The AnswerBank Articles

Just/Utz Chatwin update

Rudolph Just's collection, which inspired Bruce Chatwin to write his novel Utz, fetched 1.5 million at auction on 11 December, somewhat more than 1.2 million anticipated. See the article on01:00 Fri 14th Dec 2001

Ian Brady update

Ashworth Mental Hospital dropped its attempt to block Ian Brady's book The Gates of Janus and it's now readily available in the UK. However, the Victims of Crime Trust continues to urge bookshops not01:00 Fri 14th Dec 2001

The City's secret treasure: Guildhall Art Gallery

Q. What is the Guildhall Art Gallery A. The Guildhall Art Gallery is the public gallery of the art collection of the Corporation of London, the local authority of the City of London. The building01:00 Fri 14th Dec 2001

Will the last one out please turn the lights on and off : The Turner Prize

As ever the Turner Prize 2001 has shaken up the pundits as no other art event can. It can't have escaped your notice that this year's winner of the 20,000 prize is Martin Creed, for his installation01:00 Thu 13th Dec 2001

Walter Sickert

There's been a great deal of media attention over the last week or so (early December 2001) about crime writer Patricia Cornwell's attempts to prove that the British artist Walter Sickert was the01:00 Thu 13th Dec 2001

Wendy Perriam: Bad Sex is OK

Being nominated two years running for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award - the first writer in the 8-year history of the award to be so honoured - may seem a dubious distinction for a serious author, but01:00 Fri 07th Dec 2001

James Joyce's Ulysses

Q. Why is Ulysses in the dock again A. Macmillan, the publishers of what has been described as a 'reader friendly' edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, have been taken to court by the trustees of01:00 Thu 06th Dec 2001

Who lived where : Blue Plaques

Q. What are Blue Plaques A. Commemorative plaques erected on buildings - or the sites of buildings - associated with famous or infamous people. Q. When did it all start A. The very first was01:00 Tue 04th Dec 2001

Rudolph Just: Chatwin's Utz

The art collection featured in Bruce Chatwin's 1989 novel Utz is to go under the hammer. Q. What collection A. A famous collection of more than 300 pieces, ranging from Meissen porcelain figures,01:00 Fri 30th Nov 2001

The New British Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Q. What's going on at the V & A A. After a major makeover of its decorative arts galleries The V & A has just opened 15 extra rooms to the public. The British Galleries, as they are known,01:00 Mon 26th Nov 2001

The Carbuncle Awards: Cumbernauld honoured

Congratulations to the North Lanarkshire town of Cumbernauld, which has been awarded the 2001 Carbuncle Award as 'the most dismal place in Scotland', beating off competition from Gretna, Aviemore,01:00 Mon 26th Nov 2001

God Save Jamie Reid

Q. Who exactly is Jamie Reid A. Jamie Reed is the artist whose radical cut outs and collages defined the punk movement in the 1970s. His picture of the Queen wearing a safety pin through her lips -01:00 Sun 25th Nov 2001

Listed buildings

Q. When did the listing of historic or interesting buildings start in this country A. Listing began in Britain on 1 January 1950, under the post-war Labour government. At the time there was a mood01:00 Sat 24th Nov 2001

The blue pencil: Banned books

The censorship and outright banning of printed works has a long and (dis- ) honourable history. Governments, religious authorities and the plain interfering of all complexions and persuasions have,01:00 Thu 22nd Nov 2001

How come there's no known recording of George Orwell's voice

A. Because he was deemed unfit for active service in the Second World War George Orwell - born Eric Arthur Blair - worked in the BBC's Far East Service as Talks Producer, from 18 August 1941 to 401:00 Sat 17th Nov 2001

St Pancras Station and Hotel

St Pancras Station and Hotel - originally called the Midland Grand Hotel - is one of the great examples of Victorian Gothic - or Gothic Revival - architecture. Commissioned by the Midland Railway,01:00 Fri 16th Nov 2001

Ken Kesey (1935-2001)

One of the most celebrated figures in the counter-culture of the 1960s died in an Oregon hospital on 10 November 2001 following an operation for liver cancer. He was 66. Q. So, who was Ken Kesey 01:00 Fri 16th Nov 2001

Calligraphy

Q. What is it A. Literally 'beautiful writing', from the Ancient Greek words kallos and graphia. It is an art of writing in which the form of the letters or characters is as important as the words01:00 Sun 11th Nov 2001

Magic, really

Q. Magic what A. Magic - or Magical - Realism. In literature Magic Realism is a kind of fiction in which supernatural and natural characters and events merge as if there is no distinction between01:00 Fri 09th Nov 2001

The price is right: Buying a bestseller

There's been much noise made in the media over the last couple of weeks about the 'revelation' that the bookshop chains have been taking money from publishers in order to promote their books more01:00 Thu 08th Nov 2001