Latest news with #WaterForElephants
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NaNoWriMo Goes Bankrupt After Embracing AI
A quarter century after its inception — and less than a year after its "full-throated" defense of artificial intelligence in writing — the nonprofit behind the annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge is closing its doors. Kilby Blades, a romance author serving as NaNoWriMo's interim executive director, announced in a video and in emails posted to social media that the nonprofit, which challenged participants to crank out a draft for a novel every November, would be shuttering because, essentially, it's out of money. In the nearly 30-minute-long video, Blades explained in detail the money problems that the competition — which spawned the bestselling "Water For Elephants" and incorporated into a nonprofit six years ago — has suffered, which sound both stark and legitimate. Though the interim director did address prior allegations of abuse and grooming regarding the nonprofit's forums, she failed to mention the most recent elephant in the room: that last year, the group changed its policies to allow those who participated in its annual creative writing challenge to use AI generators. Beyond just allowing the use of AI, NaNoWriMo also claimed that merely criticizing the technology — which has put untold numbers of writers and other workers out of a job, threatens to do so with many more, and goes against the challenge's founding ethos of inspiring people to do the work of writing — is tantamount to ableism. "We believe that to categorically condemn AI would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology," the nonprofit's 2024 statement reads, "and that questions around the use of AI tie to questions around privilege." Unsurprisingly, that messaging attracted immense criticism. In the wake of its release, professionals who had been affiliated with the decades-spanning competition publicly denounced it. "Never use my name in your promo again," tweeted Daniel José Older, a New York Times bestselling young adult author and former NaNoWriMo board member, last September. "In fact never say my name at all and never email me again. Thanks." Maureen Johnson, another ex-board member and YA author, warned fellow writers on her way out the door about what the AI decision could mean. "I would also encourage writers to beware," Johnson wrote in an Instagram post, "your work on [NaNoWriMo's] platform is almost certainly going to be used to train AI." In the wake of the closure news, the usual usual suspects pointed to the grooming allegations leveled at NaNoWriMo — accusations that were, it's worth noting, thoroughly investigated and handled by the nonprofit. Literary types, however, saw the AI writing on the wall. "So many people worked so hard to make NaNoWriMo what it was," children and YA author Maggie Tokuda-Hall posted on Bluesky, "and it was all squandered to prop up a plagiarism machine, truly betraying everything NaNo represented: the limitless creativity of normal people." "NaNoWriMo belongs to the writers, not some shit traitorous organization," another user declared. "Always has, always will." Indeed, for all that it became in its final years, NaNoWriMo was once a staple in the creative writing blogosphere and a way for those who didn't attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop to make names for themselves. Pedigree was never a factor for the challenge's winners, who all won upon writing at least 50,000 words during the month of November and who were only required to register for verification purposes. Obviously, the organization got mighty lost along the way, but it's still sad to see NaNoWriMo go — and it feels like a harbinger of things to come. More on AI writing: LA Times Uses AI to Provide "Different Views" on the KKK
Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Harry Potter,' ‘Wicked,' and more make up PPAC's 2025-26 Broadway season
And a visit by Friedman herself to Rhode Island's capital city helped seal the deal in bringing the production to a local audience, Singleton explained. 'She'd never been here. She thought we were in Long Island, which happens to me all the time,' Singleton said, drawing a few laughs. 'And [she] loved Providence. I thought she was going to buy a place here.' Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up 'So that was one of the reasons 'Harry Potter' landed here: Because she loved it so much and everybody showed her such a good time,' he added. Advertisement Now, PPAC has big hopes for the play, which after years in New York, has hit the road. Related : Following stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., 'Harry Potter' will arrive in Rhode Island for an 18-show run starting Sept. 19, Singleton said Tuesday, as he revealed PPAC's upcoming season schedule. 'Right after those three major markets, we will be … the first market north of New York to play 'Harry Potter,'' he said. 'It will be a forest fire.' The production will also be presented at With an entire generation having grown up on the Harry Potter books, Singleton believes the production will introduce 'a whole new audience' to PPAC. And while he doesn't think demands for PPAC subscriptions will hit quite the levels spurred by the fervor around 'Hamilton,' it will surely be a hot ticket, he said. 'I would expect it will bump our subscription base, which is presently about 13,000 plus, probably another 3,000 to 4,000,' he said. Related : In all, six critically-acclaimed and award-winning shows will be featured in the upcoming PPAC 'Broadway Series,' including 'Water For Elephants,' 'Suffs,' 'Wicked,' 'The Outsiders,' and 'Kimberly Akimbo,' PPAC officials said Tuesday. Advertisement 'Six,' 'Hadestown,' 'Clue,' and 'The Lion King' will make up PPAC's 'Encore Series' as returning productions. In total, PPAC will put on about 120 shows next season, according to Singleton. 'The commercial theater business has never been better in this building,' he said. Here is the schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 Broadway season at PPAC: 'Broadway Series' 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:' Sept. 19 - Oct. 4, 2025 'Water For Elephants:' Dec. 2 - 7, 2025 'Suffs:' Jan. 20 - 25, 2026 'Wicked:' March 4 - 22, 2026 'The Outsiders:' April 14 - 19, 2026 'Kimberly Akimbo:' May 5 - 10, 2026 'Encore Series' 'Six:' Oct. 22 - 26, 2025 'Hadestown:' Nov. 7 - 9, 2025 'Clue:' Jan. 16 - 18, 2026 'The Lion King:' May 20 - June 7, 2026 Other performances Jo Koy: Oct. 17, 2025 Louis C.K.: Oct. 19, 2025 America: Oct. 18, 2025 Boston Pops Holiday Concert: Dec. 13, 2025 Cirque Dreams Holidaze: Dec. 19 - 21, 2025 Bill Bragg's Family Magic: May 16, 2026 More information is online at Christopher Gavin can be reached at
