[{"id":277141,"date":"2026-09-16T12:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277141"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:46:29","slug":"remembering-the-great-annie-dillard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/remembering-the-great-annie-dillard\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the great Annie Dillard."},"content":{"rendered":"

Annie Dillard, the masterful stylist and brilliant thinker, has died at 81. Her death was confirmed by her literary executor, Maggie Nelson. Dillard, who wrote in many forms and experiments, was an invigorating writer whose dedication and care seemed to make anything possible.<\/p>\n

Her first book, the Pulitzer Prize winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek<\/em>,<\/a> was a Walden <\/i>for a new age, a psalm to nature and the passing of seasons, written at night in a college library while she drank chocolate milk.<\/p>\n

The complications from Pilgrim<\/i>\u2019s immediate success sent Dillard in search of new ways of writing. She published essays, poems, criticism, novels, journalism, and a best selling reflection on the life of a writer<\/a>. I particularly love her book of found poems Mornings Like This<\/a><\/em>\u2014though not her words, it\u2019s a wonderful showcase of her intelligence, wit, and lyricism.<\/p>\n

As she wrote in The Writing Life<\/a>,<\/i> \u201cHow we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.\u201d Why not spend an hour with Dillard\u2019s writing, and some reflections on her life and work from her friends and admirers on Lit Hub?<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cWrite as if you were dying.\u201d Read Annie Dillard\u2019s greatest writing advice<\/a>, Walker Caplan<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

What would you begin writing if you knew you would die soon? What could you say to a dying patient that would not enrage by its triviality?<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Annie Dillard on How Writers Learn to Trust Instinct<\/a>, Annie Dillard<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

The reason to perfect a piece of prose as it progresses\u2014to secure each sentence before building on it\u2014is that original writing fashions a form. It unrolls out into nothingness. It grows cell to cell, bole to bough to twig to leaf; any careful word may suggest a route, may begin a strand of metaphor or event out of which much, or all, will develop. Perfecting the work inch by inch, writing from the first word toward the last, displays the courage and fear this method induces.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The Time I Played Catch with Annie Dillard<\/a>, Michael Croley<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annie threw first. A soft but straight throw to my chest. I lobbed it back to her. All of those first throws were fine and then she short-hopped me and the ball went spinning into the concrete sidewalk, clipping my shin, and heading down the street toward Spring Bayou. I broke into a jog and scooped it up with my glove. \u201cSorry,\u201d Annie called.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

“What Kind of Writer is Annie Dillard?\u201d,<\/a> Geoff Dyer<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dillard opens our eyes to the world and to new ways of articulating what we see. More exactly, she alerts us to the possibility of being free of formal conventions that constrain in the guise of enabling. She does this when you first read her and does so again when you re-read her. She did it in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek<\/i> and she is doing it again in The Abundance<\/i> in what might be regarded as a re-framing or re-hang of much-loved work. The pleasure and excitement are intense whether you know the original material well or are encountering it\u2014waking to its astonishments\u2014for the first time.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Contemplating the Infinite with Annie Dillard<\/a>, John Freeman<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

But most of all, through everything, she has never stopped reading. \u201cI have written down every book I\u2019ve read since 1964,\u201d Dillard explains as I turn the Berger book over now, wondering in what obscure corner of her mind she will sock this information away.
\n\u2026
\nAs for her, what is she after, inhaling those hundred or more books a year since age five? That library in the sky of her mind she has built. What is she seeking? \u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019m for,\u201d Dillard says simply, putting out her cigarette. \u201cSomebody has to read all these books.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Jen Hadfield on Annie Dillard\u2019s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek<\/a>, in conversation with Michael Kelleher<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

So she focuses on Tinker Creek, which in theory is finite and bounded: it\u2019s a single place that she sets out to talk about in theory, although she\u00a0 does travague around, as folks say in Scots, but the detail that she conjures of that place makes you realize that the detail is infinite.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse” is the best thing you can read about the eclipse today<\/a>, Emily Temple<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

