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News, Notes, Talk

The common denominator of the universe is still chaos, but Werner Herzog has two new books coming.

Get ready for some excellent longform profiles, because everyone’s favorite filmmaker/delightfully bananas quote machine Werner Herzog is coming out with two books. The first, The Twilight World, is a nonfiction book about Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda, who refused to surrender Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here are the finalists for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Today, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation announced the finalists for the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which celebrates the power of literature to promote peace, social justice, and global understanding. A winner and runner-up in both fiction and nonfiction Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Take a look at the 35-pound comic scrapbook that paints a picture of Great Depression-era life.

In 1928, barber I.A. Persinger started compiling a collection of “Wash Tubbs” comics, artist Roy Crane’s daily newspaper strip. But he did something else: he had his friends and customers write in the scrapbook, as evidenced by its spine’s inscription, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Looks like Ted Cruz’s campaign artificially boosted his book sales.

Ted Cruz, lover of Cancún and basketball rings, has a scandal on his hands: Forbes reported yesterday that Cruz’s campaign may have spent one hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars on copies of his 2020 book, One Vote Away: How a Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Best ever Batman villain Danny DeVito is writing a Penguin comic.

Good news for two intersecting subsets of people: Danny DeVito will be writing a story in Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant, an anthology comic celebrating various Batman villains. DeVito’s story, drawn by Dan Mora, will—of course!—focus on The Penguin, who Read more >

By Walker Caplan

21 new books to add to your TBR pile this week.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s this week’s biggest new books—coming to indie bookstores near you! * Billie Jean King, All In (Knopf) “[A] lively and inspiring portrait of pressure-cooker play and political upheaval in tennis, from one of its Read more >

By Katie Yee

The winner of a prestigious Dutch literary prize has come under fire for “inappropriate” comments.

Astrid Roemer, the first Surinamese author to win the Netherlands’s prestigious award the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren, has had her award ceremony canceled after making Facebook statements supporting former Suriname president Dési Bouterse. Roemer will still receive the £40,000 award Read more >

By Walker Caplan

We’re getting two new Leslie Jamison books.

Exciting Monday book news: Leslie Jamison has struck a two-book North American rights agreement with Little, Brown, her standing publisher. They’ll be publishing both a nonfiction book—Splinters—and a novel, Risk. Risk will be Jamison’s first novel since her 2010 debut, Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger played Hamlet?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the news today because he wrote an article for The Atlantic titled “Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask.” The article itself is a lot—Schwarzenegger quotes John Adams and Team America, gives a shout out to “beautiful, powerful” Read more >

By Jessie Gaynor

Here’s everything you need to know about the “So You Want to Talk About” Instagram controversy.

Last year’s summer of protests inspired a particular aesthetic of online activism. You’ve probably seen it on Instagram: a 10-image carousel of text and graphics that are probably set against a Canva-created backdrop. It’s what Vox writer Terry Nguyen calls Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby

I can't wait to listen to all 600 minutes of Harvey Fierstein's memoir.

There are iconic voices and then there are iconic voices. Think of James Earl Jones’ rumbling grandeur. Sam Elliott’s laid-back Western drawl. Anthony Hopkins’ soothing-but-sinister enunciation. Lauren Bacall’s breathy bass—marvelous, mellifluous voices all. For my money, however, the greatest voice Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

The summer of writing scams continues with a series of Goodreads ransom notes.

It’s been a year of literary scams. Mysterious phishers have been scamming writers out of manuscripts; someone posed as Valeria Luiselli via email and stole £30k of prize money; fake agents were as present as ever; some jerk stole donations Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Here's the Taylor Swift album you should listen to based on your favorite author.

Well, you may not have asked for this, but I’ve gone and done it anyway. But with good reason. Taylor Swift has long been hailed for her lyricism and storytelling. And especially since the release of her two surprise 2020 Read more >

By Snigdha Koirala

This digital humanities project gives users free access to William Blake’s printed work.

Today marks the 194th anniversary of the death of poet, artist, and Milton fanboy William Blake. If you feel moved to revisit his work today, consider checking out the Blake Archive, a digital humanities project which has collected Blake’s printed Read more >

By Walker Caplan

Amanda Gorman and PRH have established a $10,000 prize for public high school poets.

Exciting news for high school writers: Amanda Gorman and Penguin Random House have teamed up to launch the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry. The award will recognize a senior from a public high school for an original poem, and the Read more >

By Walker Caplan

"I'll take my characters to bed." Walter Dean Myers on his writing process and routines.

On this day in 1937, the prolific author Walter Dean Myers was born Walter Milton Myers in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The three-time National Book Award finalist was known for his realistic, groundbreaking, affecting portrayals of the Black urban experience, which Read more >

By Vanessa Willoughby