the Japanese by Sawako monic announced the rin Salvant and Janelle
bold, her fiction is invested prizes: Lynn Nottage, whose Nakayasu, and the PEN lineup Tuesday for the 38th Monae; The Bad Plus with
in the black experience, works include the Pulitzer- Translation Prize for prose annual Playboy festival, saxophonist Joshua Red-
in black lives, and in black winning “Ruined,” was went to “The Complete scheduled for the weekend man; and 12-year-old Indo-
consciousness, material named a Master American Stories by Clarice Lispec- of June 11-12 at the Hol- nesian pianist Joey Alexan-
from which she has forged Dramatist; Young Jean Lee tor,” translated from the lywood Bowl with George der, who received a stand-
a singular American aes- was cited as an American Portuguese by Katrina Lopez returning as host. ing ovation at last month’s
thetic,” awards judge Lou- Playwright in Mid-Career Dodson.q Other headliners include Grammy Awards.q
ise Erdrich, herself a prize-
winning novelist, said in a
statement. “Toni Morrison
not only opened doors to
others when she began to
publish, she has also stayed
grounded in the issues of
her time.”
PEN announced several
other prizes on Tuesday.
Lisa Ko’s “The Leavers” won
the PEN/Bellwether Prize
for Socially Engaged Fic-
Review: ‘The Widow’ is compelling psychological thriller
JEFF AYERS special attention to keep portunity for Jean to tell her
Associated Press things straight. side of the story. While Jean
A woman loses her hus- In 2010, Jean Taylor is visited slowly opens up, readers
band in an accident and by Daily Post reporter Kate also follow detective Bob
must confront his past with Waters, who is interested Sparkes as he investigates
both the press and police in the death of Jean’s hus- the disappearance of little
in Fiona Barton’s psycho- band, Glen. Four years ear- Bella.
logical thriller, “The Wid- lier, a little girl named Bella Barton’s writing is compel-
ow.” disappeared from the front ling and top-notch, which
Comparisons between of her home and was never is rarely seen in a first novel,
“The Girl on the Train” and seen again. The police in- but the story line provides
“Gone Girl” are rampant in vestigation led authorities few of the surprises expect-
reviews of Barton’s novel. to Glen, a delivery driver in ed in a thriller. The plot is ba-
While thematic elements the area. He was exonerat- sically straightforward, but
are similar, the ultimate ed at trial, but the general the main focus becomes
pay-off provides a vastly public believed he was re- not whether Glen Taylor is
different outcome. The sponsible. guilty or innocent but how
story line jumps back and Now that Glen has died, well does Jean truly know
forth in time and requires Waters sees this as an op- her husband?q
This book cover image re-
leased by NAL shows “The
Widow,” a novel by Fiona
Barton.
Associated Press 
