In a weirdly serendipitous bit of cinema news, Billie Eilish—queen of melancholy pop—is turning her sad eyes to Sylvia Plath. The Oscar-winning auteur Sarah Polley has tapped Eilish to lead a new adaptation of Plath’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece, The Bell Jar. Read more >
The Key launched with an essay by the new magazine’s editor in chief Sara Yasin called “It’s Not Complicated.” The essay is part reflection, part media criticism, part thesis statement for the publication, and Yasin’s opening line rolls all of Read more >
Today, Aspen Words announced the shortlist for the 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize, which awards $35,000 each year to “a work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.” Read more >
The Oscars are this Sunday. And if you’ve already filled out the party poll with Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value down the line, this recommender 1) applauds you, and 2) has got you covered. For my money, that beautifully acted chamber Read more >
In A+ prank news, roughly 10,000 authors signed their names to a new anthology to protest AI theft of human creativity. The twist? The book, called Don’t Steal This Book, is…empty. But for a list of its contributing “authors.” As Read more >
Nonprofit libraries—or to be precise, any library that receives some of its money from 501 (c) (3) nonprofit contributions—are sundowning their passport services. The federal government announced this new dictum in late 2025, breaking with a long-standing tradition. And as Read more >
An astounding week of literary fiction awaits: Andrew Martin’s much anticipated second novel, Down Time is out this week, along with T Kira Madden’s debut novel, and Karan Mahajan’s long-in-the-works The Complex. Ani Katz’s chilling Haven will also hit the Read more >
Amazon has pulled out of sponsoring the Paris Book Fair, thanks to pressure from a booksellers’ association: Syndicat de la Librairie Française (SLF). The SLF, which represents independent bookstores all over France, announced plans to boycott the fest based on Read more >
It’s the AWP Conference and Bookfair this week, and most of the Lit Hub staff has been in Baltimore. With the editors out of town, those of us not at AWP have been taking good care of the place, and Read more >
Today marks the seventh day of the unlawful U.S-Israel war against Iran. Like many a citizen, I’ve been struggling to understand what’s animating this latest burst of imperial violence. It’s hard to argue with un-reason. And with legal, moral, and Read more >
Hello, weekenders. It’s been a minute. We’ve been holding our joy a bit too close to the vest over here at the Hub, with editorial apologies. But the good Fridays are back! Molly Odintz, our resident curious George, enjoyed a Read more >
The Authors Guild is expanding its Human Authored certification program to allow publishers and non-Guild members certify that their work is untainted by AI, according to the Guild and Publishers Weekly. The program, which aims to “distinguish human creativity in Read more >
For the tenth year in a row, Literary Hub is pleased to announce the opening of the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize, which awards $1,000 to an American woman, aged 30 or younger, to acknowledge an outstanding book collection. Read more >
As Publishers Weekly reported yesterday, there’s a little bit to celebrate this week in Bookland. Industry analyst and Circana BookScan employee Brenna Connor recently gave a bird’s eye view of the industry at the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute. According to Read more >
The 2026 L.D. and LaVerne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize has been awarded to Rufi Thorpe’s novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a funny novel about a dissatisfied and underemployed young woman who decides to keep a baby, let her estranged pro-wrestler Read more >
Today, the Women’s Prize Trust announced the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, which highlights sixteen novels—including seven debuts, seven American writers, and nine offerings from indie publishers—published in the last year. “Across a longlist that is international in Read more >
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