The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

On the influential librarian who hated Goodnight Moon.

Today, Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon is a bona fide classic; the bowl of mush and old woman whispering “Hush” have struck a chord with children, parents, and grown-up children who make memes of the book’s soothing artwork. But, surprisingly, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Watch Chanel Miller’s Dayton Literary Peace Prize speech, delivered in Brock Turner’s hometown.

On Sunday night, both the 2020 and 2021 winners of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize accepted their awards in an in-person ceremony—including Chanel Miller, who won the 2020 Prize for nonfiction for her memoir Know My Name. Dayton, Ohio is Read more >

By Walker Caplan

10 great ways to filibuster, literary style.

Overnight, Kevin McCarthy (pointlessly) delayed the House vote on Biden’s social spending bill for eight interminable hours, engaging in an antiquated American tradition on par with the Electoral College and making kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. We Read more >

By Eliza Smith

Here are 10 Sharon Olds poems you can send to your ex.

Sharon Olds, whom Billy Collins called the “poet of sex and the psyche,” turns 79 today. I first came across Olds’ work in a poetry workshop during my final year in university. It was a cold, wintry day, and we Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

Exclusive cover reveal: Lidia Yuknavitch's Thrust.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover of Lidia Yuknavitch’s Thrust, her first major novel since 2017’s The Book of Joan, which will be published by Riverhead in June 2022. Here’s how the publisher describes the book: As rising Read more >

By Literary Hub

Emma Cline is launching a new imprint of highbrow "Picture Books" for Gagosian.

This December, Gagosian is launching Picture Books, a new imprint imagined by Emma Cline. In this series, artists will be “given carte blanche” to respond visually to an author’s work, and both final pieces will be published together (with the Read more >

By Emily Temple

Remember when Alan Moore got into a public feud with Frank Miller over Occupy Wall Street?

On this day in 1953, comic book legend Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, Batman: The Killing Joke) was born in was Northampton, England. In addition to his mastery of signature storytelling, Moore is known for his forthright, Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

EXCLUSIVE: Watch Kurt Vonnegut Recall Entering Dresden as a POW

Tomorrow sees the long-awaited premiere of Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, a documentary about the life of one of America’s most beloved writers. Directed by Robert Weide and Don Argott, Unstuck in Time has been in the making for decades, Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Here are the winners of the 2021 National Book Awards.

Tonight, in a digital ceremony hosted by Phoebe Robinson, the National Book Foundation announced the winners of its 2021 National Book Awards in Young People’s Literature, Translated Literature, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction. The winners in each category will receive $10,000 Read more >

By Literary Hub

The makers of this French dictionary are under fire for including gender-inclusive language.

It seems as though we aren’t the only country that is divided over inclusive language. Recently, the makers of Petit Robert, a French reference dictionary, were criticized by the Minister of National Education for officially including gender-inclusive pronouns. According to Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

Patrick Radden Keefe has won the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction.

Patrick Radden Keefe has won the UK’s prestigious 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for his latest book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, which investigates the legacy of the family behind Purdue Pharma, which produced and sold Read more >

By Emily Temple

“The play doesn’t belong to the playwright.” Paula Vogel on collaboration in theater.

Today is the 70th birthday of the great Paula Vogel, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of Indecent and How I Learned to Drive. In celebration, we’re revisiting her 1997 BOMB conversation with Mary-Louise Parker, the original Lil’ Bit in How I Learned Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Just so you know, there’s an 80s movie about Nicolas Cage as a vampiric publishing executive.

I’ve been on a real horror-comedy kick lately, so when I stumbled across Vampire’s Kiss on Amazon Prime (it’s my boyfriend’s account—don’t at me), I was immediately sold by the description: “After a night of passionate lovemaking in which he is bitten Read more >

By Eliza Smith

Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk is under investigation for insulting modern Turkey’s founder—in a novel.

Nobel-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk is being investigated by the government for “insulting Turkishness”—again. Earlier this year, Pamuk was investigated on criminal charges of insulting the Turkish flag and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, in his latest Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here's the first cohort of a new literary fellowship supporting Puerto Rican writers.

Today, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund announced their inaugural cohort of Letras Boricuas Fellows. This new fellowship aims to support emerging and established Puerto Rican writers, both in the archipelago and across the diaspora Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

17 new books to keep your cozy reading season going strong.

It’s that time of year when we all just want to put on a chunky sweater, curl up on the couch, and pretend like we’re in a Nora Ephron movie, right? Here are 17 books coming out this week to Read more >

By Katie Yee