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News, Notes, Talk

Lauren Groff has won the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Yesterday it was announced that Lauren Groff has been awarded the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. The Prize honors a mid-career author of fiction “who has earned a distinguished reputation and the widespread praise of readers and reviewers” and grants Read more >

By Emily Firetog

Here’s the very first Chowdhury Prize in Literature winner.

Christos Ikonomou will be the first recipient of the Chowdhury Prize in Literature, a new, annual international mid-career award for exceptional writers. Ikonomou was born in 1970 in Athens, and is the author of four collections of short fiction: The Read more >

By Emily Firetog

22 new books to keep an eye out for this week.

Some people live for the weekend; others live for Tuesday, when the shelves are flooded with glorious new books. * Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian (Harper Voyager) “In five satisfyingly long short stories, singer Monáe and her five collaborators paint Read more >

By Katie Yee

Pour one out for the oldest children's bookstore in Boston.

Some sad news coming out of the Boston area today: the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline Village, Mass., will close its doors after 45 years. Dear Customers: We are sad to report that The Children’s Book Shop will close its Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Where to stream Emma Thompson’s best literary roles.

Dame Emma Thompson was born in Paddington, London, 63 years ago today. Let’s celebrate by making it an Emma Thompson weekend and stream some of her best literary roles, presented here in order of appearance, because how could I possibly Read more >

By Eliza Smith

You should definitely check out the LA Times new literary guide to Los Angeles.

As someone who works in the, ahem, literary media, I have to tip my professional cap to Boris Kachka and everyone involved in putting together this endlessly clickable tour through bookish life in Los Angeles, called “Lit City.” From the Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

The Brooklyn Public Library is giving eCards to teens nationwide to challenge book bans.

Like we needed another reason to love libraries: with book bans ramping up in school systems around the country, the Brooklyn Public Library is taking steps to make its massive catalog available to as many young people as possible. Right Read more >

By Corinne Segal

8 stories about scammers for when you're done watching Inventing Anna.

It’s been a banner season for scammers! From Inventing Anna and The Dropout to The Tinder Swindler and Bad Vegan, there is certainly no shortage of these off-the-wall stories with twists and turns so unexpected that they could only come from Read more >

By Katie Yee

Here are the Finalists for the 2022 Young Lions Fiction Award.

The New York Public Library has announced the finalists for its twenty-second annual Young Lions Fiction Award, which is given each year to an American writer age 35 or younger for either a novel or a collection of short stories. Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

The winner of this year's Story Prize is Brandon Taylor's Filthy Animals.

Tonight, The Story Prize announced that the 2021 winner is Brandon Taylor for Filthy Animals. The Story Prize’s $20,000 top prize is among the largest first-prize amounts of any annual U.S. book award for fiction. Now in it’s 18th year, Read more >

By Emily Firetog

Amy Winehouse's library will be on display at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

Amy Winehouse was an avowed bookstore browser and book-lover—in a 2007 interview, she told The Guardian that she never traveled without a good book. “I read a lot when I’m travelling and always have a couple of books on the go.” Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

The National Book Foundation has announced this year’s 5 Under 35.

The National Book Foundation has released its annual list of the “5 Under 35,” a group of five fiction writers under the age of 35 “whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.” Each winner Read more >

By Corinne Segal

?BREAKING? Nicolas Cage’s favorite literary character is Dimitri Karamazov.

As part of the promotional tour for his new film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage participated in an AMA on Reddit on Saturday, April 9th (which went viral on twitter thanks to dogged coverage from Jenn Jordan). For Read more >

By Olivia Rutigliano

After 26 years, Bitch Media is coming to a close.

In a Tuesday statement, Bitch Media announced that they will cease all operations in June 2022. According to the staff’s statement, the decision was made after a “multitude of challenges” over recent years, and the sad conclusion was reached “despite Read more >

By Eliza Smith

The new Conversations with Friends trailer features an original Phoebe Bridgers song.

Rooneyheads, rejoice: Hulu’s finally announced the premiere date for their limited series adaptation of Conversations with Friends: May 15th, a mere four-and-a-half weeks away. The announcement came with an extended trailer featuring a new song by Phoebe Bridgers, for which Read more >

By Eliza Smith

Chinese writers combat pandemic boredom by remixing Western literary classics.

Lockdowns in China, which has been pursuing a zero-covid approach to the pandemic in recent months, are unlike anything Americans have experienced. In the name of mass contact tracing, the Chinese government has been severely restricting movement for millions of Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Here is the 2022-23 class of Cullman Center Fellows.

Today, the New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers announced its new class of fellows, selected from a pool of 356 applicants from 37 countries. The class of 2022 includes: · Academics Daphne A. Read more >

By Emily Firetog

Tokyo's Manuscript Writing Cafe won't let you leave until you finish your novel.

Cafés can be lovely places to grab a coffee and a snack while you noodle around with your writing project, but the thing they’ve long been missing is cold, hard accountability. Well, no more, thanks to The Manuscript Writing Cafe! Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

New beer label bravely battles book banning (I have a new favorite beer).

America is awash in book bans. It’s awful. The consolidation of Republican power in state and local government has worked, and we’re all suffering for it. But aside from getting involved in local politics, and donating to advocacy groups, what Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

21 new books hitting shelves this week.

It’s already been a long week, but apparently it’s only Tuesday. Ah, well. At least that means new books! Hello, retail therapy. * Liana Finck, Let There Be Light (Random House) “An irreverent yet profound retelling of the Book of Read more >

By Katie Yee