Depending on which corners of literary social media you frequent, yesterday’s breaking news that SPD (Small Press Distribution) was going under was either an enormous surprise or a predictable tragedy, but the suddenness of the news was a shock to Read more >
As of this morning, Harvard’s Houghton Library has removed a book bound with human skin from its collection. Or rather, the skin has been removed from the book. This is in accordance with the findings of a committee appointed to examine Read more >
You might have seen the Tweet going around earlier this week promising to distill Charles Bukowski’s work into “opportunities to upgrade your mind.” To quote from the viral thread by a “badass creator with over a billion views”: “Charles Bukowski’s Read more >
Writer and translator Nada Hammad originally published the following piece in We Are Not Numbers, a Palestinian youth-led storytelling project based in the Gaza Strip, in 2016. Her testimony from Gaza is a snapshot of the ways her community has Read more >
Image of Verb List from MoMA.org The artist Richard Serra died yesterday at 85. His sculptures combined the monumental with the intimate, pieces that overwhelm and envelop but are often the only ones in the museum you can touch. His New Read more >
Image: Tom Verlaine of Television on stage in London, April 1978. Credit: Gus Stewart/Redferns Tom Verlaine—visionary Television frontman, saint you should know—died in January of 2023. But some fans are still sifting through his legacy. In the figurative sense, of Read more >
Paul Yoon has won the 20th annual Story Prize for his collection The Hive and the Honey, after being named to a list of three finalists in January. The judges—Merve Emre, Allison Escoto, and Tania James—had this to say about the Read more >
In a “whistle-blowing” press release, the staff union at PEN America—PEN America United (PAU)—has accused the free expression organization of attempting to “chill the free expression of its own workers” by proposing language that would see PAU members disciplined for Read more >
Today, the Cleveland Foundation announced the winners of its 89th annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which seek to recognize books that “have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.” “It Read more >
These days you can’t swing a paperback—though, why would you swing a paperback—without hitting a new celebrity book club. First came Oprah, then Reese, then followed a whole succession of willowy blondes with apparent downtime and (judging from Insta) poolside Read more >
New York City is losing one of its most unique literary spaces: the Joseph Koch Comic Warehouse in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. For over 25 years, Koch (no, he’s not one of those Kochs) has run a brisk mail and web ordering Read more >
Boxes of Chronologically Organized National Geographics You’re a completionist who has a hard time hitting the “skip intro” button on a TV show. You only read novels in translation and are infamous in your friend group for dragging people to Read more >
The end of March is almost upon us, which, at least to me, feels a little crazy, as if the wheel of the year is spinning faster than ever. But if you, like me, want to slow time down for Read more >
Last night, in a ceremony at the New School in New York City, the National Book Critics Circle announced the winners of its 2023 awards, narrowed down from an impressive list of finalists in six categories: Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Read more >
Last Wednesday, a group of prominent authors—including Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander, Hisham Matar, and Isabella Hammad—signed an open letter to PEN America in which they announced their decision not to participate in this year’s PEN World Voices Festival due to the organization’s Read more >
This year’s shortlist for the £20,000 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize was announced today. It is comprised of four novels, one poetry collection, and one story collection—all but one of which were released by independent publishers in the UK. The Read more >
There may or may not be snow on the ground outside your window (that sound is upstate New Yorkers crying for sun) but meteorologically, today is the first day of spring, which is as good a reason as any to Read more >
Ah, 35, that mystical line between emerging writers and… old ones. Though I move ever further in the wrong direction from said line I am nonetheless happy to celebrate this latest crop of “young” writers, announced today by the National Read more >
“Gaza’s night is dark apart from the glow of rockets, quiet apart from the sound of the bombs, terrifying apart from the comfort of prayer, black apart from the light of the martyrs. Good night, Gaza.” –Heba Abu Nada’s final tweet, Read more >
It’s March 19th, the weekend after St. Patrick’s Day, and whether you’re already back in the swing of things or find yourself still nursing a hangover from a weekend of bacchanalian (but saintly) celebrating, you’ll have something new to celebrate: Read more >
