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News, Notes, Talk

And the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize is . . .

From a longlist dominated by debuts came a shortlist dominated by debuts, and from that shortlist comes our winner, also a debut! The winner of the Booker Prize is: Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain (Scotland-US) (Looks like the bookies were right.) Stuart is the Read more >

By Emily Temple

There’s a 19th century social satire written by a 9-year-old that you NEED to read.

I can’t stop thinking about The Young Visiters; or, Mr Salteenas Plan. A social satire about a status-seeker who loses his young lover when they take a trip to a friend’s country house, it’s one of the funniest novels I’ve Read more >

By Walker Caplan

J.R.R. Tolkien's previously unseen essays about Middle-earth will be published in June.

The Nature of Middle-earth, a collection of previously unpublished J.R.R. Tolkien essays exploring the world of Middle-earth, will be released by HarperCollins in June 2021. The work will be edited by Carl F. Hostetter, Tolkien expert and head of the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

An unapologetically cheesy ode to Shakespeare and Company on its 101st birthday.

I will never forget the first and only time I visited Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I was 18. I was lost—no, not in the metaphysical, poetic angst way. I was actually, literally lost. (Ask anyone who knows me: I Read more >

By Katie Yee

Here are the winners of the 2020 National Book Awards.

Tonight, the National Book Awards made its virtual debut, presenting awards in five categories—Young People’s Literature, Translated Literature, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction—to five winners from among 25 finalists. Congratulations to all the winners, which you can find in bold below. Read more >

By Literary Hub

n+1 editors will send you personalized book recommendations if you donate.

It’s clear already that this year’s holiday season is going to be a weird one, but here’s a cool gift opportunity that also helps out a great publication: n+1 is creating personalized reading lists for people who donate to its newest fundraiser. Read more >

By Corinne Segal

Olga Tokarczuk is publishing an illustrated, all-ages book about finding fulfillment.

Ah, February 2021: maybe by then, we’ll have forgotten that 2020 ever existed. An upcoming book by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Joanna Concejo, promises to help us cleanse the timeline: The Lost Soul, a story Read more >

By Corinne Segal

Hilary Mantel's next book will be a short story collection about her childhood.

This morning, Publishers Marketplace reported that two-time Booker Prize winner and historical fiction supremo Hilary Mantel has a new short story collection on the horizon. Learning to Talk, which will be released by Holt at some point next year, is Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Dolly Parton, fairy godmother of American literacy, is also the fairy godmother of American health.

We already love Dolly Parton, not just for her powerhouse songwriting and iconic hair but also for her championing of American literacy—her Imagination Library sends over 1 million free books per month (that’s one book every two seconds!) to children Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Browse excerpts from The Book of Homelessness, a new graphic novel by unhoused creatives.

The Accumulate Art School for the Homeless, a London-based charity that provides creative education and workshops for young homeless people, has partnered with unhoused artists to create a new graphic novel called The Book of Homelessness. The project began with Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here's every winner of the National Book Award for Fiction and Nonfiction during the 21st century.

Dust off your formal wear and break out the bubbly because the National Book Awards (a.k.a. the Oscars of the book world) are nearly upon us. Yes, in just a few short hours, five dumbstruck authors will be fêted, garlanded, Read more >

By Book Marks

Here are the 2020 grantees of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant.

Today, the Andy Warhol Foundation announced the 22 recipients of its Arts Writers Grant, which recognizes the invaluable contribution of arts writers to visual artistic culture. The Grant supports both emerging and established writers of articles, books, or short-form writing, with awards Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

William Blake and his wife once got caught reciting Paradise Lost together in the nude.

If you find yourself bored as the new lockdown hits, consider taking a leaf out of William and Catherine Blake’s book, and doing a naked reading of Paradise Lost with your roommates. The Blakes’ strange leisure activities live on through Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here are the bookies' odds for the 2020 Booker Prize.

Apparently, this week is the Super Bowl for the book world (or at least the book world media). Which means you need to do two things to prepare: assemble your snacks (check) and place your bets. Six novels are up Read more >

By Emily Temple

Tory-shaming Manchester United star Marcus Rashford is launching a children's book club.

As many on this side of the pond may not know, Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford is currently all that stands between the United Kingdom and compete moral ruination. In a year where a particularly grotesque grotesquerie of Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Watch the trailer for Modern Persuasion, a new Jane Austen-based romantic comedy.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has released a new trailer for Modern Persuasion, a—you guessed it—modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. The romantic comedy stars Twin Peaks and Friday Night Lights actress Alicia Witt as Wren Cosgrove, a “workaholic who…finds herself coming Read more >

By Walker Caplan

The future is depressing: a new app distills books into 12-minute-long audio summaries.

Professionals, rejoice? A new app verbosely called “The 12Min Micro Book Library” is trying to optimize your reading time. According to a depressing pitch from PCMag, the 12Min Micro Book Library “takes . . . game-changing books . . . Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here's the shortlist for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

Let’s start our morning right with the latest book news. Today, the American Library Association announced the shortlist of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, which honors the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers Read more >

By Rasheeda Saka

Attention: the principal from Buffy just wrote a novel. It's called Illyria.

Hello and welcome to the very niche readership who understands what I am talking about and why I am excited and amused by this! The rumors (from this headline) are true: Principal Snyder, also known as Armin Shimerman, has recently Read more >

By Emily Temple

What do President Barack Obama and Rachel Bloom have in common?

We’ve got a star-studded stack of new books today, folks! To name a few: President Barack Obama’s memoir, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom’s musings, Julia Child’s culinary wisdom, and Steve Martin’s cartoon pigeons (???). You can get them Read more >

By Katie Yee