The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Let famous authors do the reading for you in the Toni Morrison virtual marathon.

As snow begins to hem in parts of the U.S., it’s a good time to remind you that a virtual marathon reading of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon kicks off on Thursday and flies, suitcase in hand, through February 25, Read more >

By Janet Manley

Jeremy Strong's book list is perfect for reading atop a bluff in strong and moody winds.

The premiere of Succession’s fourth season is less than a month away, and the shadowy outline of a wilted Prince Hal is already angling down the hall. Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy, the firstborn failson of the Henry IV/King Read more >

By Janet Manley

Okay, so you can write books with AI.
But why bother?

As was perhaps inevitable, ChatGPT—the free chatbot created by OpenAI that has been ruffling feathers ever since it was launched in November—has now spawned “a boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon,” according to Greg Bensinger at Reuters. Bensinger counted over Read more >

By Emily Temple

Announcing the seventh annual Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize.

Literary Hub is pleased to announce that submissions are now open for the seventh annual Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize, which awards $1,000 for “an outstanding book collection conceived and built by a woman aged 30 or younger,” who Read more >

By Emily Temple

Behind the open letter asking the AWP Conference to require masks.

When we first put the petition up, I wasn’t sure anyone would sign it. An irrational fear, I told myself. After all, I was one of 29 co-signers that included Alexander Chee, Maggie Smith, Kelly Link, Khadijah Queen, Sarah Schulman, Read more >

By Alyssa Harad

Exclusive cover reveal: See the cover for Justin Torres's new novel Blackouts.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Justin Torres’s new novel (!!) Blackouts, which will be published by FSG this October. Here’s a bit about the book from the publisher: Out in the desert in a place called Read more >

By Literary Hub

Disappearing romance novelist, and author of Cocky Cowboy, found alive in Hawaii.

In what sort of sounds like the plot to a romance-thriller, romance writer Faleena Hopkins has been found safe in Hawaii after fleeing the contiguous United States following a run in with Wyoming state troopers. According to the Daily Beast: Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Live like the other half with a Phantom of the Opera Airbnb stay.

Gaston Leroux walked so that Andrew Lloyd Webber could run, and now you can walk, run, and then sleep in the bed they collectively made with a one-night stay courtesy of Airbnb at the historic Palais Garnier in Paris—the real-life Read more >

By Janet Manley

Literary giants have thoughts on the new edits to Roald Dahl's works.

The news has rumbled through Giant Country that Puffin has been editing out words like “fat,” “crazy,” and “ugly” from new editions of Roald Dahl’s works. The Daily Telegraph reported that some of the changes achieved a more gender-neutral feel—boys Read more >

By Janet Manley

12 new books to get your hands on this week.

Hot off the presses: new books from Rebecca Makkai, Nona Fernández, and more! * Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You (Viking) “This psychological thriller hits all the high notes, complete with at least a few revelations you won’t Read more >

By Katie Yee

Good… news? The HarperCollins Union has approved a new deal!

After almost hitting the 100-day mark on the picket line, HarperCollins Union members (UAW 2110) have agreed to a tentative deal with management. According to this tweet, yesterday, employees expect to return to work on February 21. Big News!!! We Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Exclusive cover reveal: Here's the cover for Emerson Whitney's Daddy Boy.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Emerson Whitney’s Daddy Boy, forthcoming from McSweeney’s in May. From the author of Heaven, Daddy Boy explores transness, adulthood, and the exhilarating ways our lives might surprise us. Here’s a little more about Daddy Read more >

By Literary Hub

Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson is back.

Almost three decades after the ink dried on his final Calvin & Hobbes strip, Bill Watterson is back with a gritty, R-rated reboot of his most famous creation. Calvin x Hobbes: The Condition of Man is a dystopian Neo-noir graphic Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Watch the new trailer for certified genius Bob Odenkirk’s Lucky Hank.

I love Bob Odenkirk: Better Call Saul remains the best spin-off in the history of the genre; for the record, it is definitively better than its source material, Breaking Bad. Odenkirk, who is obviously very funny, has the kind of Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

200 New York Times writers have called out the paper's anti-trans bias.

This morning, a group of almost 200 journalists and writers released an open letter addressed to the New York Times, expressing their “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people” and criticizing how the Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Vote now for the new name of the Booker Prize trophy (Iris, obvs). 

Now’s your chance to play a small part in literary history by helping to choose the name for the Booker Prize trophy. The elegant statuette, designed in 1969 by children’s book illustrator Jan Pieńkowski, appears to be a fleetingly clad Read more >

By Jonny Diamond