Sign up for a review-writing webinar, with me- plus, a new podcast

Greetings from the other side of the world

I’m still in Japan until Monday, and the notes column will return as scheduled next Friday.

But I wanted to give one last reminder to sign up for Broad Street Review’s Intro to Review-Writing webinar next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, on which I’ll be participating as a panelist, along with my editors Alaina and Kyle, and my fellow panelist An Nichols.

To give you an idea of what to expect:

In an hour-long session, Broad Street Review editor-in-chief Alaina will cover six things a good critic can accomplish in a review, the beginner critic’s toolkit, tips for working with editors, how to begin working with venues as a critic, what to expect after a review runs, and lots more. Then we’ll open the floor for a half-hour of questions featuring BSR writers An Nichols and Stephen Silver.

This class is geared toward aspiring or emerging writers in any field who want to learn more about cultural criticism and find out how to get started as a reviewer. It’s a great introduction to BSR for people interested in writing for us, and it’s also valuable for arts lovers who want to understand more about the critic’s role.

I’ve been associated with Broad Street Review, a Philadelphia-based arts and culture journal, for nearly a decade, and I’m very proud to be a part of what they do there, offering a lot of arts coverage — from theater to fine arts to dance to books — that not many other places in Philly do at this point.

It’s where I write my monthly repertory film roundups, as well as coverage of local film festivals, and the occasional theater or book review.

And if you can’t make that one, there’s another webinar on a subject near and dear to my heart, “BAD REVIEWS: How to write them and why we need them,” the following night.

Also: The latest Film Scribes podcast, featuring reviews from the Tribeca Film Festival by myself and fellow Philly critics Rich Drees and Gary M. Kramer, is available here:

I’ll be back on Monday, and thank you for your support!