I had seen a partial eclipse in 1970. A partial eclipse is very interesting. It bears almost no relation to a total eclipse. Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Yes, She Reads Everything: Pico Iyer on Annie Dillard<\/a>, Pico Iyer<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annie is like a whirlwind constantly throwing off sparks, and angled towards delight; yet underneath that, she is someone who takes her human responsibilities with the deepest, lightest seriousness. Irreverent towards orthodoxy, she\u2019s never impatient with compassion. I\u2019m not surprised that so many books (like the most recent one by Phyllis Rose, like one I am trying to complete right now) are dedicated to her; she\u2019s a writer who has thrown open windows for generations to come, but she\u2019s also a living soul whose great delight is in opening doors for others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annie Dillard, the masterful stylist and brilliant thinker, has died at 81. Her death was confirmed by her literary executor, Maggie Nelson. Dillard, who wrote in many forms and experiments, was an invigorating writer whose dedication and care seemed to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17056,"featured_media":35208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43201,43257,43103,43231,43092,43360,43646],"tags":[1427,43045],"class_list":["post-277141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news-newsandculture","category-humor","category-memoir","category-nature","category-newsandculture","category-religion","category-the-hub","tag-annie-dillard","tag-obituary"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a61","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/annie-dillard.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":277135,"date":"2026-09-16T12:22:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277135"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:22:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:22:03","slug":"librarians-won-big-at-the-2026-emmys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/librarians-won-big-at-the-2026-emmys\/","title":{"rendered":"Librarians won big at the 2026 Emmys."},"content":{"rendered":"

Though we do well to celebrate the rise of Widow’s Bay<\/em> and Jean Smart’s 193rd public recognition, another excellent thing happened at the Emmys this year: librarians got a much-deserved shout-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Specifically recognized were the librarians behind The Librarians<\/em><\/a>, a documentary about the public workers on the front lines of the fight against book bans. Our chicest bibliophile<\/a>, Sarah Jessica Parker, championed this project from its Sundance debut all the way to the strip.<\/p>\n

Produced and directed by the Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Kim Snyder\u2014whose previous work includes Newtown\u2014<\/em>the doc<\/a> centers library workers in Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Texas who have suffered career consequences for defying book bans. Legislative efforts to censor books\u2014like the fascistic Krause List<\/a> campaign<\/a>, in Texas\u2014are also explored in depth.<\/p>\n

The result is a watch as grim as it is inspiring. On the one hand, the film pays witness to all the authoritarian insanity unfolding at state houses around the country. But on the other, it celebrates the everyday heroes who are standing up to censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to stand in solidarity with all our courageous librarians, true heroes, and so many others across the nation who continue to fight to defend our First Amendment rights and our freedom to read,\u201d Snyder said, as she accepted the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch the rest of Snyder’s stirring acceptance speech here<\/a>. (And catch the film itself here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

And<\/em> if possible, thank a librarian today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though we do well to celebrate the rise of Widow’s Bay and Jean Smart’s 193rd public recognition, another excellent thing happened at the Emmys this year: librarians got a much-deserved shout-out. Specifically recognized were the librarians behind The Librarians, a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17066,"featured_media":277140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43105,43109,43093,43092,43095,43646],"tags":[1548,71934,4352,68079,71975,112314,1048,6808,22962,112313],"class_list":["post-277135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookstores-and-libraries","category-events","category-film-and-tv","category-newsandculture","category-politics","category-the-hub","tag-awards","tag-book-bans","tag-censorship","tag-documentary-film","tag-emmys","tag-krause-list","tag-libraries","tag-pbs","tag-sarah-jessica-parker","tag-the-librarians"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a5V","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/emmys-win-on-stage-cr_phil-mccarten-e1789574094935.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":277068,"date":"2026-09-16T10:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277068"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:55:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:55:30","slug":"a-sneak-preview-of-the-literary-films-currently-dominating-the-festival-circuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/a-sneak-preview-of-the-literary-films-currently-dominating-the-festival-circuit\/","title":{"rendered":"A sneak preview of the literary films currently dominating the festival circuit."},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s looking like a great year for indie\u00a0cinema. Which is swell news for nerds. For those of us particularly loyal to print and<\/em> celluloid, the late festival circuit\u2014including the Venice Biennale, New York Film Fest (NYFF), and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)\u2014is boasting a bumper crop.<\/p>\n

From adaptations to biopics to docs, here are some of the key literary offerings to watch out for this festival season. Fingers crossed for distribution deals, where apropos.<\/p>\n

\"Clarissa<\/p>\n

Clarissa<\/em><\/strong> arrives at the New York Film Festival<\/a> next week. A perfect Sophie Okonedo spearheads this buzzy adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This take on the classic brings the drama to Nigeria, where the veteran Septimus is traumatized not by the trenches but his time spent fighting the Boko Haram insurgency. Ayo Edibiri costars, and is also rumored to be excellent.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andrew Haigh’s\u00a0A Long Winter<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(TIFF) is adapted from the Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn story of the same name<\/a>. Set on the eve of the Korean war, this ruminative story follows a midwestern family that’s fractured by a mother’s sudden disappearance.<\/p>\n

Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays the repressed coal-miner father. Which, honestly? Feels on the money.<\/p>\n

\"Diary<\/p>\n

The prolific Romanian satirist Radu Jude is back at NYFF with a new piece of sociological shrapnel. The Diary of a Chambermaid<\/em><\/a><\/strong> is (loosely!) adapted from a 1900 novel<\/a> by Octave Mirbeau\u2014a book that previously made the leap to the screen in 1946, thanks to Jean Renoir.<\/p>\n

