Scene This Week: Schama Feted by Kenyon Review; Kurkova at Dia
The president of Kenyon College, S. Georgia Nugent, stood in the Grill Room of the Four Seasons restaurant Thursday night with a happy problem.
“When you say Kenyon, more people know the Kenyon Review than the college,” said Nugent, dressed in gold (a secondary color of the school, next to purple).
It’s not that Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio, isn’t distinguished. Paul Newman, E.L. Doctorow, Robert Lowell, John Berryman and James Wright all spent time at the small liberal arts school, which is 187 years old.
But the Kenyon Review, today a thick quarterly journal of essays, poetry and fiction, has been famous since John Crowe Ransom was chosen as the first editor in 1939.
Along the way his successors have refined the art of throwing a party. Guests started out the evening with foie gras, proceeded to a four-course meal that included risotto with poached lobster, and finished with candied orange peels and brownies. David Lynn, current editor, enjoyed his dessert with a snifter of brandy.
Roger Rosenblatt, the quarterly’s literary ambassador, entertained during dinner, explaining his role.
“I travel the world as Audrey Hepburn did for Unicef, bringing news of the difference between the Elizabethan and Petrarchan sonnet,” Rosenblatt said. “My recent trips to Nairobi and Japan were wild successes.”
Simon Schama came to the lectern to accept the journal’s Award for Literary Achievement. He spoke of the importance of nurturing good writing, in the face of the “tyranny of tweets.”
The purpose of the gathering was to raise money for scholarships offered by the Kenyon Review’s summer writing program for students 16 to 18.
Jess Lacher, perched in one of the restaurant’s circular booths, said she has taught in the summer program for five years.
“It is shockingly easy to teach these kids,” Lacher said.
“They feel safe and understood, and that makes it easy for them to take risks. For me it’s about staying out of their way and letting them express themselves.” Teaching in fact inspired Lacher to return to fiction writing after a foray as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. In 2009, Richard Ford selected a piece of hers as the winner of the Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest. She now lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and is studying for her MFA at Hunter College.
And of course she will return next summer to Kenyon to teach, and sit in the grass with her students, watching the fireflies blink.
Dia Gala
The Kenyon Review didn’t lock up all the poets Thursday night. Downtown, at the event space Tribeca 360, Kenneth Goldsmith, a poet and artist, was at the Dia Art Foundation’s gala, hanging out with model Karolina Kurkova and interior designer Muriel Brandolini.
He wore a bright pink Paul Smith suit and Brooks Brothers Black Fleece bowtie.
“They told me you’re supposed to get the jacket or the pants, not both,” Goldsmith said.
Artist Vitaly Komar wore round red eyeglass frames, with a black-and-pink shirt.
“When I wear a red shirt, I put on exactly the same pair of glasses in black,” Komar said. “In Russian, red also means beautiful.”
Andy Warhol superstar Taylor Mead, 86, sported a blue New York Giants ski hat and leaned on a cane as he chatted with Julian Schnabel, who traded his ubiquitous pajamas for paint- splattered white pants and a T-shirt he made dedicated to Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei.
“I made a T-shirt for him and he sent me the picture of him wearing it,” Schnabel said, looking for the image on his mobile phone. “I guess I could sell them and give money to a good cause.”
(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Paul Healy, chairman of the Kenyon Review board and senior adviser to Sonenshine Partners; David Lynn, the editor of the Kenyon Review; Joan Krehenbrink Kaye, a Kenyon Review trustee and executive director of the Sophie SoundCheck Foundation, which educates teens about noise-induced hearing loss; and Simon Schama, a historian and professor at Columbia.
