The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Here's John Waters reading a dirty scene from Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Recently, we heard about Netflix’s forthcoming adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s famously banned book Lady Chatterley’s Lover (apparently it’s going to be raunchier than Bridgerton, which does seem only fair). To prepare yourself, you may want to start with this video Read more >

By Emily Temple

Who are the most talented but under-appreciated writers in America?

Longwood University has revealed the five finalists for the 2021 John Dos Passos Prize, the oldest literary award granted by a university or college in Virginia. The prize, now in its 40th year, seeks to recognize the country’s “most talented Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Jason Reynolds will serve a third term as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Today, the Library of Congress announced that bestselling author Jason Reynolds will serve as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for a third year. Reynolds’s extended appointment is an unprecedented event in the history of the program. The position, which Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Don't despair: LeVar Burton has designs on his own book-themed game show.

For the last eight years, beloved Reading Rainbow star and podcast host LeVar Burton had his sights set on becoming Jeopardy!’s host—and when the search for Alex Trebek’s replacement went public, it seemed like Burton might actually get his dream Read more >

By Walker Caplan

New video game will let you beat up Lovecraft while pretending to be Hemingway.

Have you ever wanted to inhabit the shirtless and bemuscled body of an aging Ernest Hemingway as he delivers a straight-up ass-whooping to HP Lovecraft, who can’t even be fucked to take off his trench coat? Ok, look, don’t answer Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Here are the best reviewed books of the week.

Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle, Joy Williams’ Harrow, Margaret Renkl’s Graceland, at Last, and Mary Roach’s Fuzz all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”   Fiction Read more >

By Book Marks

10 excellent storytelling tips for writers from How I Met Your Mother.

We’re finally getting that How I Met Your Mother spin-off! Yes, in case you haven’t heard, filming for How I Met Your Father has begun. It stars Hilary Duff—always and forever Lizzie McGuire to me, but she did recently capture the Read more >

By Katie Yee

Who will buy the skinny house where Edna St. Vincent Millay, William Steig, and Margaret Mead lived?

Good news for the rich and thin! New York City’s narrowest home is 9 1/2 feet wide, and—of course—is on the market for just under five million dollars. On its own, this news wouldn’t be worthy of inclusion in our Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Sally Rooney's new novel is now the most reviewed book of all time.

We’ve run the numbers over at Book Marks and it’s now official: with 67 professional reviews (and counting), Sally Rooney’s all-conquering third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, is the most reviewed book of all time*. Yes, in less than Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Pennsylvania students are protesting their school district's ban on books by authors of color.

These past few weeks, Pennsylvania’s Central York School District students have been protesting outside their schools after their school board’s conversation about a proposed diversity curriculum turned into a list of banned books. Last October, the Central York school board Read more >

By Walker Caplan

On its 25th anniversary, here's a look at Oprah's Book Club—by the numbers.

25 years ago today Oprah Winfrey launched what would soon become the most powerful and influential force in American publishing: Oprah’s Book Club. Each month for over fourteen years, the beloved talk show host, cultural tastemaker, and undisputed “Queen of Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Proof goth is not dead: A first edition of Frankenstein just set a world auction record.

Mary Shelley was goth before it was cool. She wrote Frankenstein—sometimes described as the world’s first science fiction novel—as part of a horror story writing game. She lost her virginity to Percy Shelley on top of her mother’s grave. (To Read more >

By Walker Caplan

How to write like Cheryl Strayed.

On this day in 1968, Wild author Cheryl Strayed was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania. At this point, the former Dear Sugar columnist needs no introduction. However, like many authors, Strayed’s success occurred after years of considerable struggle. In an interview with Manjula Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Here’s the longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. This year’s longlist features three debuts and includes, appropriately for this year, many novels that ask questions about the nature of home. These ten Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here’s the longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction. This year’s judges for the National Book Award in Nonfiction are Eula Biss, Aaron John Curtis, Nell Painter, Kate Tuttle, and Jerald Walker. The Read more >

By Emily Temple

Stephen Sondheim is working on a new musical—with David Ives.

Here’s a new “Shakespeare wrote King Lear in quarantine” for you: Stephen Sondheim just finished a new musical. In an interview last night with Stephen Colbert—a lifelong Sondheim fan who played Harry in New York Philharmonic’s 2011 production of Sondheim’s Read more >

By Walker Caplan

“Poetry is telegrams of the human soul”: Watch a rare video interview with Richard Brautigan.

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the death of Richard Brautigan, imaginative poet, novelist, and short story writer, best known for his novel Trout Fishing in America. Despite his fame and to his embarrassment, Brautigan was never treated with the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

A new study suggests that backlash against critical race theory is linked to white fear.

In news that will only surprise people who think Barack Obama’s election magically cured racism: a recent NBC News analysis found that many schools that are experiencing intense backlash over critical race theory are also becoming less white. NBC’s study, Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Zibby Owens to publish books using a company-wide profit-sharing model.

Zibby Owens, the memoirist, editor, and entrepreneur who’s risen to prominence over the last few years via her much-beloved author-interview podcast Moms Don’t Have Time To, is launching her own publishing house, Zibby Books. Founded in partnership with writer and Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Here’s the longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry. This year’s longlist is made up almost entirely of first-timers—with the exception of Forrest Gander, who was longlisted in 2018 for his poetry collection Read more >

By Emily Temple