The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

(Ursula K. Le Guin's) blogs are back, baby!

What a week it’s been for blogs! First the re(re)turn of Gawker, and now the restoration of Ursula K. Le Guin’s full blog archive! Le Guin, who died in 2018 at 88, started her blog at age 81, writing in Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

At 95 years young, Mel Brooks has finally written his memoir.

Deadline reported today that Mel Brooks has written a memoir, to be published November 30th by Random House imprint Ballantine Books. All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business will also be released as an audiobook, narrated by Brooks Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Is Flannery O'Connor's Complete Stories still the best ever National Book Award winner?

Today is the 57th death day of Flannery O’Connor, sardonic queen of the Southern Gothic sub-genre (whose long-overlooked racist tendencies have been more widely discussed of late), devout Catholic, and lifelong ornithologist. O’Connor’s The Complete Stories won the 1972 U.S. National Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Here’s why Terry Pratchett’s daughter and Neil Gaiman are fighting with transphobes on Twitter.

All of a sudden, scores of people on Twitter are speculating about the late Terry Pratchett’s feelings on gender. This discourse hasn’t arisen spontaneously—it’s because Neil Gaiman weighed in on a transphobic Facebook post and angered anti-trans activists. Since then, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Awkwafina is your host for the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala.

This year’s PEN America Literary Gala has an unexpected yet exciting guest: Golden Globe-winning actor, writer, producer, rapper, and comedian Awkwafina. The gala, scheduled for October 5th, will take place in person at the American Museum of Natural History in Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

We’re getting a new Nell Zink novel featuring bikers, princes, and money laundering.

Some Tuesday book news: Publishers Marketplace reported today that Nell Zink has sold a new novel to Knopf—following editor Daniel Halpern to Knopf from Ecco Press, which published her novels Mislaid, Nicotine, Private Novelist, and Doxology. According to the blurb, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Read the short story that just won the £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing.

The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing—a charity whose aim is to bring African writing to a wider audience through, among other programming, an annual £10,000 literary award for an exemplary published short story by an African writer—has named Meron Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The National Book Foundation’s newest initiative will celebrate books about science and technology.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced a new initiative: the Science + Literature program, which is supported by a $525,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, already known for their support of books that increase public understanding of science Read more >

By Emily Temple

21 new books coming out this week; or, 21 reasons to visit your local indie.

What time is it?! If you’re a young millennial, you might’ve sung “Summertime! Anticipation!” out loud, and now the songs from High School Musical will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day, and I’m sorry. If Read more >

By Katie Yee

Raymond Carver became a short story writer for a surprisingly practical reason.

When we talk about Raymond Carver, we talk about the short story. Despite having published eight poetry collections before his death (33 years ago to the day), he’s known for works like “Cathedral” and “Why Don’t You Dance.” But, as Read more >

By Walker Caplan

There's a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel coming, but will it be any good?

Into every generation, a remake is born. Today I learned that in January 2022—just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the show’s premiere—Disney Hyperion will publish the first novel in a new YA trilogy set in the Buffy the Vampire Read more >

By Emily Temple

The obviously fake Cormac McCarthy Twitter account has been verified, for some reason.

There are two things Twitter loves: ruining people’s lives and lavishing praise upon incredibly anodyne humor. I’m pleased to report that this is a blog about the latter! Over the weekend, a Twitter account claiming to be that of Cormac Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here are the best reviewed books of July.

Sunjeev Sahota’s China Room, Grady Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears, Kristen Radtke’s Seek You, and The Letters of Shirley Jackson all feature among the best reviewed books of the month. Bought to you by Read more >

By Book Marks

The newest self-publishing platform for writers? OnlyFans.

The Internet has opened up new modes of self-publishing for writers: subscription services like Substack and Patreon, online releases on platforms like Gumroad, and even NFTs. Now, we’re seeing the debut (to my knowledge) of a new self-publishing model: writer Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The first bestselling paperback original in the US was a work of lesbian pulp fiction.

Today, dear readers, is Paperback Book Day! It’s the anniversary of the day that the first Penguin paperback was published in England. Good! Personally, I’ll take paperbacks over hardcovers any old day. Don’t @ me! They’re more affordable. They’re lighter. Read more >

By Katie Yee

“The book is an abortion”: In which Herman Melville eviscerates a book about yachting.

This Sunday marks Herman Melville’s 202nd birthday, and I decided to honor him by looking through a scholarly book of his correspondence to find something noteworthy to write about (beyond, of course, his passionate love letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne). Why, Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

This is not a drill: we're getting a new Zora Neale Hurston essay collection in 2022.

It’s a great day for bibliophiles, as I have some exciting news to share that doesn’t involve homophobic rappers named DaBaby, whose antics have been clogging my social media timeline. (Of course, I realize a lot of you dear readers Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle is coming to TV.

It’s been a week of good news for globe-trotting American novelist and travel writer Maggie Shipstead. On Tuesday, Shipstead’s latest novel, Great Circle, made the star-studded longlist for the 2021 Booker Prize, and Deadline has today reported that the book is also set for a Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

“Brother, you’ve got a fan now!” Read a letter from Nina Simone to Langston Hughes.

For all the Internet’s horrors, it’s occasionally nice to appreciate the sheer access to information it gives us. One instance: the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s digital collections, which are mostly open to the public, and allow users to Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The only known recording of J.D. Salinger’s voice will be cremated with the woman who stole it.

Apparently, there is only one known recording of J.D. Salinger’s voice. Also apparently, the woman who recorded it never plans to release it. In fact, the 30-year-old recording will die with her—when she has it cremated along with her body. Read more >

By Walker Caplan