Paul Healy, chairman of the Kenyon Review board and senior adviser to Sonenshine Partners; David Lynn, the editor of the Kenyon Review; Joan Krehenbrink Kaye, a Kenyon Review trustee and executive director of the Sophie SoundCheck Foundation, which educates teens about noise-induced hearing loss; and Simon Schama, a historian and professor at Columbia. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Peter Flaherty, a Kenyon Review trustee and private investor; Kenyon College President S. Georgia Nugent, a classics scholar and, at Princeton, the first female graduate to hold a full-time faculty appointment; and Pam Flaherty, a Kenyon College trustee and president and CEO, Citi Foundation.
Peter Flaherty, a Kenyon Review trustee and private investor; Kenyon College President S. Georgia Nugent, a classics scholar and, at Princeton, the first female graduate to hold a full-time faculty appointment; and Pam Flaherty, a Kenyon College trustee and president and CEO, Citi Foundation. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Barry F. Schwartz, chairman of Kenyon College and executive vice chairman and chief administrative officer, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., and Bonnie Levinson, trustee, Kenyon Review, and president, Bonnie Levinson Arts Management.
Barry F. Schwartz, chairman of Kenyon College and executive vice chairman and chief administrative officer, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., and Bonnie Levinson, trustee, Kenyon Review, and president, Bonnie Levinson Arts Management. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Jess Lacher, an MFA candidate at Hunter College, teaches in the Kenyon Review's summer writing program for high school students.
Jess Lacher, an MFA candidate at Hunter College, teaches in the Kenyon Review's summer writing program for high school students. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Roger Rosenblatt, Kenyon Review's literary ambassador.
Roger Rosenblatt, Kenyon Review's literary ambassador. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Eugene Rutigliano, a grantmaker at the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and Kenyon College graduate.
Eugene Rutigliano, a grantmaker at the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and Kenyon College graduate. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
After the risotto with poached lobster, before the braised lamb, in the Pool room at The Four Seasons.
After the risotto with poached lobster, before the braised lamb, in the Pool room at The Four Seasons. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Daniel Rose, chairman of Rose Associates, Inc., and Joanna Rose.
Daniel Rose, chairman of Rose Associates, Inc., and Joanna Rose. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Julian Niccolini, maestro of The Four Seasons Restaurant, putting on Crocs signed by Mario Batali. He bought them for $400 at a charity auction.
Julian Niccolini, maestro of The Four Seasons Restaurant, putting on Crocs signed by Mario Batali. He bought them for $400 at a charity auction. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Kenyon Review
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Julia Rosenheim is taking a creative writing class at Dalton, where she is a sophomore.
Julia Rosenheim is taking a creative writing class at Dalton, where she is a sophomore. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Poet Kenneth Goldsmith wearing a pink Paul Smith suit with a Black Fleece bowtie.
Poet Kenneth Goldsmith wearing a pink Paul Smith suit with a Black Fleece bowtie. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Designer Muriel Brandolini and Nathalie de Gunzburg, chairman, Dia Art Foundation.
Designer Muriel Brandolini and Nathalie de Gunzburg, chairman, Dia Art Foundation. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Model Karolina Kurkova wearing a black jumpsuit.
Model Karolina Kurkova wearing a black jumpsuit. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Art collector Howard Rachofsky and his wife Cindy.
Art collector Howard Rachofsky and his wife Cindy. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Artist Vitaly Komar and his wife Anna Halberstadt-Komar. Photogrpher: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Artist Vitaly Komar and his wife Anna Halberstadt-Komar. Photogrpher: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Andy Warhol super-star Taylor Meade with artist Julian Schnabel, wearing a T-shirt he made for Ai Weiwei.
Andy Warhol super-star Taylor Meade with artist Julian Schnabel, wearing a T-shirt he made for Ai Weiwei. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Artist Julian Schnabel shows the T-shirt he's wearing, which he made in support of Chinese dissident artist, Ai Weiwei.
Artist Julian Schnabel shows the T-shirt he's wearing, which he made in support of Chinese dissident artist, Ai Weiwei. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dia Gala
Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
Dealer Barbara Gladstone.
Dealer Barbara Gladstone. Photographer: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
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