Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Ngugi wa Thiong'o tipped for 2014 Nobel prize in literature

Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Ngugi wa Thiong'o tipped for 2014 Nobel prize in literature

This article is more than 7 years old

Odds on Kenyan author shorten from 33/1 to 10/1 led by bellwether Swedish money, according to Ladbrokes

Alison Flood

Wed 3 September 2014

A run of bets originating in Sweden has seen the odds plummet on Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the distinguished Kenyan author, winning the Nobel prize for literature next month. The chances of the recently-retired Philip Roth taking the Nobel have also fallen dramatically, according to betting firm Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes said that odds on Ngugi being named winner of the world's most prestigious literary award, given out every October in Stockholm, had shortened from 33/1 to 10/1. "It's always worth following the Swedish money and at this stage the one they like is Ngugi wa Thiong'o," said spokesman for the betting firm Alex Donohue. Ngugi's books include Caitani Mutharabaini (Devil on the Cross), a novel written on toilet paper while he was imprisoned following the performance of his play, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), which was critical of the inequalities of Kenyan society. He had been a favourite to take the Nobel in 2010, but that year the prize went to Mario Vargas Llosa. Tomas Tranströmer, 2010's fourth favourite to win, went on to take the Nobel in 2011.

Favourite this year, according to Ladbrokes' odds, is Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami at 5/1,with Ngugi in joint second place with Algerian novelist Assia Djebar. Roth, who recently announced his happy retirement from the world of novel writing, comes in at 16/1, as do the feted Czech writer Milan Kundera, and the Syrian poet, Adonis.

"Philip Roth appears to be this year's 'stalking horse' so far as odds have fallen from 50/1 to 16/1 and at present he is the worst result in the book for us," said Donohue. "Plenty of the bets for him have been placed in betting shops in the UK as opposed to on our website or via our mobile app which is usually where most literary betting business is done."

Roth published his final novel, Nemesis, in 2010. "I did what I did and it's done," he has said. "There's more to life than writing and publishing fiction. There is another way entirely, amazed as I am to discover it at this late date."

Some fans continue to think Bob Dylan has a chance at winning the Nobel, which goes to "the most outstanding work in an ideal direction", and which is decided by the members of the Swedish Academy. "As ever, there are people who think it could be Bob Dylan's year, but we'll never know if they are simply hopeful fans. There are two bets for Bob, both at 50/1 from Swedish customers," said Donohue.

Ladbrokes opened its book on the 2014 Nobel prize for literature minutes after Alice Munro was announced as last year's winner, cited by judges as the "master of the contemporary short story". "We've been taking bets for this year from the day of the announcement last year," said Donohue.

The date of the prize's announcement has not yet been revealed, but it is usually in early to mid-October.

THE GUARDIAN

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and others posted online by alleged hacker

Website user publishes list of 100 mostly female actors, singers and celebrities of whom they claim to have explicit images

by Paul Farrell
The Guardian, Monday 1 September 2014

Pictures of Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence have been circulating on the internet.Photograph: Rotello/Photofab/REX/Rotello/Photofab/REX

Images of more than 100 well-known actors, singers and celebrities, including what appear to be nude photos and videos, may have been exposed by a hacker in a major breach of privacy.

On Sunday a user on the 4chan website posted a list of mostly female actors and public figures, including Jennifer Lawrence, Avril Lavigne, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kirsten Dunst, Aubrey Plaza and Winona Ryder, of whom they claim to have explicit photographs or videos.

Jennifer Lawrence

A number of photos from some celebrities, including Hunger Games star Lawrence, have since been circulating on file-sharing and photo sites. 4chan quickly removed the posts from their site but screenshots of the list by one of the posters has a list of more than 60 names of celebrities who are alleged to have been hacked.

The release of the images has drawn varying responses from the celebrities, with some conceding they are real photos and others denying their veracity.

Buzzfeed reported that the user had also posted images of his desktop, one of which appeared to be an image of Jennifer Lawrence.

Jennifer Lawrence

A spokesman for Lawrence said: “This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”

American actor and singer Victoria Judge, who was also named in the file, denied any nude photos of her were real in a tweet on Monday.

Actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead confirmed that the photos of her were real and condemned their release.

Glee star Becca Tobin, who was also named in the document, also tweeted shortly after their release.

Jennifer Lawrence

There have been reports that the hacker accessed the files through the iCloud accounts of the celebrities, but this has not been confirmed. Apple has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded to questions.

