The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Read every presidential inauguration poem ever performed (there are fewer than you think).

Today, Joe Biden will become only the fourth president in American history to have a poet read at their inauguration. (Yes, they’ve all been Democrats.) When she takes the stage, Amanda Gorman, at 22, will be the youngest ever inaugural Read more >

By Emily Temple

Meet Midst, a new writing tool that reveals the editing process behind poems.

As readers, we’re obsessed with the creative process: entire podcasts, interviews, and courses are dedicated to how writers come up with their ideas and write. But here’s a trade secret: more often than not, the genesis of any given idea Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Watch the first gorgeous trailer for The Luminaries, premiering on Valentine’s Day.

Worry no more about Valentine’s Day plans! Starz has picked up the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, and it’s set to premiere on February 14th at 9:30 pm. The six-part series stars The Knick’s Eve Hewson as Anna Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Read an open letter from publishing professionals condemning Trump enablers’ book deals.

As you may remember, about a week ago, Senator Josh Hawley challenged the results of the election, encouraged the storming of the Capitol, and then complained about Simon & Schuster canceling his book deal, calling the publisher’s decision “Orwellian” (how?) Read more >

By Walker Caplan

"Too much coloring": Here is some writing advice from Washington Irving to Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day in 1809, so what better day for an “extremely famous, very dead authors: they’re just like us!” feature! In this case: their friends tactfully tell them when they’re using too many adjectives! Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Check out these vintage pulp covers for classic Patricia Highsmith novels.

Today marks 100 years since the birth of Patricia Highsmith, rebellious writer, music lover, closet romantic, and author of one of the greatest crime novels—and coming of age stories—of all time (no matter what some people say). Though we think Read more >

By Emily Temple

Here are the guest editors for the Best American Series 2021.

Do you like the Best American series? Of course you do! Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, travel writing, to food writing. Each volume’s Read more >

By Literary Hub

Poets take note: there is now a Maya Angelou Barbie.

I’m not sure how to feel about this one: poet Maya Angelou is going to be a Barbie. I have limited experience with Barbies, both in my own childhood and as a parent, and I find their weird, distorted physical Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

14 new books to fuel your reading resolutions.

How’s that New Year’s resolution to read more going? Yeah, badly for me, too! I just got an HBO Max subscription, so you can imagine my nights awash in the Friends theme song (I find the show comforting—don’t @ me!) and Read more >

By Katie Yee

Melinda Gates has donated $250,000 to the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

Earlier this year, we learned of the founding of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which is the first English-language literary award to celebrate excellence in fiction by women writers in the United States and Canada. And today, the Carol Read more >

By Walker Caplan

A productivity tool company has solved writing by . . . reinventing the typewriter.

If you have ever wanted to own a typewriter that looks like a computer and has no paper and costs five hundred dollars, you’re in luck: the productivity tool company Astrohaus has created the Freewrite, a “distraction-free writing instrument.” According Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Tessa Thompson's brand new production company is adapting two great books by Black women for HBO.

Tessa Thompson is quite the force to be reckoned with. From her early films Mississippi Damned (2009) and Dear White People (2014) to her groundbreaking film Sylvie’s Love (2020), Thompson has proven herself an actor of tremendous talent and wit. Now, she is launching a Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

British Library Publishing is rushing to print the sea shanty guide we need.

Cornering the market of people who are addicted to TikTok and take a scholarly interest in the rollicking old melodies of the high seas, British Library Publishing is set to rush-print a guide to sea shanties. If you know why Read more >

By Corinne Segal

At 22, Amanda Gorman will be the youngest inaugural poet in memory.

Though the looming threat of white supremacist violence is a good reason to dread Joe Biden’s inauguration, the roster of performers—including Tom Hanks, Lady Gaga, and Jennifer Lopez—is looking pretty good. Add to the list Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old who Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Upgrade your writing soundtrack with Patricia Highsmith's favorite songs.

In 1979, Highsmith joined Roy Plomley on Desert Island Discs, the BBC Radio show in which famous people choose exactly what the name implies. Plomley, of course, starts out with a softball: “Miss Highsmith, could you endure prolonged loneliness?” Ah, Read more >

By Emily Temple

Watch the first trailer for the adaptation of Nico Walker's Cherry.

Less than a month on from the movie poster controversy (Cherrk!) that rocked the internet to its very core, the first trailer for Cherry—the Tom Holland-starring film adaptation of Nico Walker’s 2018 semi-autobiographical debut novel about an Iraq War veteran turned Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Could Noah Baumbach's adaptation of White Noise actually be good?

Yesterday, Twitter became aware of the fact that Noah Baumbach is working on an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s hipster classic White Noise. And boy, does Twitter have feelings about it. According to Production Weekly, Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig will star, Read more >

By Emily Temple

Hannibal Lecter is back...or is he?

You can keep your Avengers spin-offs and your Twilight retellings and your Star Wars origin stories. The only bloated cash-in franchise i’m interested in is the Hannibal Lecter Expanded Universe (or HLEU, to those of us who frequent the message Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Today, Tsitsi Dangarembga was awarded the 2021 PEN Award for Freedom of Expression.

The PEN Award for Freedom of Expression recognizes and honors a writer’s significant contribution and commitment to free speech around the world despite the dangers of political persecution. Previous winners include Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich, Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour, and Ugandan Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

One of the New Yorker's National Magazine Awards could be rescinded this month.

Though it was published in the before-times, if you clear your mind, you may remember Elif Batuman’s New Yorker essay about Japan’s “Rent-a-Family Industry.” In the piece, “A Theory of Relativity,” Batuman reported on lonely singles in Japan renting actors to Read more >

By Walker Caplan