The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Hello darkness, my old friend: 8 of the best sunsets in literature.

Well, it’s happening. We wound our clocks back, and the glorious light of day is going to be leaving us at, like, 4PM now. Say goodbye to sunshine. By the time you shut your laptop at the end of this Read more >

By Katie Yee

A few ideas for how TV shows about book publishing could include more Lit Hub.

I’ve recently been enjoying season two of the HBO Max series Love Life. I enjoyed season one because it felt like a combination of an extended rom-com and listening to someone talk about their first dates, two genres I enjoy. Season Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Camels, curves, circumcised Superman: here are the finalists for the Oddest Book Title of the Year.

The Bookseller has announced the shortlist for the 2021 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book of Title of the Year, and for the first time, all six shortlisted titles come from university presses. This December, The Bookseller will announce which Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Two of Israel’s largest bookstores have banned Sally Rooney’s books.

This morning, the BBC reported that Israeli bookstores Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim have said they will remove Sally Rooney’s books from their branches and online sites. Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim are two of Israel’s biggest bookstores, with over 200 outlets Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Gabriel Byrne will play Samuel Beckett in a brand new biopic.

Exciting news: Variety has reported that Film Constellation is selling the rights to an upcoming Samuel Beckett biopic, with Oscar winner James Marsh (Man on Wire; The Theory of Everything) directing, BAFTA winner Neil Forsyth (Guilt; Eric, Ernie & Me) Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The first Denis Johnson adaptation in 22 years has found its leads and started filming.

How is it that, in almost four decades, we’ve only had a single adaptation of a Denis Johnson book? I know 1999’s Jesus’ Son didn’t exactly set the box office aflame, and I know Train Dreams: The Movie would probably Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

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Mrs. Dalloway.">"It becomes something new every time." Deborah Levy and Merve Emre on Mrs. Dalloway.

Literary Hub is very pleased to share this conversation between Deborah Levy and Merve Emre on Virginia Woolf’s iconic novel Mrs. Dalloway, and Woolf’s influence on their own work and writing lives, which was originally scheduled as part of the Mrs. Dalloway.">Read more >

By Literary Hub

A parent wants to criminally prosecute librarians for sharing a book about a genderqueer kid.

Parents trying to ban books from schools is a bona fide epidemic—whether it’s for promoting “critical race theory”, which usually in this case means discussing race and racism, or for being “pornographic” or “pedophilic,” which usually in this case means Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here are 252 books by Native and Indigenous writers that Elissa Washuta thinks you should read.

Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic, My Body Is a Book of Rules, and Starvation Mode, has compiled an “in-progress, reverse-chronological” list of books by Native and Indigenous writers. The list, as Washuta says, is “neither exhaustive or exclusive”; it Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Deep Vellum will relaunch the Dalkey Archive this April.

Some good news: as Publishers Weekly reports, Deep Vellum Publishing will relaunch the Dalkey Archive in April 2022. Deep Vellum acquired Dalkey Archive Press in November 2020, and continued to run Dalkey Archive as a distinct imprint; since the purchase, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to win the Prix Goncourt.

Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr has won the Prix Goncourt, France’s oldest and most prestigious literary award—becoming the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to do so. The Prix Goncourt comes with a not-so-grand cash prize of €10, but guarantees impressive Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Here's every Booker Prize winner of the 21st century.

We now know that South African writer Damon Galgut has taken home the 2021 Booker Prize for his latest novel, The Promise, so congratulations to him (and to everyone at Europa Editions!). While you’re still in Booker mode, why not take Read more >

By Book Marks

And the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize is . . .

First, we had the Booker Dozen. Then, we had the shortlist. And now, at last, in a (live, socially distanced) ceremony hosted by Samira Ahmed and broadcast live by the BBC, the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize has been Read more >

By Emily Temple

Walt Whitman’s letter to a female admirer is the nicest romantic rejection in history.

If your writing grows popular enough, sparking feelings in the hearts of admirers is an occupational hazard—and so is having to turn those admirers down. So Walt Whitman did to Anne Gilchrist, a writer and mother of four who had Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Now you can take a self-guided walking tour of Brooklyn’s literary landmarks.

Good news for literary enthusiasts, reluctant exercisers, or those in need of a first date activity: Brooklyn Public Library has launched a new self-guided audio tour of the literary landmarks of Brooklyn. The walking tour spans Fort Greene to Bushwick, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The NBCC is launching a new prize for translated literature.

The National Book Critics Circle today announced a new addition to its annual awards ceremony: the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize. The new prize, which will honor the best book of any genre translated into English and published in the United Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

A group of teachers in the Philippines has launched an internet archive of "subversive" books.

In the Philippines, educators and researchers are responding to a military crackdown on “subversive” books and documents by launching an internet archive of endangered books and materials frowned upon by the government. As reported by the Center for Media Freedom Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Paul Newman's memoir—which he started writing in the 80s—will finally be released next fall.

If you’re like me and have a deep appreciation and love of classic Hollywood, then you’ll be delighted to hear that Knopf plans to publish Paul Newman’s memoir in the fall of 2022. The actor, who died in 2008 at Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

We finally have a release date (and new teaser) for Hiro Murai's Station Eleven.

In case you’ve been jonesing for a hopeful pandemic prestige series (apropos of absolutely nothing…), EW just dropped first looks, an appropriately moody teaser, and a long-awaited release date for the adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 bestseller, Station Read more >

By Eliza Smith

Dear parents of young kids: do you live-edit bad children’s books as you’re reading them?

I’m not sure if non-writer/editor parents do this, but back when I used to read to my kid, at least half the time I’d live-edit the text as I went, hacking out redundant clauses, tweaking awkward rhymes, and very occasionally Read more >

By Jonny Diamond