Atlanta poet Collin Kelley was at a London gallery in 2010, taking in a retrospective of photographer Sally Mann, when he was gobsmacked by something in the Virginia-born artist’s otherworldly, black-and-white images. He saw eerie parallels to his own work ― the poetry he’d set aside years earlier to focus on writing fiction.He had a collection of poems that had been “kind of floating around” since 2008, enough for a book. He’d given it a couple of titles, combined different poems, changed the s

PARIS (AP) ― France’s Louvre museum is getting a new director ― the man who is leading the restoration of its most famous Greek sculpture and has his hands in some of the institutions latest efforts to expand its reach.Jean-Luc Martinez, a French specialist in Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities who has worked at the Louvre since 2007, was appointed by President Francois Hollande for a three-year term. Martinez, 49, is leading the restoration of the famed headless Winged Victory of Samothrace

South Korean singer and actor Im Chang-jeong has filed for divorce from his wife Kim Hyun-ju, his agency said Wednesday.“He has reached the decision (to divorce) after failing to overcome personality differences with his wife,” said an official from Im’s agency Wellmade StarM.Another official said that the 40-year-old singer was currently staying in an unspecified location in the countryside to “settle his feelings.” Im tied the knot with 29-year-old Kim in March 2006. The popular singer and the

Andrew Hamilton, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, received an honorary doctorate from Yonsei University on Thursday, the Korean school announced.Yonsei University said that Hamilton received an honorary Ph.D. in science for his contribution in chemistry research, also recognizing his leading role at the top British school.On Thursday, in his first visit to Yonsei University, Hamilton also delivered a special lecture under the title “Broad Horizons: How universities can survive and th

Cho Se-hyung, a famous thief who daringly robbed the homes of wealthy and influential figures in the 1970s and 1980s, was arrested for stealing tens of millions of won worth of valuables at an upscale house Wednesday. Seocho Police Station said Thursday that they caught the 75-year-old breaking into a house for burglary. Cho has so far been convicted 10 times for theft.  According to police, he broke into a deluxe villa in Seocho, one of Seoul’s posh southern districts, at around 8:30 p.m. Wedne

Former leader of Wonder Girls Min Sun-ye is having a baby. The singer posted on Twitter about her pregnancy on Thursday, saying that she is three months pregnant. Sun-ye and her husband James Park, a Korean-Canadian missionary, had their wedding on Jan. 26. She wrote “I respect all mothers around the world who have experienced the mystery of life. (God has) allowed us a honeymoon baby.” She also asked her fans to “pray for the baby to grow up healthy.” The couple has been living in Montreal, Can

Sun-ye, a member of a popular K-pop girl group Wonder Girls, announced Thursday that she is three months pregnant.“It (The pregnancy) entered its third month, so it is safe to announce the good news. Please pray for our baby’s health,” she said via Twitter.Sun-ye said she and her husband had been “blessed with a honeymoon baby,” indicating that she conceived her child during her honeymoon. The 24-year-old singer shocked her fans last year when she revealed her plans to marry Korean-Canadian miss

The British Council opened a new exhibition called “The English Effect” in Britain on Wednesday that introduces many English words with foreign origins.According to the exhibition, “booze” came from the medieval Dutch word “busen,” meaning “to drink to excess.” It was first used by beggars and thieves in the 1500s.Unlike people’s belief that “bungalow” was first used by house builders who had to “bung a low roof” due to the shortage of bricks, it is from Bengal, India. It is said to have been t

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance...And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.(“Daffodils” by William Wordsworth)It’s been a rainy winter with early spring winds blowing away any remnants of fall leaves.Through it all, daffodils by the thousands emerge to remind you spring is here.Daffodils are easy, enjoyable and enchanting, looking like oversized cousins to the smaller buttercups that later fill meadows and open fields. Voles, squi

I have beautiful kitchen knives. I received my set of hand-forged J.A. Henckels knives on my first day of cooking school 25 years ago, and the instructor told us that if we cared for them properly we would have these knives for life.I think about that often as I note the knives in their wooden block and think, “Wow, I really have to get these sharpened.”I don’t use these high-carbon knives, forged from a proprietary mixture of metals that make them very hard and more or less rust-free. When my 1

Samsung Group on Wednesday announced the six winners of its Ho-Am Prize for this year in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, arts and community service.The prizes, which will be given at an event in Seoul on May 31, were awarded to Harold Y. Hwang, a professor at Stanford University, in science; Kim Sang-tae, distinguished professor at Purdue University, in engineering; Lee Se-jin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, in medicine; novelist Shin Kyoung-sook, in arts; and Rhee Chong-

Ven. Hyemin, a well-known Buddhist monk and an influential figure on South Korean social networks, announced Monday that he is quitting Twitter to “look back” at himself.“Recently I came to think that I may have been speaking too much since starting to use Twitter,” he wrote on his account. “I will now take a vow of silence and look back at myself.”He added that communicating online had brought him “much joy.”  Ven. Hyemin had been giving online advice and thought-provoking comments to his half

Veteran actor Namgung Won was elected the president of the 25th chapter of the Motion Pictures Association of Korea at its annual board meeting on Tuesday. Namgung is slated to serve in the post for three years. “As someone who has spent almost his whole life as an actor, I want to dedicate the rest of my life to the preservation, rights and development of films,” said the actor. The 78-year-old Namgung, whose real name is Hong Kyung-il, made his acting debut in 1958 while still a college studen