I was in the Strand the other day, overstimulated and sort of bumping against tables and people and unable to focus on any one book, possibly because they were all breathtaking, unflinching, searingly witty-yet-emotionally penetrating tours de force, each written Read more >
According to The New York Times, Woody Allen has been shopping a memoir around to publishing houses—but turns out they have some morals after all, because no one’s biting. In fact, he’s so “toxic” that some of them wouldn’t even read Read more >
Yes, it’s true. When Edna St. Vincent Millay went on vacation to Sanibel Island, Florida, on this day in 1936, she naturally brought her manuscript-in-progress—years in the making—along with her. She had her luggage sent up to her room and Read more >
Not to brag, but I was given one of the Joan Didion Lit Hub tote bags in the early days at AWP Minneapolis in 2015. It’s a great tote, strong and sturdy. But I didn’t have it very long. Less Read more >
Brilliant and dashing novel-writer/essayist/very-good-reader Viet Thanh Nguyen is using his Twitter power for good and not evil by recommending a book a day for Asian Pacific Heritage Month (which is now, people). The first two recs are Jessica Hagedorn’s Dog Read more >
If you are unfamiliar with the Surrealist parlor game art form of the Exquisite Corpse*, MCD is offering you an introduction of sorts, as they’ve asked their writers to contribute daily bursts of fiction, each one in the sequence written Read more >
“Navigating a white, male world was not threatening—it wasn’t even interesting,” says your queen and mine Toni Morrison in this trailer for a new documentary about her life, directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. “I was more interesting than they were. And Read more >
Since a brief protest by white nationalists interrupted a reading this past Saturday at bookstore Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., a flurry of news stories has made the incident—which occurred during a reading by Jonathan Metzl—seem “worse than it Read more >
May is Short Story Month. It is also, according to Wikipedia, Celiac Awareness Month, Better Hearing and Speech Month, National Pet Month (UK), National Smile Month (UK), South Asian Heritage Month, Bicycle Month, National Burger Month, National Gold Month, Jewish Read more >
Congratulations to Dante Micheaux who has been awarded the prestigious Four Quartets Poetry Prize for his 2018 collection, Circus. The Four Quartets Prize, which comes with a $20,000 purse, is awarded by the Poetry Society of America for “a unified and Read more >
Hey, it’s May Day, so here’s America’s poet laureate of work*, the late Philip Levine reading his iconic poem, “What Work Is,” which begins: We stand in the rain in a long line waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work. Read more >
You don’t want to read about how sad I am. Most of the journalists in this room with me know that, but my seatmate is the one to say it out loud, to another person sitting nearby during a break. Read more >
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. Joseph Heller was born on this day in 1923. His most famous work, Catch-22, is still being read in English classes across America every year. In case it wasn’t required reading Read more >
Director John Singleton died Monday at 51. He’s best remembered for his Academy Award-nominated debut Boyz n the Hood, but it’s his second movie, Poetic Justice, that might have the most crossover appeal for readers of this site. Janet Jackson, Read more >
One of the welcome developments of the recent audiobooks boom, particularly for those of us with visual impairments or print disabilities, has been fewer people asking if they count as reading. Friends on social media still apologize for listening to Read more >
Alice B. Toklas was born on April 30, 1877. To celebrate the anniversary of her birth, or just to celebrate the fact that it’s Tuesday and we’re all tired already, why not try her recipe for “Haschich Fudge (which anyone Read more >
Today, when The Strategist published a list of “50 Things Amy Sedaris Can’t Live Without,” I immediately went through it, looking for books. After all, underwear recs are nice and all, but as an editor at this here Literary Hub, Read more >
It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires. Wolf Hall, the Booker Prize-winning first volume in Hillary Mantel’s magnum opus Cromwell trilogy, hit shelves ten years ago Read more >
The White Horse Tavern, beloved of literary tourists and finance bros alike, has been closed for renovations after a change in ownership. As Gothamist reports, locals are concerned enough about the new regime (namely landlord Steve Croman and restaurateur Eytan Read more >
It is we, Lit Hub’s social media editor! Actually, I’m going to use the first person singular here. On this, the inaugural day of Lit Hub’s thoroughly modern web log, I wanted to share with you my answers to some Read more >
