In another week shrouded by the pandemic and Government guidelines, things begin to look bright as theatres and music venues are given the go-ahead to open up. We’ve had a week that’s seen female writers finally receiving the credit they deserve, confirmation that the next Bioshock game will be happening in a new location, and the original Avatar creators step away from the live-action remake. Check out this week in news below:
Our Top Headlines:
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Announcement: The Full Line-Up of The Edgetival
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SoCo Music Project and Go! Southampton Join Together for ‘Busking in Southampton’
Global Headlines of the Week:
Women’s Prize Unveils their ‘Reclaim Her Name’ Collection of Books
Honouring the Women’s Prize for Fiction’s 25th Anniversary, a collection of books written by women who had published under male pseudonyms are being reintroduced into circulation and reprinted with the female authors’ original names. The ‘Reclaim Her Name’ collection will include 25 books such as Mary Ann Evans’ Middlemarch (which was previously published under the pseudonym, George Eliot) and Violet Paget’s A Phantom Lover (published under the name, Vernon Lee).
The 25 books were primarily written in the 19th century when men dominated the literature market and women found it increasingly harder to get publishers and readers to take them seriously. In an effort to have their work published by any means possible, many women adopted a male pseudonym. Now, in the 21st Century, the ‘Reclaim Her Name’ collection is set to boast the women who faced inequality and sexist prejudiced by having their name decorate the front covers in an act of restoring identity to the original authors.
Not only do the 25 books form a gorgeous selection of books, but the collection is also available for free at the link below with physical editions being donated to libraries across the country.
You can find out more or download the free ebooks by clicking here.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we teamed up with @BaileysOfficial on something very special.
Introducing the #ReclaimHerName collection, 25 books previously published under male pen names, with the real, female authors' names finally printed on them: https://t.co/cdQ4wA1p4D pic.twitter.com/rW4L3ZafFJ
— Women's Prize (@WomensPrize) August 12, 2020
Theatres and Music Venues Get The Green Light to Reopen
In a welcomed announcement, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has finally announced that theatres and music venues can officially reopen as of August 15th. In a statement, the Prime Minister said, “today, we are able to announce some further changes which will allow more people to return to work and the public to get back to more of the things they have missed” before announcing the places that were allowed to reopen such as theatres, music venues and others. The news comes after the successfully phased reopening of restaurants a little over a month ago.
Originally, theatres and music venues were allowed to reopen as of August 1st, but it was later postponed after a spike in Coronavirus related cases. After reviewing social distancing guidelines and working with industries to create a safe but effective model for reopening, the news surely comes as a financial relief for many businesses and those who are still on furlough scheme.
Let’s hope this marks a return to the bright future of a struggling industry, but yet it still remains to be seen how social-distancing will affect the capacity and layout of performances in venues across the country or theatres.
Bioshock 4 Confirmed with a New Location
After posting a job vacancy for a combat designer at Cloud Chamber (the 2K subsidiary that was set up to solely work on the Bioshock franchise), the gaming community has finally received confirmation that the next Bioshock game is in development and will be taking part in a new location. With the original trilogy reaching critical acclaim since its first game debuted in 2007; fans have eagerly been anticipating a return to 2K’s stunning world and this finally acts as another subtle confirmation that a sequel is in development.
The first two games took part in the underwater city Rapture with the third instalment switching to a city in the clouds called Columbia. However, the fourth instalment seems set to take the franchise to yet another new location with the job listing describing a game which will take place in a “new and fantastical world”. While other details about the game and job listing are sparse, many consider this as another solid proof that a return to Bioshock is imminent.
You can check out the trailer for the final came in the trilogy, Bioshock Infinite, below:
Original Avatar Creators Step Away from Netflix Live-Action Remake
The original creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have revealed that they have stepped away from the live-action remake of the show that is happening at Netflix due to creative differences.
Posted as a letter on DiMartino’s blog, the co-creator confirmed that he and Konietzko had decided to step away from the project in June 2020. Stating in the letter that he can finally reveal he is “no longer involved with the project. In June of this year, after two years of development work, Bryan Konietzko and I made the difficult decision to leave the production.” DiMartino went on to say “Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
This comes as a major blow to the project after a similar project in 2010 from director M. Night Shyamalan failed to meet audience expectations after consulting very little with the original creators. While many are still confident that Netflix can pull off a great series, many other fans of the original animated show have lost confidence with the direction it is taking and has questioned what caused the original creators to step away from the project. It is reported the show has been in development since 2018 with no news of a release date yet.
The original animated show is currently streamable via. Netflix UK and it definitely worth a watch!
Nostalgic News Headlines:
The Stars We Lost:
Trini Lopez (May 13 1937 – August 11th 2020)
Trinidad López III was an American singer, guitarist and actor. Performing hits such as the cover of ‘If I Had a Hammer’, ‘Lemon Tree’, ‘I’m Comin’ Home Cindy’ and ‘Sally Was a Good Old Girl’, Lopez had been in the music business for over 60 years. He also designed two collectors edition guitars for Gibson Guitar Corporation.
It is reported that Lopez sadly died due to complications with Covid-19.
