The judges for the 2020 National Book Awards were announced earlier today and among the twenty-five esteemed writers, translators, critics, educators, and booksellers signed on to read though the cream of this year’s literary crop is none other than The Read more >
Every year, April coughs up poetry month, only this will be a silent one, as far as readings go. I’m not going to pretend we all used to go to them groaning. If you’re reading this blog, a poem has Read more >
To all the writers with books coming out in April, May, June…November…2021….???: I know you’re worried. I know that one of the countless disheartening aspects of the COVID-19 shutdown is how little oxygen it leaves for other preoccupations, whether troubling Read more >
The real world isn’t looking so great right now, so here’s another option: escape into the Harry Potter universe for a bit with Harry Potter at Home, a digital hub for kids. Hosted at WizardingWorld.com, Harry Potter at Home has Read more >
With unemployment skyrocketing in recent days due to the coronavirus pandemic, and writers particularly vulnerable to financial loss, PEN America has re-launched the Writers’ Emergency Fund, a way to give money directly to those affected. PEN announced this week that it Read more >
America’s favorite book spokesperson LeVar Burton is taking his talents to Twitter to give readers of all ages a little escapism in the form of a soothing story hour. Burton announced yesterday that starting this Friday, he would livestream three Read more >
This morning, TODAY Show co-host Jenna Bush Hager announced her book club pick for April 2020: Elizabeth Wetmore’s Valentine. Wetmore’s debut novel is set in Odessa, Texas, in 1976, and follows the aftermath of a horrific attack on fourteen-year-Gloria Ramírez in Read more >
Like you, here at Lit Hub, we’ve been waiting for Hulu’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People for some time now. We analyzed the first look images. We got excited over the first teaser trailer. And hey, if you’d like Read more >
Another day, another public figure releasing poetry in response to the coronavirus crisis. On Sunday, senator and former presidential candidate Cory Booker tweeted a short poem he wrote about… the indomitable human spirit, I think? Some late night writing: pic.twitter.com/uwcY3yEH1e Read more >
César Aira, Artforum (New Directions) The hero of Cesar Aira’s new novel is obsessed with the magazine Art Forum, and over this 90 page novel, he finds a way to show us why without once becoming the boring guy at the cafe Read more >
Country music legend and goddamn national treasure Dolly Parton (who also happens to be a true fairy godmother of American literacy) is going to be reading to us all starting this Thursday, April 2. As you can see below, the Read more >
Tomie dePaola, celebrated author and illustrator who delighted millions of children with his warm and witty books, died on Monday in Lebanon, New Hampshire, from complications after surgery for a fall he had suffered last week. He was 85. The Read more >
Nothing calms the nerves in anxious times like an eerie, upper-class English voice speaking to you from beyond the grave. Submitted for your approval, then, is this rare recording of Virginia Woolf. Taken from an April 1937 BBC Radio broadcast Read more >
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses celebrates the best fiction published by presses with fewer than five full-time employees every year. The 2020 winner is Fitzcarraldo Editions, a small publisher based in South-East London that also published Olga Read more >
Powell’s in Portland—one of the largest independent bookstores in the country—announced via Facebook on Friday that because of the surge in online book orders “we now have over 100 folks working at Powell’s again—all full time with benefits.” This is Read more >
Here’s the thing about chatting with large groups of friends on Zoom: it bears very little relation to how large group hang-outs usually happen. No judgment if you and all your friends sit in a circle and take turns speaking Read more >
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