The Huffington Post reported the Los Angeles police department told them they had “no knowledge” of any hacking at this stage.

Celebrity gossip columnist Perez Hilton initially posted censored and uncensored versions of some of the photos on his site, but has since removed them and apologised for the posts.

“I acted in haste just to get the post up and didn’t really think things through. I’m sorry,” he tweeted.

He later added: “Upon further reflection and just sitting with my actions, I don’t feel comfortable even keeping the censored photos up. I am removing them.

THE GUARDIAN

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Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and others posted on line by alleged hacker

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BEAUTIFUL WOMEN

Jennifer Lawrence

Kate Moss, supermodel as phenomenon, sees the millions pour in

Kate Moss

Kate Moss, supermodel as phenomenon, sees the millions pour in

With her two companies reporting record earnings, passing 40 has opened the door into a new and growing market

BY DAMIE DOWARD AND TESS REIDY
The Observer, Sundady 10 August 2014

Modelling for Topshop: 'she has an enduring agelessness and ability to be a really successful canvas’.

There are models, there are supermodels … and there is Kate Moss. Turning 40 has only boosted her earning power, according to accounts filed last week by her two companies. They show she has defied a whiff of scandal and predictions of decline, reflecting a revolution in how the fashion industry is responding to women consumers, say commentators.

Accounts for her main company, Tilly Church Ltd, show that last year it had more than £9m in the bank and was owed a further £5m. A second company, Skate LLP, was sitting on more than £5m in the bank last year – and was owed a further £1m.

In total it means the two companies had £20m in cash, much of it in the bank and some owed to them, compared with about £17m in 2012, the year she appeared with several other supermodels celebrating British fashion at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. The event, watched by billions around the globe, helped to confirm Moss, who hit 40 in January, as one of the most recognisable people on the planet and cemented her brand.

In the same year, Forbes placed her second on its top-earning models list, with an estimated $9.2m. Once money owed to creditors is factored in, last year Moss's two companies had net assets of £16.7m. And, while their accounts make it difficult to separate how much of her wealth was earned and how much was accrued from investments and interest, they suggest 2013 might turn out to be her most lucrative year to date.

"The fact that she's doing so well is testament to her enduring agelessness and ability to be a really successful canvas, but also she is perfectly placed to reflect the growing market of 40-plus women who have money to spend in fashion and beauty," said fashion commentator Caryn Franklin. "At last companies are waking up to this. There used to be a definite cut-off point in modelling but that's changing, and I hope the careers of other 40-plus models will start to take off. Ultimately, it's female consumers who will lead the trend by responding to more realistic role models in terms of age and where they choose to buy their produce. It's the power of the purse."

Ger Tierney, executive fashion editor of i-D Magazine, said Moss's longevity was also partly down to a reaction against "the increasingly short lifespan of models' careers that has become a depressing norm.

"Women want to connect with a character, they want a strong woman and no longer buy into the next long-limbed schoolgirl to turn up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at fashion week. It's easy to connect with Kate because we've grown up watching her career, her personal life, her high and her lows. She has become humanised over the years and is more marketable than ever."

Moss has contracts with a range of brands including Matchless, Rimmel and Topshop, for whom she is a designer. There have been questions about whether her second collection for the high-street chain, launched earlier this year, has been a total success.

Topshop entrepreneur Sir Philip Green dismissed suggestions that some items in her latest collection had not sold well after they ended up in the sales: "The range was very, very successful and we waited until the end of the season to clear whatever was left. There's nothing untoward, whether it's got Kate Moss in it, or any other brand; what we've got left at the end of the season around the globe, we sell. Nothing sells 100%, whatever it is – it doesn't exist in any business."

Moss's sustained earning power is all the more remarkable given that some commentators wrote her off almost a decade ago. In 2005, following her short-lived relationship with singer Pete Doherty, she found herself immersed in allegations of drug-taking. Although she was never charged, a number of major brands dropped her from their campaigns.

"People said that would end her career," said Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University and author of Celebrity Culture. "But in fact the opposite happened. She came back with renewed vigour. Scandal can be a valuable resource."

Cashmore drew comparisons between Moss and David Beckham: "Beckham is a prodigious endorser, too. And both now have their own imprimatur. There are not too many people who can draw the crowds by saying almost nothing and just turning up. She is a brand in her own right."

