The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

18 new books coming into the world today.

Don’t walk—run—to the nearest bookstore. This week sees the publication of new books by Margaret Atwood, Sarah Moss, Kathryn Davis, and more. * Margaret Atwood, Burning Questions (Doubleday) “One of the most notable aspects of this collection is how engaged Read more >

By Katie Yee

Melville House celebrates 20 years of speaking out.

In 2002, Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians started Melville House. You know them. They gifted the world Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing. They do The Last Interview series. They crash-published The Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture in less Read more >

By Katie Yee

Just a reminder that Haruki Murakami’s Drive My Car is coming to streaming in March.

Because we love Haruki Murakami at Lit Hub, I thought I’d write a quick post to let you know that Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s beautiful and sharp adaptation of the Murakami short story, will be available to stream on Read more >

By Walker Caplan

A literary guide to crying in New York City.

It goes without saying, though it has been said many times, New York City is the best city to cry in—the sheer number of people make it a haven for anonymity, and rarely does anyone bat an eye when something Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

PEN America is hosting an NYC vigil tonight in support of Ukrainian artists and writers.

As fighting continues this week in Ukraine, many of its artists, thinkers, journalists, and writers continue to be in danger—especially those who have criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tonight, in recognition of their struggle and a show of solidarity, PEN America Read more >

By Corinne Segal

A Hayao Miyazaki graphic novel is being published for the first time in the U.S.

Exciting news for Hayao Miyazaki fans: Shuna’s Journey, a 1983 graphic novel by Miyazaki, will receive an English-language release in the U.S. late this year. First Second, a Macmillan imprint, will publish the work on November 1st. Alex Dudok de Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Most Americans don’t agree with book bans.

If you’ve been paying attention to local news in the past year, you’ve likely noticed the alarming wave of school book bans sweeping the country: “educational gag orders” that effectively ban books about history, race, and sexuality. Just last month, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Recommended: This close reading of Ilya Kaminsky’s “We Lived Happily During the War.”

Now seems like a good time to direct people to Pádraig Ó Tuama’s close reading of Ilya Kaminsky’s hard and beautiful poem, “We Lived Happily During the War,” which has been making the rounds all across social media (Kaminsky is Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

TAULT, an agency for Ukrainian writing, is calling on translators to help them.

TAULT, an agency for Ukrainian literature in translation, has issued a call in search of translators who work in Ukrainian and Russian “to assist us with an increased demand for Ukrainian literature.” The agency represents literary writing from Ukrainian authors Read more >

By Corinne Segal

How you can help Ukraine.

It has been a sad and surreal 48 hours watching the outbreak of the largest land war in Europe since WWII. As Russian forces draw ever closer to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv a parallel stream of narratives fills our Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

A previously unpublished Leonard Cohen novel will come out this fall.

Hallelujah: as The Guardian reported today, a previously unpublished book by Leonard Cohen—rejected by two publishers and then set aside—will be published this fall by Grove Press. The novel, A Ballet of Lepers, will be published in October alongside fifteen Read more >

By Walker Caplan

7 stories for sleepless nights.

Maybe you’re a little shy about sleep. Maybe you try to summon it with chamomile tea and blackout curtains, courting it like a lover who does not return your affections. If you stumbled upon this on one of your sleepless Read more >

By Katie Yee

Celadon is publishing the January 6th report in collaboration with The New Yorker.

If you prefer your books without an ounce of escapism, here’s some good news for you: Celadon Books is publishing the House Select Committee’s report on the January 6th attack on the Capitol as both an ebook and a paperback, Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Neo-Nazis just marched on a community library in Providence.

A sobering local news story: on Monday night, Neo-Nazis interrupted a reading circle at Red Ink Community Library in Providence. The library will hold a community safety conversation this week in response to the incident. The library was holding a Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Want to see Jane Austen’s film costumes? Take a trip to Cincinnati.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a set of acclaimed film costumes must be in want of a museum exhibit. Finally, the two have found their match—in a special exhibit of costumes from Jane Austen’s film adaptations, making its Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Michael Sheen to perform work by emerging Welsh writers on St. David’s Day.

I love this. The ever-charming Michael Sheen is set to celebrate “11 new writers from under-represented backgrounds on a journey to reveal truths from the margins of society” as part of BBC Radio Wales’ St. David’s Day programming. For those Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Soon there might be a new global library—of the sounds fish make.

Last year, we wrote about a koala library: a repository of genome data, not a repository of koalas curled up reading books, alas, but still incredibly useful. The open-access data will help researchers compare and understand the diversity of the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

20 new books to dive into this week.

Rejoice, friends, for we only have a three more days left of the work week and these beautiful new books are coming out today! This week sees the return of Julie Otsuka, Quan Barry, Roddy Doyle, and Bambi (to name a Read more >

By Katie Yee

Freelance writers rejoice (soon): you might get legal protection.

If you’ve ever freelanced as a writer—or any other role, for that matter—in all likelihood you know the frustration of having to track down payment from clients. Luckily, as Publishers Weekly noted this week, getting paid as a freelancer might Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Britney Spears has landed a $15 million book deal.

Just months after successfully fighting off the court-ordered 14-year conservatorship (put in place by her nefarious father James “Jamie” Spears), Britney Spears has scored another big win. The 40-year-old pop superstar (whose debut single “…Baby One More Time” was released Read more >

By Dan Sheehan