Best of the Week: July 11 - 15, 2016

• Jesse Ball and Catherine Lacey discuss strategies for a non-interview, why they write, and the flammability of poetry. | BOMB Magazine
• “Some part of me knew that, in the same way capoeira tested the limits of what I thought my body was capable of, Brazil would push my spiritual, intellectual, and creative limits.” Naomi Jackson on visiting Brazil. | Words Without Borders
• On The Rebel in the Rye, a new film about “the man who gave the world Holden Caulfield and almost certainly would have never approved of this project himself.” | The New York Times
• Solitude makes her unbiddable, nearly necromantic: On Claire-Louise Bennett’s Pond, “a photonegative of Walden.” | The New Yorker
• In response to the Orlando shooting, nine LGBTQ writers reflect on a time they felt at home in their identities. | The Critical Flame
• “I thought these would be good conversation starters for teens engaged in discussions about race and justice.” Chelsea Couillard-Smith, a librarian for Hennepin County Library, has created a #BlackLivesMatter reading list for teens. | School Library Journal
• “For black children, innocence is snatched away too soon, a brutal initiation into a frigid world.” Nicole Dennis-Benn on privilege, innocence, and how parents protect their children. | Electric Literature
• Alex Mar on the new biography of and Met exhibit honoring Diane Arbus, “an artist who’s long been distorted by a cult of personality.” | The Cut
• “We’re on an uncomfortable tightrope between a bold new dialogue about women and sex, and the monetisation of that conversation by powers that recognise that as a gap in the market.” On a new wave of confessional, “feminist” memoirs. | The Guardian
• After a five-week delay in the Senate, Carla Hayden has been confirmed as the 14th Librarian of Congress, making her the first woman and the first African-American to hold the position. | The Washington Post, WBAL
• Helen DeWitt on her Socrates moments, TPWs (“typical publishing wankers”), and how the self is a set of linguistic patterns. | Vulture
• “I was fascinated by the idea of a story that showed how difficult it is to erase oneself, literally, from the face of the earth.” An excerpt from, and the cover art for, Elena Ferrante’s new book. | The Wall Street Journal
• An innocence coupled with a strange knowingness: A short story by Emma Cline. | Granta
• For some reason, the emails of Natalie Portman (who owns many sweaters and no pants) and Jonathan Safran Foer (“the world’s last Hotmail user”) have been published. | T Magazine
• “After breaking down the data by neighborhood and age group, it became clear: Children’s books are a rarity in high-poverty urban communities.” On the abundance and impact of book deserts in America. | The Atlantic

And on Literary Hub:

• How to be a writer: Ramona Ausubel’s winding path to her first novel.
• Celebrating Marcel Proust’s 145th birthday (July 10th): Six contemporary writers, from Francine Prose to Aleksandar Hemon, on the genius of Marcel Proust; Six reasons everyone should read In Search of Lost Time; Marcel Proust’s biographer makes the case for why you really should read Proust; How the French reread Proust.
• In the wilds of Utah, for research: Alexandra Oliva on killing the meat you eat, and taking comfort for granted.
• What happens when you break into America’s nuclear bomb factory.
• How Patrick Ryan made it to outer space (and the fifteen unpublished novels he wrote along the way).
• “I think I will get hung but I don’t care as long as I get breakfast.” The Victorian tale of a 13-year-old boy who murdered his Mum.
• “Why not use this moment to celebrate writers of color?” Ben H. Winters on the African-American mystery writers who’ve influenced him.
• How we praise the mutilated world: on the poetry of Ross Gay, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Alan Shapiro, and Paisley Rekdal.
• “I found a rare copy of June Allison Gibbons’s outsider novel.” On the unusual case of the infamous “Silent Twins” and their literary aspirations.
• Nico Muhly on the oddness of deadlines, and the power of opera: in conversation with Paul Holdengraber.
• Building a better definition of science fiction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer on the history and the future of the genre.
• Did I write a gay book? An Indian book? A diverse book? Rumaan Alam on figuring out where to sit at the table.
• Ben Lerner on why so many people (rightfully) hate poetry.
• What getting published at 16 taught me about becoming a writer.
• On sexism in literary prize culture: men’s writing is just writing and everything else is a sub-classification.
• From a teen’s blog to international acclaim: on translating Sagawa Chika.
• Before Lish was Lish, he published Dave Godfrey: Lee Henderson on the Canadian Carver.