Two prominent novelists have broken with PEN America over the organization’s decision to platform controversial actor and outspoken ceasefire opponent Mayim Bialik, as well as its relative silence on the unfolding genocide in Gaza (which so far has claimed the lives Read more >
It is my political and human opinion that children should not be slaughtered and that German cultural institutions should know better when it comes to genocide. –Lana Bastašić Last month, the award-winning Bosnian-Serbian novelist Lana Bastašić took the courageous Read more >
Get ready to lust over William Shakespeare . . . again. The internet is abuzz with the news that Paul Mescal—who is swiftly becoming our literary adaptation king—will officially be portraying a “roguish young Shakespeare” in Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Read more >
The wheel of this newest of years keeps turning, and that means that the end of January is just about here. It feels astonishing, at least to me, that so much time has passed already. But there can be comfort Read more >
Fantagraphics—the Seattle-based indie comics juggernaut and publisher of Daniel Clowes, Charles Burns, and Joe Sacco (whose landmark work of graphic journalism, Palestine, was released by Fantagraphics in 1993)—has issued a forceful statement denouncing the ongoing genocide in Gaza and calling Read more >
There are hundreds of thousands of kids’ books out there. Some are classics that wind up in everyone’s homes, no matter what. Others are random—given as gifts, found on the playground, purchased in bulk from the resale shop. But which Read more >
Today, the National Book Critics Circle announced its 30 finalists for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards, which celebrate the best books of the year in six categories: autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, general nonfiction, and poetry. The finalists for Read more >
Today, Chicago-based arts organization United States Artists announced their 50 2024 USA Fellows, a group that includes six Writing Fellows, each of whom will receive an unrestricted cash award of $50,000, intended to allow each writer “to deepen their respective practices Read more >
As the end of January creeps nearer and—depending where you are—the weeks of wintry weather may be keeping you in, you may be finding yourself in search of something bright, warm, and charming to peer at. A well-lit fireplace, perhaps, Read more >
Over 2,500 members of the KidLit publishing community have signed an impassioned open letter to President Biden, highlighting the disproportionately large toll Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has taken on the children of the region, and calling for an immediate and Read more >
On Sunday, the Danish monarch, Queen Margrethe, abdicated her throne after 52 years (which makes her the longest-reigning monarch in Danish history), in favor of her son, Frederik X. Monday was the new king’s first formal day on the job Read more >
It’s safe to say that we were awash in adaptations of The Great Gatsby even before the copyright expired at the end of 2020—from opera to ballet to stage to film to video games to radio, not to mention television Read more >
In just over 100 days of near-unrelenting bombardment and inescapable terror, in a campaign that has claimed the lives of over 24,000 people, Israel has killed more than 120 writers, poets, and journalists. Many of these men and women were slain Read more >
It’s the middle of January already, and, depending where you are, that can mean a lot of things: snowstorms (or yearning for snow if you’re in certain Northeast cities), a chill in otherwise balmy temperatures, thoughts of fleeing to somewhere Read more >
Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is one of the few major Hollywood actors to publicly and repeatedly call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The star of Moonlight, True Detective, and Leave the World Behind signed the Artists 4 Ceasefire letter Read more >
More than 500 global writers, artists, filmmakers, and cultural workers (including Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux and Palestinian poet and activist Mohammed el-Kurd) are boycotting German state-funded associations in response to what el-Kurd has called Germany’s “McCarthyist policies that suppress freedom Read more >
Yep—noted art book publisher, comic book writer, and all-purpose hero Keanu Reeves is back to bless the darkest timeline with a novel. The Book of Elsewhere, which will be published by Del Rey on July 23, 2024, was co-written with China Read more >
Literary Hub is pleased to announce the 2024 class of Periplus Fellows. This year, Periplus awarded a total of 48 mentorships to writers of color living and working in the United States—selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants—pairing Read more >
This morning, The Story Prize—which seeks to recognize the best short story collection published every year—announced its three 2024 finalists, chosen from a total of 113 submissions. “Even after reading more than 20,000 short story collections over the twenty years this Read more >
I’m still processing that it’s now 2024—I just almost wrote “2023” again!—and it can feel a little disorienting to enter a new year for the first few days, if not weeks. But there are reliable things to look forward to, Read more >
