SAN ANTONIO
 
Literary community unites to aid OLLU
06/09/08
Steve Bennett
In a poem titled "The Vigil," Palmer Hall notes that "Easter seduces us ... to celebrate a kind of birth after death." This was the spirit that hovered over a literary benefit for Our Lady of the Lake University's English department, held Sunday afternoon in the historic chapel of the Southwest School of Art & Craft. Hall, a poet who is library director at OLLU's "sister school," St. Mary's University, was one of more than 30 writers who read affirming works for a crowd of around 200 in the wake of the May 6 fire that devastated the historic Main Building at OLLU. 
 
TEXAS
 
Austin mapping out course of its creative future
Austin American Statesman (06/06/08)
Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
"Plan envisions public-private efforts to steer cultural development in next decade. The move would align city spending and policy, increase focus and efficiency, and reduce administrative costs, the plan says. The plan points to Dallas' Office of Cultural Affairs and the City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs as models."
 
NATIONAL
 
Council trims staff, grants
The Columbus Dispatch (06/09/08)
"The Ohio Arts Council is cutting seven positions from its staff of 35 and reducing unpaid grants by 7.7 percent to offset a $2.5 million, or 10 percent, reduction in state funding."
 
INTERNATIONAL
 
Books, tears and blood
The Guardian (06/09/08)
Stuart Jeffries
"Saad Eskander, director of Baghdad's national library, wants to 'help Iraqis understand their past and build their future' through education. The former Kurdish fighter tells Stuart Jeffries why culture is the key, why the US must surrender looted papers - and why he refuses to have a bodyguard."