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Atlanta magazine scores upset in Big Apple
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The staffers at Atlanta magazine had a prestigious parcel to liberate from its bubble wrap Monday: The 47-year-old city mag’s first Ellie Award.
Last week, Atlanta editor in chief Rebecca Burns and deputy editor Paige Williams were stunned when Williams’ piece, “You Have Thousands of Angels Around You,” beat out The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair and New York magazine to net the Feature Writing prize at the National Magazine Awards.
Steve Friedman
Atlanta magazine’s editor in chief, Rebecca Burns, receives an Ellie Award from former Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham. Atlanta won for deputy editor Paige Williams’ article on a teen immigrant.
The piece originally ran in Atlanta’s highly acclaimed “International Issue” last October and details the harrowing plight of Atlantan Cynthia Siyomvo, a refugee from Burundi.
The win, at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, became the first big upset of the evening (Atlanta mag staffers joked that they were clearly the “Little Miss Sunshine” of this year’s Ellies).
Of her acceptance speech, Burns told Buzz Monday: “Apparently, it went well. I just remember weeping on [presenter and legendary Harper’s editor] Lewis Lapham. Afterward, people complimented me so I must have said something. I don’t really remember. I didn’t write an acceptance speech because I didn’t want to jinx it. Plus, when you’re up against The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, you don’t expect to win!”
Here’s what the American Society of Magazine Editors judges said about Atlanta’s winning narrative:
“Without a trace of false sentimentality, Paige Williams tells the stop-you-in-your-tracks tale of a teenager who survived a war, lost her entire family, fled two continents and wound up in Atlanta, where she is helped in her claim on a bright future by an unlikely network of ‘angels,’ including a middle class family and an indefatigable immigration attorney who plucks her case from obscurity.”
Or as Burns more succinctly put it Monday:
“I cried when I read the first draft and I cried when I read the 25th draft. I mean, close-the-door, head-on-your-desk bawling.”
New York media and celeb Web site gawker.com immediately blogged about Atlanta’s surprise win. And after lugging the prize — an Alexander Calder elephant sculpture — off stage, Burns wondered how she would get the abstract award home.
“I knew we would never get it through airport security,” Burns recalled. “They told us, ‘It’s never really been an issue since the winner is always based in New York.’ “
That’s where UPS came in handy. On Monday, the award rested next to the numerous bouquets of congratulatory flowers.
“It looks like a funeral home in here today,” cracked Burns, who added that she bought the classic black cocktail she wore to the awards at Rag-O-Rama for a thrifty $14.
If you didn’t read “You Have Thousands of Angels Around You” last fall, you may find the piece in its entirety at atlantamagazine.com.
WEST HITS GWINNETT
Hip-hop phenom Kanye West finally brought his live show to his metro Atlanta fans Sunday night, and while his “Glow in the Dark” tour may feel a little past his latest CD’s expiration date, his concert was something light years from now.
Whatever epoch his visually arresting stage show was set in, apparently it was not a time when anyone other than West needed to be on the Gwinnett Arena stage — as his incredible band was set just underneath him in an orchestra pit, and in all black.
Apparently it was also not a time where any other recording artists should make an appearance with him — as the only person who joined West was opening act, rapper Lupe Fiasco, on one of the closing tunes, “Touch the Sky.” And apparently it was not a place much on patter, either — as the only time West seemed to kind of acknowledge where he was was when he changed the chorus of “Good Life”: “The good life — it feel[s] like A-Town/it feel[s] like A-Town/it feel[s] like A-Town!”
The capacity crowd, however, had no problem acknowledging West. It remained on its feet almost the entire concert as the 10-time Grammy winner gave what felt like a breathless, almost athletic 90-minute performance.
And even with the lights lowered it was hard not to spot the numerous stars in the audience from the worlds of music (Chris Brown, Bow Wow, Musiq, Scar, Quincy Jones, Jermaine Dupri, Chaka Zulu), TV (Kenny Burns, Ryan Glover) and sports (Jamal Anderson).
The dynamic West more than made up for the lack of energy in Rihanna’s 30-minute-plus set, which the audience mostly stood and watched like it was a fashion show. And to her credit, the singer — in fishnet stockings and a tight, black, short, leather one-piece with hot pink piping — was certainly fashionable.
DNA DOESN’T LIE
Former CNN-er turned Atlanta blogger Art Harris has The Associated Press and “Entertainment Tonight” eating his dust after he broke news on his Web site: Peter Shahid, an attorney for James Brown II’s guardian, confirms to the AP Harris’ report that the boy is the late singer’s son.
Brown II is the son of Tomi Rae Hynie, a former backup singer for the Godfather of Soul.
The results of a second, court-ordered test have not been released.
Trustees handling Brown’s estate have suggested Hynie was not legally married to Brown and her boy is not his son. They were not mentioned in Brown’s will.
A call to a spokesman for Hynie and a message left for Brown’s trustees were not immediately returned.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Bob Seger is 63. Actor Alan Dale (“Ugly Betty”) is 61. Actor Ben Masters (“Passions”) is 61. Host Tom Bergeron (“Dancing with the Stars”) is 53. Actress Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”) is 48. Actor George Clooney is 47.
OVERSCENE
Harold Dieterele, the season one winner of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” enjoying lunch with current contestant Richard Blais at the Atlanta chef’s current restaurant, Home in Buckhead.
Actress Laura Dern shopping at REI. We hear Dern is in town shooting a film.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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