Abstract
This year William Shakespeare has his 400th anniversary and Michael Jackson his 7th. We also lost the great musician Prince. In this issue we published MJ Studies Today, we feature author Susan Woodward, added episodes 7, 8 and 9 of Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On and two academic book reviews.
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Contents
1. Editorial by Karin Merx
2. Episode 7 – MJ 7 Meets Shakespeare 400‘
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
3. ‘MJ Studies Today V (15-05-16)‘
by Elizabeth Amisu
4. An Interview with Susan Woodward
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
5. Episode 8 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson & Prince Part I (with Lisha McDuff & Roberta Meek)
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu and guests academic Lisha McDuff & academic Roberta Meek
6. Episode 9 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson & Prince Part II (with Lisha McDuff & Roberta Meek)
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu and guests academic Lisha McDuff & academic Roberta Meek
7. Academic Book Review: Defending A King ~ His Life & Legacy: A Michael Jackson Biography’ by Dr. Karen Moriarty‘
by Elizabeth Amisu
8.Academic Book Review: Making Michael: Inside The Career Of Michael Jackson’ by Mike Smallcombe‘
by Elizabeth Amisu
1 Editorial
This year William Shakespeare has his 400th anniversary and Michael Jackson his 7th. Celebrating the work of an artist with a festival and discussing his work in academia, is a way to preserve the legacy. Michael Jackson’s 7th anniversary and Shakespeare’s 400th was reason enough to draw the connections between the two legacies. We also lost music legend Prince, who was considered a rival of Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, he died just as unforeseen as Michael Jackson. The Journal decided to pay attention to both great artists.
In this issue, we discuss Shakespeare and Michael Jackson and their legacy. We draw several connections between the need to celebrate Shakespeare’s legacy and the debates how to preserve Michael Jackson’s legacy in episode 7 of Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On. In MJ Studies Today, Elizabeth discusses the cultural impact of Michael Jackson’s art.
Featured author in this issue is Susan Woodward, who wrote the book Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics. In the interview, Woodward discusses her process and research.
Episodes 8 and 9 of Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On we pay attention to Prince’s sudden passing and discuss both great artists Michael Jackson and Prince. In these episodes, we have academic Lisha McDuff and academic Roberta Meek as guests.
In the world of Michael Jackson more books (biographies) are written and editor Elizabeth Amisu wrote the reviews. She reviewed Karen Moriarty’s Defending A King ~ His Life & Legacy: A Michael Jackson Biography and Mike Smallcomb’s Making Michael: Inside The Career Of Michael Jackson
Karin Merx
2 Episode 7 – MJ 7 Meets Shakespeare 400‘
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
In this seventh episode, Elizabeth and Karin discuss the fact that this year is the seventh anniversary since Michael Jackson’s death, and it is also the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare. We draw several connections between the need to celebrate Shakespeare’s legacy and the ongoing debates about how to preserve Michael Jackson’s. As always, our discussions take us into new and exciting places of thought and expansion.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-7-7516-mj-7-meets-shakespeare-400/
3 MJ Studies Today V (15-05-16)
by Elizabeth Amisu
May 2016 is all about the academic study of Michael Jackson’s art, cultural impact and critical reception.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-v-15-05-16/
4 An Interview with Susan Woodward
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
Susan Woodward, author of Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics, discusses her process and her research.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/an-interview-with-susan-woodward/
5 Episode 8 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson & Prince Part I (with Lisha McDuff & Roberta Meek)
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu and guests academic Lisha McDuff & academic Roberta Meek
In this eighth episode, an MJAS Exclusive, Elizabeth and Karin are joined by guests, fellow academics, Lisha McDuff and Roberta Meek, to discuss Michael Jackson’s art, resonance and cultural impact alongside the late musician, Prince. In the first of two podcast episodes, we delve into facets of Jackson and Prince that you may never have thought of before, offering new perspectives on their careers and their posthumous reception.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-8-28516-mjas-exclusive-michael-jackson-prince-part-i/
6 Episode 9 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson & Prince Part II (with Lisha McDuff & Roberta Meek)
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu and guests academic Lisha McDuff & academic Roberta Meek
In this ninth episode, part II of the MJAS Exclusive, Elizabeth and Karin and their guests, fellow academics, Lisha McDuff and Roberta Meek, continue the discussion on Michael Jackson’s art, resonance and cultural impact alongside the late musician, Prince.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-9-7-6-2016-mjas-exclusive-michael-jackson-prince-part-ii/
7 Academic Book Review: Defending A King ~ His Life & Legacy: A Michael Jackson Biography by Dr. Karen Moriarty
by Elizabeth Amisu
Moriarty’s book stands at an impressive 538 pages and begins with the epigraph by F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy’. Jackson’s life often played out like a work of fiction, as comparisons of Jackson to Peter Pan abound. Moriarty’s book, however, stays firmly in the solid ground of reality.
8 Academic Book Review: Making Michael: Inside The Career Of Michael Jackson by Mike Smallcombe
by Elizabeth Amisu
There seems to be three types of biography when it comes to Michael Jackson: the good, bad, and the ugly. It is refreshing to be able to say that Mike Smallcombe’s Making Michael: Inside the Career of Michael Jackson is in the first of those three. It makes an excellent addition to the collections of those who already own several books on the artist. At a whopping 450 pages, it heralds the opening of a new door on cradle-to-grave biographical accounts of Michael Jackson’s life and work.