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News, Notes, Talk

Jane Austen! Zora Neale Hurston! Hanif Kureishi! 27 New Paperbacks Out This January.

It’s a new year, and, with it, a time to reflect on the chaos and fascistic terror of 2o25 and the things we can fight for and hope to amend in 2026. It may feel naive to hope for much Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Which authors could be behind the drones over New Jersey?

Image via The Guardian and AP Drones over New Jersey isn’t the name of a terrible new pop punk band, it’s something that’s really happening in The Kingdom of Springsteen. There isn’t a lot of concrete information or explanation about Read more >

By James Folta

The rom-com of...Young Werther? Goethe's famous sadsack is getting a new adaptation.

That’s right, reader. A new film is putting a sly spin on the patron saint of emo kids. Even before it made the enduring mold for a certain sort of sad boy—never forget that Dan “Gossip Girl” Humphrey was a Read more >

By Brittany Allen

According to library checkouts, New Yorkers read a lot of Gabrielle Zevin this year.

Today, NYC’s public library systems—The New York Public Library (which serves Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island), Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Public Library—released their lists of the books New Yorkers checked out of the library the most in 2024. Read more >

By James Folta

Blake Butler! A Dostoevskyian Turkish classic! Giftable editions! 10 new books out today.

The holidays are approaching, and, with them, the end of 2024. As we near December’s various holidays and the start of an unpredictable 2025, observant readers will doubtless see that there haven’t been as many new books to list here Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Move over, Alexandria: A new exhibit features lost, imagined, and totally fake books.

For the next few months in New York City, book nerds with a penchant for esoterica can enjoy a special treat. The Grolier Club, “America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles and enthusiasts in the graphic arts,” is currently hosting Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Reporters Without Borders finds that Palestine was the deadliest place in 2024 for journalists.

Press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders released their 2024 round-up today and found that Israel’s genocidal assault made Palestine the deadliest place in the world to be a journalist this year, which they called “an unprecedented massacre.” RSF report found Read more >

By James Folta

New Jersey fights back in the face of national book-banning.

In an example of what the next four years might look like—blue states preemptively protecting the rights and freedoms of their citizens against the authoritarian creep of federal policy—New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the “Freedom to Read” Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Joseph Earl Thomas wins The Center for Fiction’s 2024 First Novel Prize.

Joseph Earl Thomas won this year’s Center for Fiction First Novel Prize for his book God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. Congratulations! The novel has made it onto several best-of-2024 lists, and has been praised as “a powerful examination of every Read more >

By James Folta

Beloved poet Nikki Giovanni has died at 81.

The national treasure Nikki Giovanni died yesterday from complications connected to lung cancer. She was 81. A decorated writer of poems, nonfiction, and children’s books, Giovanni was also a star of the Black Arts Movement. She was a devoted activist, Read more >

By Brittany Allen

UCLA’s new AI-designed literature course has the worst-looking textbook cover I’ve ever seen.

Image courtesy of UCLA’s website, but since AI-generated art can’t be copyrighted, maybe this acknowledgment doesn’t matter. UCLA announced the other day that “Comp Lit 2BW will be the first course in the UCLA College Division of Humanities to be Read more >

By James Folta

An annotated list of things Raymond Chandler hated recently sold for $2000 at auction.

What do hard-boiled eggs, actors, aspirin, and railroad travel all have in common? They all incurred the ire of Raymond Chandler. How do I know this? Because last Friday, Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers sponsored a sale of “the largest trove Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Meet Brandon Kilbourne, winner of the 25th annual Cave Canem Prize.

Today, the Cave Canem Foundation announced the winner of the 2025 Cave Canem Prize: the poet and evolutionary biologist Brandon Kilbourne. Kilbourne will receive a cash prize of $10,000, and his manuscript will be published by Graywolf Press. Formed to Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Here are the 2024 recipients of the $40,000 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant.

Since its establishment in 1972, the Whiting Foundation has been dispensing awards, grants, and all manner of support for both individual writers and arts institutions. Today, the literary arts organization has two big things to celebrate: the announcement of its Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Paul McCartney! Hannah Arendt’s poetry! “Paradise Lost”! 15 new books out today.

As the middle of December approaches, and as the wheel of the year nears the end of its long turn, it’s difficult not to reflect on what this year has meant, and what the year to come will look like. Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Don’t cross the Strand Workers Union picket line!

Image from The Strand Workers Union’s Instagram The Strand Workers Union went on strike over the weekend, walking out on Saturday over demands for better pay. The union, which represents around 100 unionized workers as part of UAW Local 2179, Read more >

By James Folta