The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Here's the shortlist for the 2021 International DUBLIN Literary Award.

The shortlist for the 2021 International DUBLIN Literary Award, six books chosen from a longlist of nominations from public libraries around the world, has been released. The winner will be announced in May 2021, and will receive a prize of Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Americans and debuts dominate the shortlist for the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize.

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, one of the UK’s most prestigious literary awards as well as the largest literary prize for writers 39 and under, has released its shortlist for the 2021 award. This year, US-based authors dominate the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Renaissance man David Duchovny is about to do the impossible.

Plenty of writers have adapted, or had a hand in adapting, their own novels for the screen. Gillian Flynn did it with Gone Girl. John Irving did it with The Cider House Rules. Nick Horby did it with Fever Pitch. William Peter Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

A new original draft of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” has just been discovered.

Angel-headed hipsters rejoice: a new carbon typescript of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” has been discovered by rare books dealer and Beats specialist Brian Cassidy among the papers of Annie Ruff. It’s a big discovery—the newly discovered “Howl” typescript is an early Read more >

By Walker Caplan

This former Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer has some tips for writing humor.

If you listen to enough comedians talk about comedy, you’ll be asked to hold a paradox in your mind: humor is completely subjective and intuitive, and also there are one thousand techniques you can use—and in fact that you should Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Exclusive cover reveal: Tomás Morín's Machete.

Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Tomás Morín’s latest poetry collection, Machete, which will be published by Knopf this October. Knopf describes Machete as “a lyrical, dynamic, insightful collection, at once delicate and fierce, touching on climate, Read more >

By Literary Hub

Here are the winners of the 2021 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards.

Today, the Columbia School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard announced the 4 winners and 2 finalists of the 2021 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards, which honors the best American nonfiction writing of the previous Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

North Jersey officials are trying to shut down a Little Free Library because of "zoning."

In a shocking tale of bureaucracy making life worse, NorthJersey.com has reported that officials of Oradell, New Jersey, are demanding that a local woman take down the Little Free Library she erected in her front yard. Why? Apparently, it violates Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Vincent D'Onofrio wrote a book, and it looks insane and wonderful.

Legendary character actor and straight-up delightful twitterer (seriously, if haven’t spent any time on his feed, well, I truly don’t know what you’ve been doing with your online life), Vincent D’Onofrio is releasing his first book—an irreverent hybrid work of poetry and prose entitled Mutha: Stuff Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

The Rona Jaffe Awards are shutting down for good.

The Rona Jaffe Awards, which have awarded six emerging women writers $30,000 grants per year since the awards’ founding by novelist Rona Jaffe in 1995, have been officially discontinued. In an announcement now posted to the Rona Jaffe Foundation’s website Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here is an artistic reconstruction of Philip Roth's rejected ornithologist satire.

In Laura Marsh’s excellent review of Blake Bailey’s new biography of Philip Roth, she references a few of Roth’s early writing projects, including one that has, for the last 24 hours, consumed my imagination: “He submitted a satire of ‘ornithologists’ Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Which one is correct: O.K., OK, ok, or okay?

In honor of the 182nd anniversary of the first-ever appearance in print of O.K. (in The Boston Morning Post) I am here to start an internet copyediting war. As you can see, the original “O.K.” was very clearly an acronym, Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

The Paris Review has a new editor.

Today, the board of The Paris Review Foundation announced the appointment of the next editor of The Paris Review: Emily Stokes, who will become only the sixth editor in the magazine’s sixty-eight years. Stokes has recently been a senior editor at The Read more >

By Emily Temple

17 new books to read outside in the sunshine.

Rejoice! Spring has sprung! Tulips are popping up to say hello! I even saw an ice cream truck the other day. Plus, if you layer up and stay strictly in the sun, you might feel a semblance of warmth. Dare Read more >

By Katie Yee

Here are the winners of the 2021 Windham-Campbell Prizes.

Today, Yale University announced the winners of its Windham-Campbell Prizes, which celebrate extraordinary literary achievement by rewarding eight writers an unrestricted grant of $165,000 to support their creative projects. The Award, now in its 8th year, was the brainchild of Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

Listen to a wax cylinder recording of Alfred Tennyson reading “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”

Last week, Cabinet Magazine published a wonderful deep dive by Matthew Rubery on the origins of the audiobook as a form. It’s worth reading in full, but it also features a fun historical curiosity: a wax cylinder recording of Alfred Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Take a look at the beautiful design for this Norwegian library dedicated to Henrik Ibsen.

Another gorgeous place to wistfully imagine visiting: a new library will exhibit the literature of playwright Henrik Ibsen in his birthplace of Skien, Norway. It’s not surprising that the design is staggeringly beautiful; in collaboration with Mad Arkitekter, it’s designed Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Stave off the horrors of adulthood by visiting this exhibit inspired by Goodnight Moon.

The world is a dumpster fire, but sometimes, there are bright spots that can offer much-needed relief. For instance: everyone’s favorite bedtime story, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, is now the inspiration behind an immersive group exhibition in New York Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Ijeoma Oluo's next book will teach you how to be your own revolution.

Here’s some exciting Monday book news: HarperOne has purchased the world rights to Ijeoma Oluo’s nonfiction title Be a Revolution. Oluo is the author of the bestselling books So You Want to Talk About Race, a user-friendly introduction to engaging Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Are digital kids’ books too distracting?

First of all, I assume you’ve all seen those videos of toddlers interacting with print magazines, trying to swipe and pinch the printed page to make it go? I do not like those videos. But are digital books worse for Read more >

By Jonny Diamond