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Join us for an evening on creativity and innovation with award-winning musician, performer, writer, and artist, David Byrne, as he gives a presentation on his latest book Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up.

Some of the most important discoveries and works of art didn’t gain traction for decades, falling asleep only to wake up and flourish. Sleeping Beauties offers hope, to try new things, take risks, and embrace uncertainty. Drawing on examples from history, science, culture and everyday life, Byrne examines why promising ideas can be overlooked, forgotten, or dismissed, and to consider which seemingly forgotten possibilities might still have the power to shape the future.

Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up

From incomparable creative force David Byrne, a brilliant and inspiring reckoning with how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered It’s nice to believe in a meritocracy of ideas—genius is always recognized, innovation always seized upon and rewarded. In fact, so many of the people we now acknowledge as the world’s great creators initially got little traction for their work.

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Published by Penguin Random House Canada

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David Byrne

David Byrne is a musician, performer, writer, and multidisciplinary artist who has captivated audiences since 1975, when he co-founded Talking Heads. Over the course of his career he has released 20 studio albums, scored films — most notably The Last Emperor, for which he received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Grammy wins — and brought his singular vision to the stage, from the Broadway production American Utopia, which received a Special Tony Award and was adapted into a film directed by Spike Lee, to Here Lies Love, his disco musical that received four Tony Award nominations including Best Original Score, to Theater of the Mind, an immersive theatrical journey co-created with writer Mala Gaonkar.

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