The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Here are this year's World Fantasy Award winners.

The winners of this year’s World Fantasy Awards were announced this weekend at the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, Canada. Considered one of the most prestigious honors for fantasy and speculative fiction, the award celebrates writers and artists who published Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Watch Tony Kushner perform William Faulkner’s Nobel acceptance speech.

Today in 1950, William Faulkner accepted his 1949 Nobel Prize for his “powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.” In his acceptance speech, he discussed the perils of post-war writing and working through fear, and argued that Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Read Robert Frost’s first published poem, written when he was 18.

Today, Robert Frost is characterized by his economical lyric and his ability to write grace into everyday speech. Even his 1913 debut collection, A Boy’s Will, had this quality: as Ezra Pound put it, “The man has the good sense Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here’s the shortlist for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

Today, the American Library Association announced the 2022 shortlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. The awards, established in 2012, celebrate the best books in fiction and nonfiction for adult readers, and will honor each Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Attention: there's a new Helen DeWitt novel(la) coming in 2022.

This cold Monday morning brings glad tidings for all you DeWittians out there: in just over seven short months you’ll be able to read a brand new novella by Helen DeWitt, her first book-length work of fiction in more than Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

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