Latest news with #FScottFitzgerald
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
The food-lover's city where three-course meals cost less than £20
In Cape Town, a culinary challenge awaits, one that dwarfs even the city's iconic Table Mountain in its sheer, edible scale. This is the Gatsby, a mammoth submarine sandwich that has become an enduring symbol of the city's vibrant food culture and community spirit. This colossal creation traces its origins back to the mid-1970s in the Cape Flats, an area where many townships developed. It was here that a resourceful fish and chip shop owner, seeking to feed his hungry workers, concocted the first iteration – a pragmatic assembly of leftovers. Its name is borrowed from F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. Beyond its budget-friendly price tag and formidable size – often capable of feeding multiple mouths – the Gatsby holds profound cultural significance. It stands as a delicious emblem of the resourcefulness and enduring community spirit that characterised Cape Town's working-class neighbourhoods during the challenging era of apartheid. At the time of my visit, the exchange rate sits at approximately 24 South African rand to the pound, but rates have been consistently good for some time. So even though the price of a 10-hour flight might cost around £800, your pounds will stretch much further after touchdown. While you'd struggle to find a decent hotel room in London or Manchester for under £150 per night, boutique guesthouses in Cape Town's trendy neighbourhoods can cost as little as £35-50 per night – some even with mountain views. A three-course meal at one of Cape Town's award-winning restaurants will set you back around R300-500, or roughly £12-20, and a bottle of decent local wine can cost less than £10. Transportation is budget-friendly too. Uber rides across the city centre rarely exceed R50-80 (£2-3). Continuing my urban food and drink safari, I find myself in one of the city's most saintly coffee shops, where a caffeine fix is near nirvanic. Far cheaper than a Starbucks, Heaven Coffee has become an invaluable part of the community for many more reasons. Tucked inside a Methodist church on Greenmarket Square in the CBD, the coffee shop was set up by entrepreneur Mondli Mahamba, who first turned up as a homeless person seeking help. 'I asked the minister if I could rent a space,' he explains, as a coffee machine whirrs and splutters. 'It was a way for me to do something. I enjoy hosting people. I wanted to create an open space for everyone – from high-flying lawyers to homeless people and tourists from Europe.' Along with serving locally roasted coffee and providing a peaceful and accessible haven in a busy city, Mr Mahamba trains and upskills those who've been down on their luck. But he stresses Heaven is not a charity. 'Coffee builds community and brings people together,' he says. Celebrating grassroots traditions is at the core of the Seven Colours Eatery in the Victoria & Albert Waterfront development. Chef and founder Nolu Dube-Cele nostalgically recalls dishes made by her grandmother in Eastern Cape village Tsengiwe and highlights the diversity of South Africa's culinary heritage through her creative menu. 'I want to celebrate the country I love so much,' she enthuses, serving umngqusho – also known as samp (dried corn) and beans, a staple dish cherished by Nelson Mandela. I eat it with chakalaka (a spicy vegetable relish) and drink wine made by the HER group of all-black, all-female winemakers. 'Seven colours is the nickname for a dish often served at family gatherings,' explains Ms Dube-Cele. 'My grandma would serve it on Sundays – using everything and anything she had. Some of the ingredients don't even get along on the plate, but when you eat it you feel loved.' Costing less than £10 for a main meal big enough for two, the dishes create a warm, glowing feeling all round. More than being affordable, Cape Town offers luxury experiences at high-street prices, five-star adventures on a three-star budget, and memories that are absolutely priceless.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Can't Repeat the Past? A Gatsby Boat Tour Can.