This project, like all of Jude’s others, considers modern day class dynamics in Europe.<\/p>\n

And though it’s not technically an adaptation, Pawe\u0142 Pawlikowski’s Fatherland<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>also deserves a place on the literary cinephile’s radar. This historical spec-fic soon coming to NYFF follows the novelist Thomas Mann<\/strong> (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika Mann (Sandra H\u00fcller) on “a fictionalized 1949 road trip across a torn Germany.”<\/p>\n

I’d climb a Magic Mountain<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to see H\u00fcller do just about anything, so I’ll be seated for this one.<\/p>\n\"Still Once Upon a Time in Harlem<\/em>.<\/span>\n

This year’s NYFF is also host to a bevy of literary documentaries. The recovered William Greaves masterpiece<\/a>, Once Upon a Time in Harlem<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, looks at luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. On other screens, new docs about Edward Said<\/a> and Jorge Luis Borges<\/a> reconstruct lives of the greats.<\/p>\n

And for those on a highly<\/em> particular Bingo quest, Pradip Krishen’s restored first film<\/a>\u2014also running at NYFF\u2014boasts a screenplay by a writer you probably know best for her books: Arundhati Roy<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Arundhati<\/p>\n

In across the pond news, Nanni Moretti’s Succeder\u00e0 questa notte<\/em> (English title: It Will Happen Tonight<\/em><\/strong><\/a>) played in competition at this year’s Biennale. And is making its international premiere in Toronto<\/a> as we speak.<\/p>\n

The time-bending romance, led by the charming Louis Garrel, is based on Hungry Heart<\/em>, a book of shorts by Eshkol Nevo<\/a>. (Which is, itself, a reference to the Bruce Springsteen song. Oh, the layers of art!)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Also on the interpretive biopic front, we have The Idiot(s)<\/em><\/strong><\/a> from Polish filmmaker Ma\u0142gorzata Szumowska and DP Micha\u0142 Englert.<\/p>\n

This film\u2014which just made its Canadian debut at TIFF\u2014imagines the Dostoevskys on their honeymoon. The broodier one of the couple has writer’s block, but\u2014spoiler, I guess<\/em>?\u2014finds inspiration by journey’s end. (Perhaps to write The Idiot<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Also in Toronto, Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder<\/em><\/a> pulls a similar trick, re-imagining the late Patricia Highsmith as a scheming host played by Helen Mirren. (Find the trailer here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Still hungry for that sweet, sweet crossover IP but unmoored to a major city? Fret not! We’ve got you covered<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s looking like a great year for indie\u00a0cinema. Which is swell news for nerds. For those of us particularly loyal to print and celluloid, the late festival circuit\u2014including the Venice Biennale, New York Film Fest (NYFF), and the Toronto International<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17066,"featured_media":277128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43201,43109,43093,43092,43098,43646],"tags":[10061,7301,1624,29873,33540,108879,25060,99283,2889,61062,112306,2474,112305,4842,27976,112290,659],"class_list":["post-277068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news-newsandculture","category-events","category-film-and-tv","category-newsandculture","category-style","category-the-hub","tag-arundhati-roy","tag-clarissa","tag-colm-toibin","tag-edward-said","tag-eshkol-nevo","tag-fatherland","tag-harlem-renaissance","tag-ip","tag-jorge-luis-borges","tag-new-york-film-festival","tag-octave-mirbeau","tag-patricia-highsmith","tag-radu-jude","tag-thomas-mann","tag-toronto-international-film-festival","tag-venice-film-festival","tag-virginia-woolf","book-a-long-winter","book-hungry-heart","book-mrs-dalloway","book-the-diary-of-a-chambermaid","book-the-idiot","book-the-magic-mountain","book-three-floors-up"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a4Q","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-design-40.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":277073,"date":"2026-09-16T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277073"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:02:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:02:38","slug":"heres-the-longlist-for-the-2026-national-book-award-for-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/heres-the-longlist-for-the-2026-national-book-award-for-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry."},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the National Book Foundation<\/a> announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 285 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year\u2019s judges for Poetry are Rob Arnold, Aracelis Girmay (Chair), Jon Pineda, Roger Reeves, and Rosanna Warren.<\/p>\n

The finalists in all categories will be announced on Tuesday, October 6, and the winners revealed at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here\u2019s the 2026 Poetry longlist:<\/p>\n

Victoria Chang, Tree of Knowledge<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nFarrar, Straus and Giroux \/ Macmillan Publishers<\/p>\n

Carolina Ebeid, Hide<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nGraywolf Press<\/p>\n

Brenda Hillman, Still House in the Desert: An eco-contemplation<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nWesleyan University Press<\/p>\n