Approaching 40 does not appear to have dimmed Moss's appetite for exposure. Last December she appeared in the 60th-anniversary issue of Playboy magazine. In the same month, she was honoured at the British fashion awards acknowledging her contribution to the industry during a career spanning a quarter of a century.

Cashmore suggested Moss was riding a wave that started a couple of decades ago when companies looked beyond Hollywood stars to find people to endorse their brands: "A clutch of supermodels who emerged in the early 90s benefited from this trend, people like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Moss is their younger sister. She belongs to the second generation of supermodels and is a phenomenon."

LIFE IN THE LIMELIGHT

1988 Talent spotted at JFK airport, New York, at age of 14.

1990 Appears in the Face.

1993 Fronts Calvin Klein campaign.

1999 Appears with other supermodels on the millennium cover of American Vogue.

2002 Gives birth to daughter, Lila Grace

2005 Goes out with Pete Doherty. Allegations of drug-taking see brands including H&M desert her. Moss issues apology but never admits to taking drugs.

2006 Wins model of the year.

2007 Time magazine names her one of the most influential people in the world.

2011 Marries musician Jamie Hince.

2013 Poses for Playboy.

THE GUARDIAN

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Kate Moss / Old Pictures in Vietnam

Kate Moss / Noami Campbell / Two beautiful women

Kate Moss / Quote

Kate Moss / 25 Years in Fashion

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Kate Moss / Girl

Kate Moss and the £1million Lucian Freud tattoo

The 100 best novels / No 50 / Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

The 100 best novels

written in English

No 50

Mrs Dalloway

by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Woolf's great novel makes a day of party preparations the canvas for themes of lost love, life choices and mental illness

Virginia Woolf / A Knife

Virginia Woolf / 'Mrs. Dalloway' Review

Covers / Virginia Woolf / Mrs Dalloway

Robert McCrum

Monday 1 September 2014

n the spring of 1924, Virginia Woolf, then in her 40s, gave a famous lecture, later published as the essay Mr Bennett and Mrs Brown, in which she declared that "we are trembling on the verge of one of the great ages of English literature". She might have been speaking about herself. In the next 15-odd years, before her suicide, Woolf would transform the English literary landscape forever. She would innovate (To the Lighthouse); she would flirt (Orlando); she would provoke (A Room of One's Own) and, privately, would dazzle herself and her friends with a stream of letters (and diaries), all of which reveal a writer's mind at full tilt.

Woolf is one of the giants of this series, and Mrs Dalloway, her fourth novel, is one of her greatest achievements, a book whose afterlife continues to inspire new generations of writers and readers. Like Ulysses (no 46 in this series), it takes place in the course of a single day, probably 13 June 1923. Unlike Joyce's masterpiece, Woolf's female protagonist is an upper-class English woman living in Westminster who is planning a party for her husband, a mid-level Tory politician.As Clarissa Dalloway's day unfolds, in and around Mayfair, we discover that not only is she being treated in Harley Street for severe depression, a familiar subject to Woolf, but she also conceals a troubled past replete with unarticulated love and suggestions of lesbianism. Equally troubled is the novel's second main character, explicitly a "double", a Great War veteran who fought in France "to save an England which consisted almost entirely of Shakespeare's plays". Septimus Warren Smith is suffering from shell shock and is on his way to a consultation with Clarissa's psychiatrist. Mingled with the preparations for the party, the stream-of-consciousness exploration of Mrs Dalloway's inner state is broken by an irruption of senseless violence when Septimus, who is waiting to be taken to an asylum, throws himself out of a window. News of Septimus's suicide becomes a topic of conversation at Mrs Dalloway's party, where Woolf indicates Clarissa's deep sympathy for the dead man's suffering. The novel ends unresolved, but on a note of suspenseful menace. "What is this terror?" writes Woolf. "What is this ecstasy?" Her mature work would be devoted to exploring these questions.

A note on the text

Mrs Dalloway, published by the Hogarth Press with a striking Vanessa Bell dust jacket on 14 May 1925, was a novel that grew out of two previous short stories, Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street and The Prime Minister. The latter makes his appearance at the party at the end of the novel. Clarissa also appeared in Woolf's first novel, The Voyage Out, as well as in five of her short stories.

Mrs Dalloway's literary influence can be seen in Michael Cunningham's The Hours and perhaps also in Ian McEwan's novel Saturday, which takes place on a single day, 15 February 2003.