The morning rain clouds had parted and blue sky peeked through as some 75 members of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society waited on a Long Island pier. They had gathered on a recent Sunday for The Great Gatsby Boat Tour, a 90-minute cruise around Manhasset Bay to explore East Egg and West Egg, the fictional peninsulas where Fitzgerald set his 1925 novel, 'The Great Gatsby.' While the captain worked to replace a dead battery on the boat, the group of Fitzgerald scholars and fans munched on deli sandwiches and mingled. Kirk Curnutt, a professor of English at Troy University in Alabama, explained that the cruise was the kickoff event for the society's annual conference, which, befitting the centennial of the publication of 'Gatsby,' was being held this year in New York. Attendees had come from around the country and world. Mr. Curnutt pointed to a tall blond woman who was a professor of American literature at the University of London and the author of several works on Fitzgerald, including a recent article for The Financial Times about how 'Gatsby' predicted Trumpism. 'That's Sarah Churchwell,' he said. 'She's one of the stars.' Mr. Curnett, 60, teaches 'Gatsby' to education students who will go on to teach the novel in high schools. 'We teach them how to teach,' he said. 'Like avoiding the phrase 'American dream.' It's such a shopworn cliché.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Associated Press
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Prix Fitzgerald 2025 Laureate Announced at Hôtel Belles Rives
CAP D'ANTIBES, France, June 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During a celebrated ceremony at the iconic Hôtel Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera, the jury of the 2025 Prix Fitzgerald announced its latest laureate: Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Ford, recognized for his poignant novel Be Mine (Le paradis des fous, published in France by Éditions de l'Olivier). A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available in this link. The Prix Fitzgerald, created in 2011 by Marianne Estène-Chauvin, President of the Francis Scott Fitzgerald Academy and owner of Belles Rives Group, annually honors a work of fiction that embodies the spirit, elegance, and art of living associated with the American literary icon F. Scott Fitzgerald. This year's edition holds resonance, marking 100 years since the publication of The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald's first stay in Juan-les-Pins in 1925, when he and Zelda moved into Villa Saint-Louis—now Hôtel Belles Rives. It was here, overlooking the same blue expanse of Cap d'Antibes, that Fitzgerald worked on Tender Is the Night, and where the mythos of the Riviera as a playground of writers, artists, and exiles began to crystallize. Ford's Be Mine, which revisits his beloved character Frank Bascombe, was praised for its reflection on aging, caregiving, and parenting in America itself, all told with Ford's signature blend of clarity, wit, and empathy. The jury commended the novel for capturing the existential tensions of modern life with a tone and depth that echoes Fitzgerald's legacy. 'My gratitude to the Prix Fitzgerald jury for their belief not just in my book but in books in general. We all stand on the shoulders of genius—and being here today at Hôtel Belles Rives, in the year we celebrate the centennial of The Great Gatsby, makes me believe it all possible.' The Prix Fitzgerald ceremony was held on the terrace overlooking the romantic, rocky peninsula with its white pier facing the adjacent islands graced by the 'green light' that once inspired Fitzgerald's most famous novel. The celebration concluded with a Riviera-style dinner held on the legendary terraces of this historic landmark. 'Richard Ford's Be Mine is a masterful—and rare—lesson in restraint, humanity, and emotional clarity. Ford dares to do what few still allow themselves: to write quietly, without flourish, about the subtle pain of fading feelings, the dignity of ordinary lives, and fidelity as an elegant form of melancholy. No grand gestures. No theatrics. Just clean, direct, implacable—and profoundly human—prose. A clarity without drama, yet marked by a light gravity that strikes with precision. It's a novel that doesn't try to shine—and that's precisely why it does,' said Marianne Estène-Chauvin, President of the Francis Scott Fitzgerald Academy and owner of Groupe Belles Rives. 