Richie Hofmann, The Bronze Arms<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nKnopf \/ Penguin Random House<\/p>\n

Fady Joudah, Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nMilkweed Editions<\/p>\n

Layli Long Soldier, We<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nGraywolf Press<\/p>\n

Jonah Mixon-Webster, Promise\/Threat<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nKnopf \/ Penguin Random House<\/p>\n

Jake Rose, JOAN<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nUniversity of Chicago Press<\/p>\n

Jake Skeets, Horses<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nMilkweed Editions<\/p>\n

Susan Stewart, Bramble<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nUniversity of Chicago Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 285 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year\u2019s judges for Poetry are Rob<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":277074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43201,43092,43646],"tags":[112283,4503,90320,212],"class_list":["post-277073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news-newsandculture","category-newsandculture","category-the-hub","tag-2026-national-book-awards","tag-national-book-awards","tag-national-book-awards-longlist","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a4V","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nba-longlist-poetry.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":277091,"date":"2026-09-16T09:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277091"},"modified":"2026-09-16T09:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:29:16","slug":"attention-lbj-nerds-robert-caro-is-posting-book-updates-on-instagram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/attention-lbj-nerds-robert-caro-is-posting-book-updates-on-instagram\/","title":{"rendered":"Attention LBJ nerds: Robert Caro is posting book updates on Instagram."},"content":{"rendered":"

As Lit Hub\u2019s resident Caro-head, I\u2019m committed to bringing you regular updates on the historian\u2019s progress on his Years of Lyndon Johnson series (searching \u201cFolta Caro\u201d on Lit Hub<\/a> turns up more results than I remember). And if on Monday night you heard the sound of many nerds simultaneously explaining something urgent to their partners, it was because we just got some new info about Caro\u2019s writing.<\/p>\n

The fifth book and hopefully final book in Caro\u2019s series on LBJ, America, and power is still in the works\u2014he estimated in 2011 it would only take two to three years. From interviews and stray comments, we know that he\u2019s written and then rewritten a section on the Civil Rights Movement, has completed the sections on Medicaid, and is still struggling with the Vietnam piece of LBJ\u2019s story (understandably).<\/p>\n

The last place I expected to hear news about book five was on Instagram. @robertcaroofficial<\/a> has only posted nine times before Monday, and only reposts of interviews, trailers, and ephemera. But this week Caro posted a reel from his office<\/a>, which I\u2019m sure spiked web traffic among ex-talk show hosts<\/a> and 30-somethings with strong opinions about roads.<\/p>\n

The video starts with Caro patting a suitcase that he says has the outline for \u201cthe rest of the book.\u201d An outline so voluminous that it has to be lugged around in a suitcase is the kind of thing that Caro fans go crazy for. Save a thought for the trees, but I simply can\u2019t get enough of seeing the amount of paper this man generates.<\/p>\n

Caro then points across the table to the 1,100 pages he\u2019s written \u201cso far\u201d\u2014double spaced and then marked up with pencil, classic Caro. At that length, this book is looking like it’ll be a real tote bag breaker. The rest of the transit nerds and I need to do more push-ups. If we all get swole enough, we can tear down the BQE with our bare hands.<\/p>\n

As much as I love to see Caro descending like Orpheus into the wicked world of posts, the man\u2019s got writing to do. To quote the comment section: \u201cFinish it Bob jfc!!! \ud83d\ude02\u201d and \u201cNo time for videos, please finish writing \u23f1\ufe0f\u201d.<\/p>\n

As much as I hate to hand it to the commenters, they\u2019re right.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile if you\u2019re a Lit Hub fan with money to burn, get in touch with me about getting a Lit Hub Caro Watch helicopter so that I can more directly monitor the situation. But I guess I\u2019d also settle for a sticker for my bike.<\/p>\n

Images from @robertcaroofficial<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Lit Hub\u2019s resident Caro-head, I\u2019m committed to bringing you regular updates on the historian\u2019s progress on his Years of Lyndon Johnson series (searching \u201cFolta Caro\u201d on Lit Hub turns up more results than I remember). And if on Monday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17056,"featured_media":277093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43201,43101,43092,43095,43445,43646],"tags":[576,16718,16855,4846],"class_list":["post-277091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news-newsandculture","category-history","category-newsandculture","category-politics","category-technology","category-the-hub","tag-history","tag-instagram","tag-lyndon-johnson","tag-robert-caro"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a5d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/caro-instagram.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":277080,"date":"2026-09-16T06:30:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=277080"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:20:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:20:03","slug":"lit-hub-daily-september-16-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/lit-hub-daily-september-16-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lit Hub Daily: September 16, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":" TODAY: In 1880, Alfred Noyes is born. <\/span>\n