Patrick Radden Keefe has won the UK’s prestigious 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for his latest book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, which investigates the legacy of the family behind Purdue Pharma, which produced and sold Read more >
Today is the 70th birthday of the great Paula Vogel, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of Indecent and How I Learned to Drive. In celebration, we’re revisiting her 1997 BOMB conversation with Mary-Louise Parker, the original Lil’ Bit in How I Learned Read more >
I’ve been on a real horror-comedy kick lately, so when I stumbled across Vampire’s Kiss on Amazon Prime (it’s my boyfriend’s account—don’t at me), I was immediately sold by the description: “After a night of passionate lovemaking in which he is bitten Read more >
Nobel-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk is being investigated by the government for “insulting Turkishness”—again. Earlier this year, Pamuk was investigated on criminal charges of insulting the Turkish flag and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, in his latest Read more >
Today, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund announced their inaugural cohort of Letras Boricuas Fellows. This new fellowship aims to support emerging and established Puerto Rican writers, both in the archipelago and across the diaspora Read more >
It’s that time of year when we all just want to put on a chunky sweater, curl up on the couch, and pretend like we’re in a Nora Ephron movie, right? Here are 17 books coming out this week to Read more >
Some good Monday news: as Publishers Weekly has reported, at a regular meeting of their Policy and Standards Division, the Library of Congress confirmed it will replace the cataloging subject headings “Aliens” and “Illegal aliens” with the more accurate, less Read more >
Move over, bucket hats—the hottest new book merch in town is the NFT. At least, if you’re already an NFT guy and are willing to offer your wares as an incentive to move copies of your new leadership book. Gary Read more >
This weekend on Instagram, I discovered something I never knew I always wanted: a helpful update to Shel Silverstein’s psychotic parenting allegory The Giving Tree, in which a tree gives up every molecule of itself to help some ungrateful kid, Read more >
Here is your feel-good story for a dull November Monday. An Indonesian librarian has started a mobile book-exchange in which she lends out books to children in exchange for literal trash. In an effort to increase literacy in Java island Read more >
Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the new cover for Mieko Kawakami’s novel, All The Lovers in the Night, which will be published by Europa Editions in May 2022 in an English translation by Sam Bett and David Boyd. All Read more >
We’re nearly halfway through National Novel Writing Month, which is just what it sounds like; participants have under three weeks until their 50,000-word drafts should be complete. If you’re participating and feeling depleted—like the work just won’t get done—take inspiration Read more >
PJ Harvey is trying her hand at poetry again. In April 2022, Picador Poetry in the UK will publish the hardcover edition of Orlam, Harvey’s book-length narrative poem. A special collector’s edition featuring the musician’s original artwork will follow in October Read more >
Happy Red Re-release Day to Swifties and non-Swifties alike! If you’re not in the know, Taylor Swift is re-releasing her masters (long story made short here), and this morning at midnight, we got her version of Red—my absolute favorite album, Read more >
This week, a Lit Hub reader wrote in to inform me of what is at the very least an entertaining conspiracy theory unspooling over at the Thomas Pynchon subreddit (where the upvotes are +1 Pynchon head and the downvotes are Read more >
Writers, here’s a little fun Thursday lunchtime activity for you. Think about the story you’re currently working on/avoiding. What shape does it take? Get a pen and some paper and trace it out. On the axis of good fortune versus Read more >
Those who have been paying attention to local education news and the critical race theory debate know that many school districts are battling over what materials can be kept in libraries and taught in classrooms. The battle is making its Read more >
A recent survey conducted by OnePoll for ThriftBooks, which polled 2,000 Americans about their novel-writing and novel-reading habits, found that 55% of respondents think their life stories are interesting enough to be immortalized in fiction. That seems like a lot, Read more >
The holiday season is quickly approaching (!), and I’m sure you’ve been thinking about what to buy your friends and loved ones. Well, how about a personalized postcard from a favorite author? The Common just kicked off its eighth annual Read more >
Some alarming news, though it’s not surprising if you’ve been paying attention to local education news and the critical race theory debate: a new report from PEN America catalogues a concerning wave of legislative efforts to limit teaching and learning Read more >