'Like Fitzgerald,' she continued, 'Ford understands that the deepest truths live in silences, in hesitations, in sideways glances. He carries the elegance of disenchantment, the rejection of sentimentality—a style that never needs to raise its voice to move us. It is an honor—and, indeed, a distinctly Fitzgeraldian kind of jubilation—to welcome him among the Prix Fitzgerald laureates.' Ford joins an esteemed list of past American laureates including Joyce Carol Oates (2024), Quentin Tarantino (2023), Jonathan Dee (2022), Jeffrey Eugenides (2019), Jay McInerney (2016), and Christopher Bollen (2015). Special distinctions have also included the Gatsby Prize to Thadée Klossowski de Rola and the Zelda Prize to Dominique Bona. Each year, a jury of writers, journalists, and cultural figures—presided over by Bertrand de Saint Vincent, Deputy Director of Le Figaro —selects the Prix Fitzgerald recipient. Nominations are revealed in March, with finalists determined by mid-May, ahead of the June ceremony. The Prix Fitzgerald remains a singular literary honor on the international scene, not only celebrating literary excellence but also perpetuating the mythos and joie de vivre of the Jazz Age on the Riviera—now more poignant than ever in this centennial year of The Great Gatsby. For more information, visit and follow on Instagram @bellesrives. ABOUT HÔTEL BELLES RIVES Hôtel Belles Rives is an Art Deco gem that stands above the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean. F. Scott Fitzgerald penned Tender is the Night here, and the property is a testament to the breezy extravagance of a bygone era yet reveals a modern design, offering 43 recently renovated rooms and suites. A gastronomic Mediterranean experience awaits at La Passagère, the onsite, one-star Michelin restaurant led by culinary maestro, Aurélien Véquaud. Classic cocktails can be found at the newly renovated Bar Fitzgerald, named for the property's original resident. The hotel's private beach features the Belles Rives Beach Restaurant, the Water Sports Club, and the jetty that's home to the hotel's private boat dock. Extend that sun kissed, blissed-out feeling with an innovative treatment by luxe Swiss skincare house, Valmont onsite at its namesake beauty corner. The property—with an ownership bloodline dating back to the 1930s—is now helmed by the fourth generation, the 43-year-old, Antoine Chauvin-Estène who is imparting an egalitarian and refreshing approach to this emblematic riviera classic. MEDIA CONTACTS: Nadeige Martelly, AMPR Global [email protected] +1 786 863 1363 Andria Mitsakos, AMPR Global [email protected] +1 954 294 4710
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Prix Fitzgerald 2025 Laureate Announced at Hôtel Belles Rives
Renowned American Author Richard Ford Receives 14th Annual Literary Award for Be Mine CAP D'ANTIBES, France, June 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During a celebrated ceremony at the iconic Hôtel Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera, the jury of the 2025 Prix Fitzgerald announced its latest laureate: Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Ford, recognized for his poignant novel Be Mine (Le paradis des fous, published in France by Éditions de l'Olivier). A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available in this link. The Prix Fitzgerald, created in 2011 by Marianne Estène-Chauvin, President of the Francis Scott Fitzgerald Academy and owner of Belles Rives Group, annually honors a work of fiction that embodies the spirit, elegance, and art of living associated with the American literary icon F. Scott Fitzgerald. This year's edition holds resonance, marking 100 years since the publication of The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald's first stay in Juan-les-Pins in 1925, when he and Zelda moved into Villa Saint-Louis—now Hôtel Belles Rives. It was here, overlooking the same blue expanse of Cap d'Antibes, that Fitzgerald worked on Tender Is the Night, and where the mythos of the Riviera as a playground of writers, artists, and exiles began to crystallize. Ford's Be Mine, which revisits his beloved character Frank Bascombe, was praised for its reflection on aging, caregiving, and parenting in America itself, all told with Ford's signature blend of clarity, wit, and empathy. The jury commended the novel for capturing the existential tensions of modern life with a tone and depth that echoes Fitzgerald's legacy. 'My gratitude to the Prix Fitzgerald jury for their belief not just in my book but in books in general. We all stand on the shoulders of genius—and being here today at Hôtel Belles Rives, in the year we celebrate the centennial of The Great Gatsby, makes me believe it all possible.' The Prix Fitzgerald ceremony was held on the terrace overlooking the romantic, rocky peninsula with its white pier facing the adjacent islands graced by the 'green light' that once inspired Fitzgerald's most famous novel. The celebration concluded with a Riviera-style dinner held on the legendary terraces of this historic landmark. 