At some point in every creative writing major’s young life, they will find themselves googling some variation of the question: Is coming up with fun names for stuff a job? (Personally, I really wanted to be the person who got Read more >
Here’s a delightful bit of trivia: when Jennifer Coolidge—of Best in Show, Legally Blonde, and American Pie fame—was working as a waitress in New York City, she talked her way into nightclubs by pretending to be a lesser (and fake) Read more >
Remember when you were a kid and you went to the library during the summer for the free AC, and they would give you this chart where you could track your reading? I miss that. In adult life, no one Read more >
This week’s issue of The New Yorker features an excerpt of Sally Rooney’s forthcoming novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You. As its title, “Unread Messages,” implies, the excerpts includes its fair share of texts, calls, feed-scrolling, and social media stalking. Read more >
Great news for Murakami fans—and no, it’s not a library, a bossa nova show, a video game, or a limited run of T-shirts. Making its festival debut at Cannes this year and already appearing on most-anticipated lists is director Ryusuke Read more >
I don’t know what the hell was going on with Lucy Ellmann over the weekend, but she published a 257-Tweet thread as an “essay,” via her publisher in the UK, Galley Beggar Press. Basically, it’s a list of everything she Read more >
The concept of a Little Free Library is pretty self-evident: it’s a free book-sharing box where anyone can leave books they no longer want, or take books they find interesting. It’s 1.) little, 2.) free, and 3.) a library. I Read more >
UNC stays taking L’s. The university has walked back their previous decision to not offer Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, 1619 Project creator, and MacArthur fellow Nikole-Hannah Jones tenure for an endowed fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Read more >
Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, Brandon Taylor’s Filthy Animals, Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat, and Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year all feature among the best reviewed books of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Read more >
I declare after all there is no enjoyment like [A FILM ADAPTATION]! This week, Variety announced that Bowen Yang is set to star in a modern Pride and Prejudice feature adaptation, which takes place on Fire Island. Joel Kim Booster, Read more >
Former president Barack Obama was this year’s closing speaker at the American Library Association Annual conference on Tuesday. In a wide-ranging virtual conversation with Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III, he discussed misinformation, racial justice, and (shocker) his Read more >
Across the pond at Sotheby’s London, a cache of Sylvia Plath’s letters and personal items are going under the hammer. There’s a family bible, some honeymoon period correspondence between Plath and Ted Hughes, a photo album full of pictures from Read more >
In the study at Gad’s Hill, the Kent country house where Charles Dickens lived for many years (and which is now a school), there is something that every dorky child dreams of: a door designed as a fake bookcase, complete Read more >
We’re not particularly interested in covering JD Vance anymore here at Lit Hub. Granted, he did at one point write a book, but Hillbilly Elegy is looking more and more like that classic first move from the politician’s playbook, the Read more >
The Shirley Jackson Awards have announced their impressive list of nominees for the 2020 awards. The awards were established to celebrate the literary career of Shirley Jackson and recognize works that represent “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, Read more >
A Series of Unfortunate Events looms large over my childhood. It was my favorite series growing up. Personally, I was never a Harry Potter person. I know you, dear open-minded reader of this site, won’t @ me, but the children Read more >
Here’s a welcome bit of good news: After initially denying Nikole Hannah-Jones (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and MacArthur fellow) tenure for an endowed professorship at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media—reportedly due to political pressure from the majority Republican Read more >
Cast your mind back to the fall of 2013. Benedict XVI has recently resigned as pope. Edward Snowden has just made his seismic disclosures. Croatia has become the 28th member of the European Union. And volcanic mega-producer Scott Rudin has picked Read more >
At long last! Jennifer Egan is not only publishing a new novel but it’s a “sibling sequel” to her Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Critics Circle-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad. Like Goon Squad, The Candy House features a cast Read more >
To my fellow villagers— I’ve seen the tweets, comments, and high school English papers, and I want to respond. I am deeply sorry for my role in creating the Lottery, and in continuing to uphold systematic neighbor stoning. My youth, Read more >
