A. Stella Oloye, a Washington, D.C-based writer working on an Afrofuturism novel, was at a low point this spring when she learned of an online challenge she likens to a “gift from God”: #1000wordsofsummer.

The rules: Set down 1,000 words a day for 14 days. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or dialogue, inspired or uninspired, for a future book or simply for the sake of writing.

“I was feeling really isolated plugging away, 2,000 words a day in the first quarter of the year, and had been looking for a writing community to stave off my lonely writer blues,” she told The Associated Press recently. “So when the 1,000 words of summer challenge crossed my (Twitter) timeline, I knew I had the opportunity to pair some much-needed community with targeted accountability to finish what I’ve started. I joined to combat the end-of-the-road fatigue I was experiencing.”

Organized and presided over by Jami Attenberg, #1000wordsofsummer has grown from around 2,000 participants in 2018 to more than 14,000 this year, drawing in emerging writers such as Oloye and such established authors as Attenberg, Roxane Gay and Deesha Philyaw.

Bruce Springsteen will return to Broadway this summer for a limited run of his one-man show “Springsteen on Broadway.” Performances at the St. James Theatre begin June 26 with an end date set — at least for now — for Sept. 4.

“I loved doing ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ and I’m thrilled to have been asked to reprise the show as part of the reopening of Broadway,” the rocker said in a statement.

“Springsteen on Broadway” debuted in 2017 and was extended three times, finally closing in late 2018. Columbia Records put out a two-disc soundtrack of “Springsteen on Broadway”.

In the show, Springsteen performs 15 songs — including “My Hometown,” “Thunder Road,” and “Born in the USA” — and tells stories about growing up in New Jersey. Some of the stories will be familiar to readers of his autobiography, and he even reads from it. His wife, Patti Scialfa, accompanies him for “Brilliant Disguise.”

The voluminous ivory dress Princess Diana wore to marry Prince Charles in 1981 has gone on display at her former London home, as part of a new exhibition showcasing a selection of gowns worn by members of Britain’s royal family.

“Royal Style in the Making” looks at the works of designers and their royal clients, and features outfits created for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Diana, as well as sketches, fabric swatches and photographs from the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

Among the most recognisable frocks is Diana’s taffeta and lace wedding gown, made up of a bodice, full skirt, puffed sleeves and 25-foot train. Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the dress is on loan from Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry.

“Now we’re all familiar with that iconic shape, so typical of early 80s fashion, big puff sleeves, very romantic and vintage inspired,” said Matthew Storey, curator of the exhibition.

“But when you come to the exhibition what you appreciate are the details, the antique lace, the modern lace that was designed to imitate it, which lines the entire 25-foot long train, all of which is garnished with thousands of iridescent sequins so the whole dress sparkles.”

Among other items on show is a rare surviving toile for a gown worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for King George VI’s coronation in 1937.

Storey said one of his favourite exhibits was a blue and gold 18th century style dress designed for Princess Margaret by stage designer Oliver Messel.

“She wore it to a costume ball at the Mansion House in 1964 in aid of one of her favourite charities, the St John ambulance,” he said.

The exhibition, which opened last week and runs until January, is at Kensington Palace, where Diana lived until her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

The Museum of the Bible has launched a £5m lawsuit against a former Oxford classics professor over the sale of biblical papyrus fragments that are alleged to have been stolen.

Dr Dirk Obbink, 64, is accused of selling ancient Bible fragments belonging to the Egyptian Exploration Society without permission.

He was a general editor of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri at the Egyptian Exploration Society until 2016.

The professor was arrested last year on suspicion of theft and fraud but was released as the police investigation continues.

He denies the allegations and has in the past claimed that he is the target of a “malicious attempt to harm my reputation and career”.

The lawsuit against him has been brought by Hobby Lobby, the retail chain that founded the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.

The claim filed by the company in New York states that it was involved in seven private sales of priceless papyri and ancient objects by Obbink between 2010 and 2013, The Sunday Times reports.

At least 32 items in its collection have been identified as being allegedly stolen by the professor.

According to the claim, Obbink said the papyri had come from private collectors.

“Some of the fragments were stolen by Obbink from the Egyptian Exploration Society, the custodian of the largest collection of ancient papyri in the world,” the claim says.

It goes on to claim that Obbink “acted throughout his career as a private dealer of papyri fragments and other antiquities to the world’s greatest museums and private collectors.”

It adds, “That some unknown number of the fragments were stolen renders all the fragments unsaleable and worthless to Hobby Lobby.”

Last year, the museum sued auction house Christie’s for allegedly deceiving the company about the legality of the sale of a rare cuneiform tablet.

Earlier this year, the museum announced that it was returning thousands of manuscripts and papyrus fragments to Egyptian authorities after questions were raised about the legality of their acquisition.

A scaled-down replica of the Statue of Liberty began its trip from France to the United States on the back of a flat-bed truck on Monday, retracing the journey made over a century ago by its big sister, which now looks out over New York Harbour.

The replica, which stands at 2.83 meters (9.3 ft) tall, is being loaned by a Paris museum to the United States for 10 years to cement Franco-American friendship.

On Monday, workmen used a crane to gently lift the statue off its plinth in Paris. They then laid it on its back on the back of a truck, covered with plastic film for protection and wedged in with foam blocks.

Once in the United States, it will go on display in Washington D.C.

“Franco-American friendship will be marked under the sign of liberty,” said Olivier Faron, general administrator of Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, the institution which oversees the museum. “A new era in relations between France and the United States will open up, that’s what we want.”

The larger version of the Statue of Liberty was given by France to the United States as a gift, and was completed and assembled in 1886.

The smaller replica was designed in 1878 by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the same sculptor who – with help from engineer Gustave Eiffel – created the larger version now in New York.