'Richard Ford's Be Mine is a masterful—and rare—lesson in restraint, humanity, and emotional clarity. Ford dares to do what few still allow themselves: to write quietly, without flourish, about the subtle pain of fading feelings, the dignity of ordinary lives, and fidelity as an elegant form of melancholy. No grand gestures. No theatrics. Just clean, direct, implacable—and profoundly human—prose. A clarity without drama, yet marked by a light gravity that strikes with precision. It's a novel that doesn't try to shine—and that's precisely why it does,' said Marianne Estène-Chauvin, President of the Francis Scott Fitzgerald Academy and owner of Groupe Belles Rives. 'Like Fitzgerald,' she continued, 'Ford understands that the deepest truths live in silences, in hesitations, in sideways glances. He carries the elegance of disenchantment, the rejection of sentimentality—a style that never needs to raise its voice to move us. It is an honor—and, indeed, a distinctly Fitzgeraldian kind of jubilation—to welcome him among the Prix Fitzgerald laureates.' Ford joins an esteemed list of past American laureates including Joyce Carol Oates (2024), Quentin Tarantino (2023), Jonathan Dee (2022), Jeffrey Eugenides (2019), Jay McInerney (2016), and Christopher Bollen (2015). Special distinctions have also included the Gatsby Prize to Thadée Klossowski de Rola and the Zelda Prize to Dominique Bona. Each year, a jury of writers, journalists, and cultural figures—presided over by Bertrand de Saint Vincent, Deputy Director of Le Figaro—selects the Prix Fitzgerald recipient. Nominations are revealed in March, with finalists determined by mid-May, ahead of the June ceremony. The Prix Fitzgerald remains a singular literary honor on the international scene, not only celebrating literary excellence but also perpetuating the mythos and joie de vivre of the Jazz Age on the Riviera—now more poignant than ever in this centennial year of The Great Gatsby. For more information, visit and follow on Instagram @bellesrives. ABOUT HÔTEL BELLES RIVESHôtel Belles Rives is an Art Deco gem that stands above the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean. F. Scott Fitzgerald penned Tender is the Night here, and the property is a testament to the breezy extravagance of a bygone era yet reveals a modern design, offering 43 recently renovated rooms and suites. A gastronomic Mediterranean experience awaits at La Passagère, the onsite, one-star Michelin restaurant led by culinary maestro, Aurélien Véquaud. Classic cocktails can be found at the newly renovated Bar Fitzgerald, named for the property's original resident. The hotel's private beach features the Belles Rives Beach Restaurant, the Water Sports Club, and the jetty that's home to the hotel's private boat dock. Extend that sun kissed, blissed-out feeling with an innovative treatment by luxe Swiss skincare house, Valmont onsite at its namesake beauty corner. The property—with an ownership bloodline dating back to the 1930s—is now helmed by the fourth generation, the 43-year-old, Antoine Chauvin-Estène who is imparting an egalitarian and refreshing approach to this emblematic riviera classic. MEDIA CONTACTS:Nadeige Martelly, AMPR Globalnadeige@ +1 786 863 1363 Andria Mitsakos, AMPR Globalandria@ 954 294 4710Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Aidan Jones: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
The internet gets a lot of bad press, most of which is itself published on the internet, which does seem hypocritical. The complaints usually mourn a loss of innocence and freedom. They remember the way things used to be, before the digital world was conquered by a handful of infinitely powerful tech oligarchs. I remember when we first got broadband in 2005. I felt like one of F Scott Fitzgerald's Dutch sailors at the end of The Great Gatsby, 'face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder'. It's scary to think that this beautiful thing has been stolen and turned against us. Used to extract the very minutes of our lives, which are then sold for profit. Some think that we should switch it off, shut the whole thing down before we lose touch with what's real, and who we are. But is it really so wrong to stay just a little bit longer? These are the 10 funniest things I have ever seen on the internet. This is the first standup special I ever remember watching. I always loved this bit about