Writers Withdraw From Gala After PEN Honors Charlie Hebdo

Six writers have withdrawn from PEN American Center’s annual gala after the organization decided to give an award to satirical French news magazine Charlie Hebdo.

PEN American Center

At the 2015 PEN Literary Gala, Paris-based satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will be honored with the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award.

"It is the role of the satirists in any free society to challenge the powerful and the sacred, pushing boundaries in ways that make expression freer and more robust for us all. In paying the ultimate price for the exercise of their freedom, and then soldiering on amid devastating loss, Charlie Hebdo deserves to be recognized for its dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory."

Via pen.org

The Charlie Hebdo attacks dealt a blow to the bedrock principle that no act of expression, no matter how provocative or offensive, can justify violence.

Via pen.org

Bertrand Guay / Getty Images

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

If Edgar Allan Poe Quotes Were Motivational Posters

You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing.

Andrew Ray/Alamy

Scott Stulberg/Corbis

Mac Stones/Tandem Stills/Motion

Barry Hamilton/Corbis

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

Vote In Round 2 Of April Madness: The “Avengers” Edition

Who is the greatest Avenger of them all?

Marvel / Via michelravey.com

Tie in Round 1:

Since She-Hulk and Firestar ended round 1 in a tie, we deferred to Marvel's own ranking of Avengers to determine which heroine would move on. As Firestar was rated at 41 and She-Hulk came in at 21 in Marvel's list, She-Hulk will advance.

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

Finals Week, As Told By William Shakespeare

On cheating: “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.”

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

45 Quotes From Literature That Will Actually Change Your Life

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Submitted by Jacob

Sergii Tsololo / Getty Images

2. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Submitted by Shelley Schoppert, Facebook

3. "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
—J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Submitted by Bram NL, Facebook

4. "I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities."
—Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Submitted by Erik

5. "You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do."
—David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
Submitted by Marianne Myers, Facebook

Submitted by Jennifer Fraioli, Facebook

John Foxx / Getty Images

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

Which Shakespeare Hunk Should You Hook Up With?

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Thinkstock

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

Scholastic Will Sell Its Entire Education Technology Business

Costumed fans hold their copies of the book at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book release party at the Scholastic Book publishers headquarters in New York.

Clark Jones / AP

Scholastic Inc., the publisher of children's books including the Harry Potter series, is taking itself out of the education technology game. The company said today it plans to sell its entire ed-tech business to the publishing giant Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $575 million.

Both companies' stock fell on the news of the sale. Houghton Mifflin fell by 7.5%, to $24.50, and Scholastic fell 11.5%, to $39.

Scholastic's move to get out of ed-tech is an unusual one in an era where most education companies are scrambling to beef up their technology capabilities and pushing all-digital content on sometimes-wary schools. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and its two main competitors, Pearson and McGraw-Hill, have all made ed-tech central to their businesses.

Scholastic, however, said it wanted to refocus on its core book business, which includes publishing classic children's titles like Harry Potter, the Golden Compass, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Scholastic titles are sold in stores, used in classrooms, and through the company's much-beloved book fairs, are a longtime institution of American schools. The company also prints more traditional educational materials.

Scholastic's CEO, Richard Robinson, said in a statement that the company saw growth potential in a "renewed focus on books and reading in schools and at home." The ed-tech division, he said, had a "substantially different model for product development" that did not fit with print publishing and distribution.

The ed-tech division has some 800 employees, who will move to Houghton Mifflin, and revenues of $250 million in 2014. Its central product is a brand of computer-based software focused on remedial education for middle-grade students, called Read 180 and Math 180.

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

How Many Of These Classic British Novels Have You Read?

Get ready to expand your reading list.

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

Someone Made A Game Of Thrones "Too Many Cooks" Mashup And It's Perfect

Westeros really does have “Too Many Kings.” Warning: spoilers.

If you weren't living under a rock last November, you probably saw Adult Swim's wonderfully bizarre "Too Many Cooks."

Adult Swim

Well now there's a Game of Thrones version called "Too Many Kings" and it's even more bloodthirsty than the original:

youtube.com

Made by Youtuber Alex Cohen, "Too Many Kings" uses the audio from "Too Many Cooks" alongside cleverly cut scenes from HBO's Game of Thrones.

youtube.com

The first three minutes show just how many characters there are in Game of Thrones, but things get weirder near the four minute mark (as in the original video).

Here, the Three-Eyed Raven and King's Landing from Game of Thrones' title sequence replace the falcon and mansion sequence from "Too Many Cooks."

youtube.com

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT

An Honest Discussion About This Hilarious 1930s Guide For Single Women

All excerpts taken from the 1936 guide Live Alone and Like It.

amazon.com

You have probably noticed that the lady of your acquaintance who thinks of herself as a duchess may cause a good many laughs, but usually, in the main, is treated like a duchess—in so far, at least, as her friends know how a duchess should be treated. It is equally true that it is the lady who expects orchids who gets them, while you and I are pinning on a single gardenia.

"Jesus, didn't realize i needed to get my Webster's out for this."
"I feel like I agree with this as a life philosophy. We should all expect orchids. We're all a duchess."
"Knowing how a duchess should be treated is kindergarten shit, right before time-telling and not pooping yourself."
"If people aren't treating you like a duchess or giving you orchids, remove them from your life."

There is not much use, however, in thinking of yourself as Ina Claire and then acting like Zenobia Frome, or any other mournful character in fiction.

---

View Entire List ›

Read More [...]

Posted in BuzzFeed, IFTTT