The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

A kid’s book press had to tell Pete Hegseth to not depict their turtle committing murder.

If you’re a fan of Kids Can Press or Canadian writer Paulette Bourgeois’s Franklin the Turtle, you may have come across this statement on social media yesterday: — Kids Can Press (@kidscanpress.bsky.social) 2025-12-01T23:18:59.601Z   Why is a kids book publisher Read more >

By James Folta

How Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia literally saved lives.

It’s unusual to encounter good news these days, particularly on social media. So I was delighted to come across this image on Bluesky earlier today, of a letter to the Times of London in reference to the great Tom Stoppard, Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Get in, loser! We’re watching the trailer for Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation.

Emily Henry is a phenom unto herself. A New York Times bestseller known for her slow burning, thoughtful romances and prolific pace, some say she’s single-handedly steering the literary romance renaissance. While the filmed rom-com continues to flounder since Nora Read more >

By Brittany Allen

The Black List will grant $10,000 to seven writers for its inaugural Unpublished Novel Award.

Today, the Black List, which originated as a yearly list of Hollywood’s most-admired but still-unproduced screenplays, announced the seven winners of its inaugural Unpublished Novel Award. Each winner will receive $10,000 to support their work. The judging panel, which included Read more >

By Literary Hub

Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more: 22 new books out today!

December marks the winding down of the year’s releases, but there’s still a lot to be excited by. Elizabeth McCracken has released a craft memoir, a gift to anyone who isn’t lucky enough to be her student at Michener. Olga Read more >

By Julia Hass

Sally Rooney says her books may become unavailable in the UK because of her advocacy for Palestine.

Sally Rooney’s books, both new and old, may be unavailable in the UK due to the government’s aggressive action against those who are speaking out and taking action against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Rooney, the bestselling Irish novelist and Millennial Read more >

By James Folta

Remembering Tom Stoppard, the thinker’s playwright.

Tis a truth universally acknowledged: all precocious theatre kids raised up in Western traditions meet Arcadia or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at some point sophomore year, then frantically try to secure the performance rights for one or the other until pushback Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Naomi Wood! Britney Spears! Fomenting revolution! 20 new paperbacks out this December.

December is upon us, and that means not only a month of exciting new books to look forward to, but a wonderful opportunity for many of us to also pick up some new books as gifts for the special ones Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Natan Last, Sven Beckert, Juhea Kim, and more: 16 new books out today!

It’s a quiet week over here in literary world, and hopefully quiet for you, reader, in whichever industry you work. The cities get quieter, the exoduses take place, and the publishing output slows to an almost complete halt. It’s a Read more >

By Julia Hass

Israeli forces stormed the Palestinian National Theater, shutting down a children's show.

On Sunday night, Israeli forces stormed the Palestinian National Theater, El-Hakawati, in occupied East Jerusalem, shutting down a children’s musical show titled “Dreams Under the Olive Trees.” Following direct instructions from far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the theater Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Dispatches from the dreamy launch party for a dating app’s literary magazine.

The AFM Issue 2 launch was one of those mythical parties that you hear about sometimes: No line, for starters. Free magazines and merch, free drinks, readings by talented authors. Knocking elbows with gorgeous and edgy young people from the Read more >

By Julia Hass

This week’s news in Venn diagrams.

With our “What was Literary Twitter?” bracket (don’t forget to vote!) and the National Book Awards happening all in the same week, I’ve been very sleepy lately. Please send any tips on waking up that aren’t “coffee” or “saying ‘come Read more >

By James Folta

Here’s what’s making us happy this week.

Such a lot, readers! Forget your troubles, and come on over to Lit Hub! A lot of the gang got together IRL this week, thanks to the National Book Awards. Emily Temple is thrilled to confirm that several colleagues previously Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Can “adversarial poetry” save us from AI?

Turns out, the Terminator movies would have been more realistic if Sarah Conner had a poetry MFA. In a new paper titled “Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models”, a team of researchers have found Read more >

By James Folta

Our favorite Literary Twitter moments: James Folta on the Paris Review Tweet.

Pulling together the 64 original Literary Twitter moments and incidents to create our winter game, What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket, required the vast institutional memory of the entire Lit Hub team, who each had their personal favorite e-dramas to Read more >

By James Folta

Our favorite Literary Twitter moments: Drew Broussard on "come over at do bring coke now"

Pulling together the 64 original Literary Twitter moments and incidents to create our winter game, What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket, required the vast institutional memory of the entire Lit Hub team, who each had their personal favorite e-dramas to Read more >

By Literary Hub

Here are the winners of the National Book Awards, including Rabih Alameddine and Omar El Akkad.

The winners of this year’s National Book Awards have just been announced at a ritzy gala in downtown Manhattan. Rabih Alameddine’s The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) won the fiction award, Omar El Akkad’s One Read more >

By James Folta

Wicked on the brain? Watch the original 1910 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.

If you’ve been watching the trials of the Wicked press tour with bated breath—or if you’ve been clenching your wand for nine straight months, just waiting for the release of a certain cash-grabby sequel—boy, have I got a hump day Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Two books with AI-generated covers have been disqualified from New Zealand's top book prize.

Somewhere on the goofy/sad spectrum in AI slop news, today two novels up for the prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Award were disqualified on the basis of their AI cover art. Obligate Carnivore, a story collection by Stephanie Johnson, and Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Rejected pitches for the live-action Eloise.

Eloise, the OG enfant terrible best known for causing mayhem at the Plaza Hotel, is getting a live adaptation. And an unlikely duo is behind it: Ryan Reynolds and Amy Sherman-Palladino, of Deadpool and Gilmore Girls, respectively. The beloved 50s Read more >

By Brittany Allen