how hangovers get worse as you get older, which is so funny to me now because I'd never been drunk when I first saw this. Now I'm in my 30s, but I've been sober for 6 years, so you could argue that I still don't really get it. But I love the bit now for the same reason I did when I was 13: the violent way he says, 'SHUT UP!' In high school I was friends with these two brothers who lived on my street. Their dad was an illustrator and loved the Beatles, and their mum would take carloads of us out to the hills to film gory slasher movies that they wrote and produced together. They introduced me to so much indie film and weird art that felt a world away from suburban Adelaide and as weird as Brad Neely's overdub of the entire first Harry Potter film is, it's also just the tip of the iceberg. As an aside, one of the brothers, Pirie Martin, is a film-maker in his own right now and his first feature Psychosis was released in 2023 and absolutely rules. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Speaking of the Beatles! James Donald Forbes McCann, as he insists on being referred to, was one of the best comedians in Australia for years and no one cared. Then he started opening for Shane Gillis and moved to the US, and now he rightfully sells tickets everywhere he goes. I could have just as easily put his 'Fool Me Once' bit on this list, but I can't go past this poem about the Beatles. It's the age-old question: who is the best Beatle? For me, this poem settles it for good. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Andrew Portelli is currently one of the best comedians in Australia and no one cares. But the game is long, and the world will have its justice. 5. Group X – Waffle House My friend Lucy and I still quote this video and I'd say it might even be one of the cornerstones of our 15-year friendship, along with 'Let's get some SHOES!' and a house mixtape called Midyear Mayhem that my friend Mebbo released in 2009. How about that MS Word-era gradient in the animation! Phenomenal. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. These two hosts of Triple J breakfast – along with guest comedian Alex Ward – take turns saying nice things to each other, and then reacting with the smallest possible smile. You will not believe how much fun this is until you do it with your loved ones. After you're done laughing at that, appreciate the beautiful irony of a breakfast radio team posting an entirely visual gag to their Instagram. When I moved to Melbourne in 2012, David Quirk was the first comic I ever shared a bill with whose work I was already familiar with. I loved this set from Festival Club, and there is no better summary of what comedians do than his quip, 'All I do is participate in life, and report back.' Watching Quirk emcee the open mic at The Monastery in Richmond to four punters in 2012 was an incredible thrill, and also served as great preparation for how the next decade-plus of my life would look. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. This account seems to have gone relatively quiet in the last few years, but in my mid-to-late 20s it was huge. It's a girl from Manchester who collects and shares screenshots of the insane things men say to women on the internet. When it blew up I was just beginning to reckon with the idea that the repeated failure of all of my romantic endeavours might partially be my fault. (SURELY NOT?!) Reading these posts always made me laugh, but contained within them was also the helpful subtext: 'Hey you! Yeah you. Don't be an asshole.' This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Blake Freeman is one of the most natural performers I've ever seen. When we met I was 21 and he was 16 and even then he had an unnatural wisdom about him, which is funny because his act is all about how he's dumb. He's not dumb, he's lying to you, don't listen to him! This bit he did for the Melbourne comedy festival gala this year is unbelievable. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. I don't buy into the fatalist idea that the internet is this awful thing that is ruining our lives. Sure there are bad aspects, just like everything, but the internet is really just us, reflected back at ourselves. If we don't like what we see, it's up to us to change it. Train the algorithm to show you the kind of content you want to see, and reward the kind of creation you want to reward. It starts with you, right here, right now. With this video of a simple man transforming into a cat. Aidan Jones is a standup comedian. His show Chopin's Nocturne is at Summerhall for the Edinburgh fringe from 31 July to 25 August. Follow him on Instagram
