“There could be weeks when nothing goes right.” So says 45-year-old typecaster—and last of a dwindling breed—Brian Ferret about his unlikely vocation. Brian handcrafts metal type, one by one, at Arion Press, using antique machinery to squeeze out a mix Read more >
Love, for all its infinite variety, has not changed so very much over the centuries. From ecstasy to anguish, it is a universal experience that has been expressed countless times in the great love stories and poetry. Recently, I have Read more >
Exciting news! The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is currently in the process of digitizing the Walter O. Evans Collection of Frederick Douglass and Douglass Family Papers. The collection will be fully digitized for public access by the end Read more >
What’s something that isn’t literary but feels literary? An 18,000-year-old conch shell was discovered in a cave in France, and now, we can listen to its sound via our computers. The French archeologists who originally discovered the shell missed its Read more >
Last night, I was toggling between reading If on a winter’s night a traveler and scrolling through Instagram. This is not a judgement on the novel, which is incredibly fun and brilliant; rather, it’s me admitting that I have no Read more >
This morning, Reagan Arthur, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Knopf, announced Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s next book, Notes on Grief. The book, which Knopf will publish on May 11 of this year, is an expansion of her essay of the Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced that Ruth Dickey will be its next Executive Director, filling the role that Lisa Lucas vacated at the end of last year. Dickey has served since 2013 as the Executive Director of Seattle Arts Read more >
On October 5, this timeline will be blessed/cursed by Jonathan Franzen’s first novel since 2015: Crossroads, or, if you’re not abbreviating, Crossroads: A Novel: A Key to All Mythologies, Volume 1. It’s the first novel of a trilogy, A Key Read more >
The Story Spotlight Prize, established in 2014, honors books of exceptional promise by first-time authors; collections in alternative formats; or works that demonstrate an unusual perspective on the writer’s craft. The Award comes with a cash prize of $1,000, and Read more >
Today, PEN America announced the finalists for its 2021 Literary Awards, which recognizes and honors “dynamic, imaginative, and thought-provoking” books published in the last year. Previous winners include Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Imani Perry, and Yiyun Li. The 55 finalists were selected Read more >
It appears that Twitter has returned, once again, to the email sign-off discourse—one of the more boring discourses! Personally, I think “best” is a completely fine, if unimaginative, way to end an email. However, for those of you looking to Read more >
Yes, it’s true: Netflix has picked up the rights to the entire Redwall universe: the beloved series of books by Brian Jacques (which I am sorry to tell you is pronounced “Jakes” and not the cool French way that naturally Read more >
QUESTION ONE Please examine the following examples and describe which one is “cancel culture,” and which one is the “marketplace of ideas.” Explain your answer. A) Private citizens organize via the power of their wallets—i.e. a boycott—in protest of a Read more >
Beloved Mexican-American actor and restauranteur Danny Trejo’s first memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood—which details Trejo’s path from drug addiction and incarceration in some of America’s most notorious prisons (including San Quentin, Folsom, and Soledad), to unexpected Hollywood Read more >
There is a new app. It distills books, both classics and modern bestsellers, into brief, accessible summaries. You can listen to audio versions of summaries, or read them on your phone. The app is called Instaread—or it’s called Blinkist, or Read more >
Haruki Murakami has been a beloved literary figure for decades, for good reason. He DJs radio shows; he uses charming metaphors for writing; he donates his personal archive to the public; he supports young novelists; he gives good advice, for Read more >
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