MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- It's a bar that serves nothing but tap water. For free.　The concept, developed by two Minneapolis artists, started as pop-ups across the country, ranging from an event at a North Carolina artists’ space to a waterfront fundraiser in Chicago to a four-month run at an art museum in Arkansas.　They've been such a hit that Colin Kloecker and Shanai Matteson are preparing to open a storefront Water Bar in northeast Minneapolis, a taproom serving pints of city water plus limited-edi

A nationwide art tour set up by three expats will make its final stop in Seoul this week, but the organizers hope its effects will continue through the connections it creates. “Look But Don’t Touch” is a nationwide art tour set up by Sybille Cavasin, Wynsum Foreman and Lawrence Blackman, showcasing the work of artists from across Korea. “At the end of it I hope there will be the beginnings of a community where people can talk to each other and get to know each other,” said Blackman.Nine visual a

Seoul Culture and Book Club will be hosting an event with three up-and-coming Korean authors next month, giving English speakers a rare chance to hear from them and answer questions.The authors – Kim Ae-ran, Chang Kang-myoung and Kim Min-jung – will answer questions, with interpretations into English. This will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience.The event is part of a regular series organized with Asia Publishers, which has included the authors in their K-Fiction seri

Some 200 French programs take place in Korea throughout the year

FLORENCE, Italy (AFP) - The days of scribbling “I woz here” on Florence’s historic monuments are gone: would-be vandals will now be able to graffiti via app instead, with their messages kept for posterity.　“Welcome to Giotto’s Campanile!” reads a message on a digital tablet for visitors scaling the Gothic white, green and pink marble tower by the famed Italian architect, which stands at one corner of the Cathedral in the Tuscan city.　“We have been protecting masterpieces for centuries: starting

PARIS (AFP) -- It is nothing short of an existential crisis, as crippling as the ones that had Left Bank intellectuals like Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre staring gloomily into their coffee.　French writers have never felt more badly paid, undervalued or under pressure, with a new survey showing more than half of established authors earn less than the minimum wage.　Many are so depressed by the state of the book industry that they are considering giving up altogether, according to a new report.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney was on her way to meet her family for brunch in New York when she had an idea for the opening scene of her debut novel, “The Nest.”　Sweeney imagined family members “all needing to meet but all needing a drink before they met and all getting their drink in proximity to each other without knowing that they were all doing the same thing,” she said in a recent phone interview from her home in Los Angeles.　She was intrigued by why they needed to drink before s

“The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero” 　By Timothy Egan　Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (384 pages, $28)　Green beer aside, the most appropriate way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day would be to learn more about one of Ireland’s greatest exports, Thomas Francis Meagher.　And there’s no better way to do that than by reading this stirring and magnificent biography by Timothy Egan, “The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero.”　Few people ha

“Creative Journey”　By Ko Seong-yeon 　Yolimwon Publishing Group (280 pages, 13,800 won, $11.90)“Creative Journey” offers a case study into how a small sugar company grew to become CJ Group, a global lifestyle company and the nation’s largest cultural contents provider. 　Locally, the letters CJ have now come to represent Korea’s popular culture, from films, music, and TV programs to food, and the worldwide hallyu phenomena, writes author Ko Seong-yeon. Ko, a journalist with expertise in creative c

“The Dance of the Sea”　By Soosaiya Anthreas　Gatekeeper Press (447 pages, $11.95)　A long-winded tale of people battling for life in a slum fishing town in southern India, “The Dance of the Sea” spans the life of Sebastian, who seeks to escape his squalid hometown of belligerent, mostly uneducated fisherman. After successfully becoming an engineer under the pressure of his parents, he goes on to desert his lover and turn his back on his poverty-stricken sister. A tsunami wave later strikes his hom