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News, Notes, Talk

Richard Gere reading Italo Calvino is peak ASMR.

Oh, Richard Gere! You undoubtedly know him well from American Gigolo. You loved him in Pretty Woman and swooned over him in Runaway Bride (he knew how Julia Roberts liked her eggs!). You tried really hard to forget him in Autumn in Read more >

By Katie Yee

Here’s the shortlist for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction.

Today, the Baillie Gifford Prize, the UK’s most prestigious annual prize for nonfiction, announced their 2021 shortlist. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been on a judging panel on which I’ve felt so invigorated and excited by the shortlist as I Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here's the shortlist for the 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize.

The T.S. Eliot Prize has just announced this year’s shortlist. Each year, the award seeks to celebrate the author with the best new collection of poetry published in the UK and Ireland. Described by Andrew Motion, the former English Poet Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Here are some red flags for women of color who work in publishing.

So, by now I’m sure you’ve noticed the red flags flooding your social media feeds. And if you haven’t, then you probably are better off than the rest of us, who are perpetually Very Online and need to, I don’t Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

This lady is trying to ban Toni Morrison’s books from schools for being “pornographic.”

It’s always impressive when someone devotes their life to a cause. Virginia Beach school board member Victoria Manning has: alas, the cause in question is trying to get books banned from classrooms due to their “pornographic nature.” The Daily Beast Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Rita Dove, Joy Harjo, Olga Tokarczuk, and more are going to space! (On a plaque.)

Here’s some nice space news that has nothing to do with billionaires! NASA is sending an unmanned spacecraft named Lucy on a 12-year journey to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids (which are not actually near Jupiter, but “are thought to be Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

MacDowell will no longer require reference letters for applicants. That’s a good decision.

MacDowell, the storied artist residency, has announced that it has temporarily removed reference letters as part of the application process. The trial phase for removing reference letters will begin with the next application cycle, which begins this November 1st. For Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Phoebe Robinson will host the 2021 National Book Awards.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced the host of its 72nd National Book Awards: Phoebe Robinson, standup comedian, actress, author, and founder of Tiny Reparations Books. Among other accomplishments, Robinson is the New York Times-bestselling author of You Can’t Touch Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Ten topical literary Halloween costumes for 2021.

1. Supply Chain Issues Drape yourself in paper chains and take a really, really long time to respond to questions. 2. Woke Franzen Dark rimmed glasses, button-down, binoculars for bird-watching, good opinions. 3. Group Chat Subpoena Absolutely destroy the party Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Marvel x Penguin Classics is the collab we've been waiting for.

What if… Marvel comics were being anthologized by Penguin Classics? Wonder no further, for that day is here! This morning, the publisher announced their new series, the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection, which means that Jane Eyre and Dorian Gray can Read more >

By Katie Yee

Better listen to that Bennington podcast now—before Donna Tartt squashes it.

If you haven’t listened to Lili Anolik’s podcast about the literary history of Bennington—Once Upon A Time…at Bennington College, which began last month and is based on her excellent 2019 Esquire piece about the school and the Gen X literary Read more >

By Emily Temple

Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet, has died at 82.

Gary Paulsen, the author of over 200 books, including beloved YA classic Hatchet and its sequels, died on October 13 at the age of 82, Publishers Weekly reported. Paulsen, who was himself an avid outdoorsman and adventurer—he ran the Iditarod Read more >

By Emily Temple

9 very niche bookstores for your very specific interests.

They say there’s someone for everyone, and I think that’s also true of bookstores. This week, I found out about a new East Village indie, Pillow-Cat Books, which only houses books that feature animals. It delighted a very specific part Read more >

By Katie Yee

Remembering Harold Pinter’s anti-Iraq War Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

On this day in 2005, Harold Pinter received the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his plays which “uncover the precipice under everyday prattle and force entry into oppression’s closed rooms.” Two months later, recovering from esophageal cancer, he gave his Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Uzo Aduba is leading a new book club for all of Netflix's literary adaptations.

The Queen’s Gambit, Bridgerton, Mindhunter, Maid: Netflix has a track record of turning books into hit television series. And though popular adaptations often drum up interest in their source material—after the show premiered, Walter Tevis’s The Queen’s Gambit landed on Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Suggestions for new MFA discourses.

Look, we were all waiting for a new discourse to come around and knock Bad Art Friend off its surprisingly sturdy pedestal, but personally, I was hoping for something slightly more interesting than Should MFA Programs Teach You How to Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor