The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

A close reading of the description for disgraced comedian Louis C.K.’s forthcoming novel.

Louis C.K., the disgraced comedian, has written a novel called Ingram, set to come out in the fall. If you need a refresher on C.K., Megh Wright’s excellent piece from 2018 lays out the sexual harassment accusations, and why C.K.’s Read more >

By James Folta

One great short story to read today: Marie-Helene Bertino's "Viola in Midwinter"

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short Read more >

By Drew Broussard

An ode to reading with my mom.

Illustrations by E. H. Shepard I’ve been lucky to always be around readers. I had some very good and kind teachers who recommended great books, and I had friends who got to The Lord of The Rings before me, but Read more >

By James Folta

Eve L. Ewing and pals are buying a Chicago bookstore.

We can celebrate a nice bit of bookstore news this week. Three community rock stars—including self-identified “book girlie” Eve L. Ewing—are joining forces to save an imperiled indie. As Maxwell Evans of Block Club Chicago reports, an impressive trifecta is Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Margaret Atwood has won the Griffin Poetry Prize's 2025 Lifetime Recognition Award.

Today, the Griffin Poetry Prize announced Margaret Atwood as the winner of their 2025 Lifetime Recognition Award, which honors “international artists working in poetry.” Atwood will be in conversation with Carolyn Forché at the 2025 Griffin Poetry Prize Readings on Read more >

By Literary Hub

The Schomburg Library is turning 100 this year—and throwing an epic rager.

On May 8, 1925—a hundred years ago tomorrow—one of the country’s largest collections of Black arts, literature, and history was born out of a Harlem brownstone. Now called the Schomburg Research Center in honor of the late curator, Arturo Schomburg, Read more >

By Brittany Allen

One great short story to read today: Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves"

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short Read more >

By Emily Temple

Mothers in children's books: a matrix.

One of the unexpected joys of parenthood is developing unnecessarily strong opinions about children’s book characters. That’s what happens when you spend hours and hours reading the same words over and over. You have to entertain yourself somehow. Or, I Read more >

By Emily Temple

One great short story to read today: Oğuz Atay's “The Forgotten”

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short Read more >

By James Folta

Booksellers and publishers are calling for Mosab Abu Toha to be protected.

A group of American booksellers, publishers, and authors have issued a statement calling for Mosab Abu Toha—the award-winning Palestinian poet, writer, and librarian who was detained and beaten by Israeli forces as he tried to flee Gaza with his young Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Andy Warhol! James Joyce! Josephine Baker! 27 new books out today.

May is here, a new month of a year in which all too many days have felt like political Maydays, and yet there’s something reassuring about the weather warming and flowers blooming and days lengthening. For some readers, these are Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Did the Pulitzer Board just overrule the Jury to give Percival Everett the prize?

Earlier today, the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes were announced and Percival Everett’s James was declared the winner for fiction. (You can see all of the winners and finalists here.) This came as no surprise to anybody even vaguely tapped into the Read more >

By Drew Broussard

Here are the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Since 2017, the Pulitzer committee has recognized outstanding journalism, criticism, books, dramas, and achievements in music with their coveted prizes. And winners walk away with $15,000 and the endless respect of their peers. This year’s awards were announced today via Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Trump’s NEA is terminating hundreds of grants in literature, theater, and the arts.

In the last few days, publications, theater groups, arts organizations, and many other National Endowment of the Arts grant recipients have been notified that their funding has been “terminated” or “withdrawn.” 41 of the 51 Literary Arts grantees in the Read more >

By James Folta

One great short story to read today: Lydia Davis's "Happiest Moment"

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short Read more >

By Julia Hass

The week's book news, in Venn diagrams.

Another busy week in the news, and if you want to catch up quickly before the weekend, here are the big stories that were pinging around our feeds and Slack channels, in fast and easy Venn diagram form. Read more >

By James Folta

Here are the things that are making us happy this week.

This week, the Lit Hub staff is brought to you by the grace of giggles and games. James Folta is digging this “extra-bitter” riff on the Americano. The Enzo is a low-abv springtime spritz named for the Ferrari founder, and Read more >

By Brittany Allen

One great short story to read today: GennaRose Nethercott's "Sundown at the Eternal Staircase"

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the third year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short Read more >

By Drew Broussard

Canisia Lubrin has won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize.

Today, at a live event at the Chicago History Museum, Canisia Lubrin was named the winner of the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction—which honors exceptional novels, short story collections, and graphic novels by women and non-binary writers in the Read more >

By Literary Hub

An unsettling AI Agatha Christie is here to teach you how to write.

Image from Deadline & BBC Now here’s a mystery: how is a writer who died in 1976 teaching a new writing course? With a little help from academia and a little help from AI. That’s right, it’s not Poirot, but Read more >

By James Folta