The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote "let's kill all the lawyers?"

Hello there. Perhaps you clicked on this link because you have heard people cite Shakespeare on the necessity of killing all the lawyers and wonder if it’s a myth. Or maybe you suspect it’s one of those misquoted aphorisms, the Read more >

By Olivia Rutigliano

Florida teachers will face felony charges for resisting book bans.

Florida—a state whose governor recently signed a book deal with HarperCollins’ Broadside Books—has, incredibly, descended even further into dystopia as HB 1467, a bill signed into law in March, went into effect. The law disallows teachers from making decisions about Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

When is a ghostwriter too famous to be a ghostwriter?

Do you know the name J.R. Moehringer? Even if you don’t, I can guarantee you’ve heard of the books he’s written: maybe Open, Andre Agassi’s memoir? Or how about Shoe Dog, with legendary Nike founder Phil Knight? No? Ok, fine. Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Why are so few literary adaptations nominated for Oscars this year?

There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than existing IP—thus, the Oscars are historically adaptation-friendly. Last year, 50% of the Best Picture nominations were based on books and plays; in 2016, it was 63%. According to Adam Morgan at the Chicago Review of Read more >

By Eliza Smith

Some guy ranked all the lit journals you’ve ever heard of (and the other ones, too).

The internet is awash in rankings (hi!) of virtually anything and everything you can think of. This, of course, includes literary journals, those wonderfully hopeful, underfunded labors of love that serve as beacons of potential to otherwise benighted short story Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

There are surprisingly few glaring omissions in this year’s Oscar Nominations!

The nominations for the 95th Academy Awards are here! Overall, it’s a good batch, with only a few glaring omissions. Let’s break it down. And watch the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET. BEST PICTURE All Read more >

By Olivia Rutigliano

Meet this year's group of United States Artists Writing Fellows.

Today, Chicago-based arts organization United States Artists announced their 45 2023 USA Fellows, a group that includes four Writing Fellows, each of whom will receive an unrestricted cash award of $50,000. Previous USA Writing Fellows include Kiese Laymon, Claudia Rankine, Read more >

By Literary Hub

The first reviews of Cat Person: The Movie are in.

Cat Person, the Emilia Jones- and Nicholas Braun-starring movie adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s mega-viral 2017 New Yorker short story about a twenty-year-old woman who has a brief and unpleasant fling with a shlubby manchild his thirties, premiered at Sundance on Saturday. Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

19 new books to get at your local indie right now.

If you need us, we’ll be at the bookstore. If we’re not at the bookstore, we’ll be reading these amazing books. Please do not disturb. * Martin Riker, The Guest Lecture (Black Cat) “Mesmerizing … Living in ‘an era of Read more >

By Katie Yee

You can now watch Cat Person—among other literary adaptations at Sundance—online.

If you’ve ever dreamed of being cool enough to go to Sundance (same), I’ve got good news for you: you can buy tickets for virtual screenings for only $20 a pop! This year’s fest has an enticing lineup, as always, Read more >

By Eliza Smith

The boygenius book club: 48 books the indie rockers think you should read.

Late last week, a new profile of boygenius—the “world’s most exciting supergroup,” in case you didn’t know, consisting of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker—reminded us all that they are huge book nerds. (They also dropped some new music, Read more >

By Emily Temple

Exclusive cover reveal: see the cover for Company by Shannon Sanders.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Shannon Sanders’ debut story collection, Company, which Graywolf Press calls “a richly detailed, brilliantly woven collection about the lives and lore of one Black family.” Here’s some more from the publisher about Read more >

By Literary Hub

Phoebe Bridgers and the Boygenius gang are huge book nerds.

It’s not hugely surprising, given their songwriting styles, but everyone’s favorite millennial supergroup—Boygenius, aka Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker—is really into reading. According to this Rolling Stone cover profile, the first bonding moment between Dacus and Baker was… Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Retta's next role is a crime-solving Bookstagrammer!!

You’ve known and loved her as Donna Meagle in Parks and Rec and Ruby Hill in Good Girls, and now Retta is set to play a crime-solving Bookstagrammer in NBC’s forthcoming Murder by the Book. This series (brought to us by Good Girls Read more >

By Katie Yee

This 120-year-old Henry James novella is coming to the big screen.

If, despite its obvious cinematic potential, the Hollywood power brokers haven’t come a-knockin’ for your novel yet, don’t be discouraged; these things can take time. Sometimes they can take more time than you have years on this earth. Case in Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

An economist predicts that rather than replacing us, ChatGPT will be a "calculator for writing."

Huge if true: Stanford economics professor Erik Brynjolfsson does not think ChatGPT is coming for our extremely lucrative writing careers. Instead, he predicts that the AI technology will function as a “calculator for writing,” cutting down on the “routine, rote Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor