New Letters to include work by visual artist

The summer edition of New Letters, the literary quarterly published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, includes its first-ever visual artist.

Mixed media artist Renee Stout discusses her life and work, and her art appears throughout the journal and on the cover.

The issue includes an interview of New York short story writer and novelist Lisa Dierbeck by fiction writer Mary Gaitskill, an essay by Janet Burroway, new poems by Sherman Alexie and Diana O’Hehir, book reviews of essay and poetry works, an essay from a collection in progress by Jodi Varon, as well as a poem by award-winning author Mia Leonin.

Published quarterly, New Letters is available in bookstores or through a $17 annual subscription.

Bev Gegen to open show at K.C. gallery

Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas City artist Bev Gegen will open her inaugural exhibition Friday at the Hallar Gallery.

Gegen will be at the gallery, 4540 Main St., Kansas City, Mo., from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to offer insight into her unorthodox approach to painting on her hands and knees and the years she spent studying under Kansas City art icon, Philomene Bennett.

The exhibit is free and open to the public and will be on view through Sept. 6. Her work also can be viewed at www.hallargallery.com.

Dance world’s Mr. Big meets ‘Sex and the City’

New York — He’s Mr. Big in the dance world. Now Mikhail Baryshnikov is ready to take on Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City.”

The dance legend has signed on to play Sarah Jessica Parker’s love interest in the comedy, HBO announced Wednesday.

Baryshnikov, who has some acting experience in films, will play the popular international artist Alexander Petrovsky, who meets and falls in love with Bradshaw, the star character portrayed by Parker.

Bradshaw and Petrovsky meet at an art gallery in one of the episodes airing later this summer. He’ll be a featured actor in the final eight episodes of the series that will air beginning in January.

Library seeks donations

New York– Beset by financial woes, the New York Public Library is going directly to its patrons for help. Neighborhood branches are putting out donation boxes, the New York Daily News reports.

The 85-branch system already has seen the city slash millions of dollars from its budget and is facing the prospect of more cuts next year that could bring further reductions in hours of operation, purchases of books and staffing, the newspaper said.

Soliciting donations is one of several strategies the library is employing to boost income, along with pleas to corporations, foundations and philanthropists.