Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sunday reading on nybooks.com: On listening to Maria Callas, remembering Mark Strand, understanding Edgar Allan Poe, and preventing rape on campus. Plus recommendations in film, art, architecture, and more on the calendar.   THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

A Definitive New Callas Michael Shae What made Maria Callas a great singer was her fierce commitment to the voice as a means of dramatic expression.   ADVERTISEMENT   Mark Strand: Living Gorgeously Charles Simic Mark Strand, who died in November at the age of eighty after a long battle with cancer, is the first among my oldest friends to go. Having known him for forty-six years, I’ve come to realize since he passed away what a huge presence he was in my life and still continues to be.   On Edgar Allan Poe Marilynne Robinson It seems to have been true of Poe that no one could look at him without seeing more than they would wish or he could tolerate.   ADVERTISEMENT   Rape on the Campus Zoë Heller Few would disagree that the systems for preventing and prosecuting sexual assault on US campuses are in need of change. But the efficacy and fairness of recent reforms remain highly questionable.   EVENTS   FILM Acteurism: A series of screenings devoted to the versatile, resilient, playfully vulgar actress Joan Bennett(MoMA)   ARCHITECTURE An exhibition traces Frank Gehry’s rise from scrappy maverick to the most important American architect since Louis Kahn (Centre Pompidou)   ART Two exhibitions at the Talbot Rice Gallery focus on the senses: one on hearing and the other on seeing (Edinburgh)   LITERATURE Translators and critics discuss the life and work of the inimitable Silvina Ocampo (Community Bookstore, Brooklyn)