When Trout Fishing in America author Richard Brautigan insulted his friend, the novelist Thomas McGuane, at a party, McGuane responded: “You’re nothing but a pet rock . . . a hula hoop.” This type of accusation plagued Brautigan’s life; his Read more >
48 years ago this week Pablo Neruda—the Nobel Prize-winning writer-diplomat whom Gabriel García Márquez once called “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language”—died at the age of 69. A former senator for the Chilean Communist Party and close Read more >
Today marks the 126th birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald—and now you can celebrate (sedately) by reading the autograph manuscript of The Great Gatsby, or the 2-page Ur-Gatsby, which Fitzgerald abandoned shortly after writing, or corrected galleys of Trimalchio, which was Read more >
Writer RZ Baschir’s short story “The Chicken” has won the 2021 White Review Short Story Prize, an annual prize for emerging writers without a publishing deal. Baschir will receive £2,500, editorial feedback, and publication of her story in The White Read more >
In July, the National Book Foundation announced that the 2021 National Book Awards Ceremony would be held in person, with proof of vaccination required for guests. Now, due to ongoing uncertainty related to the coronavirus, the ceremony has been moved Read more >
This is a Shel Silverstein appreciation post. He has given us so much over the years! Most famously, we have The Giving Tree, a twisted children’s book about a benevolent tree that gives up its whole self for an unappreciative little Read more >
Yes! I do. You probably do, too. Well, starting today, as part of the International Literature Festival Utrecht, you can indeed stream video of the utterly delightful Olivia Colman reading a brand new lecture by Elena Ferrante (as translated by Read more >
Today McGill University announced the shortlist for the 2021 Cundill History Prize, prestigious nonfiction award that goes to a book that, alongside historical scholarship, “offers originality, literary quality, and a broad appeal.” The jury—chaired this year by Michael Ignatieff—will reward Read more >
Parents outside of Kansas City have been protesting Cass County Public Library Board of Trustees meetings for two months in the hopes of banning a children’s book about puberty from the library, KKTV reported yesterday. One protestor held a sign Read more >
Here is some grim news: conservative freedom fighter Mark Levin’s latest book, American Marxism, which came out in July, has surpassed one million copies sold. No, American Marxism isn’t an SDA how-to, it’s a fearmongering screed that “seeks to rally Read more >
I keep hearing that “stories make us human.” Now, a Copenhagen-based project has skipped the middleman; at Ronni Abergel’s “Human Library,” visitors can “check out” a person to hear their life story. At the Human Library, visitors can read one Read more >
Struggling to read more but just can’t find the time? Well, Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction may have the solution (for free!). The staff at the not-for-profit is curating short stories for NYC’s first Short Story Dispenser, which is scheduled to Read more >
Perhaps you’re familiar with personalized children’s books: children’s books made-to-order by small presses, where parents can customize the protagonist of each book to have their child’s name, gender, age and skin tone. (As a child a distant relative gifted me Read more >
Another day, another Extended Universe. Netflix announced today that it had acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company and with it, the author’s entire catalogue. Which means, of course, that we’re entering a golden(?) age of free-wheeling adaptations of some of Read more >
Last November, we learned architect Kengo Kuma was designing a public library at Tokyo’s Waseda University, where Haruki Murakami was an undergraduate drama major, to house the author’s personal archive and his tens of thousands of vinyl records. Now, it’s Read more >
Today, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation announced the winners of its 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The prize, which awards a $10,000 honorarium to both a fiction and a non-fiction winner, as well as $5,000 each to runners-up, aims Read more >
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