The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

NYC and LA are holding vigils for the martyred writers, poets, and journalists of Gaza.

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 >

By Dan Sheehan

“Mean Girls!” Life lessons from Hannah Arendt! 23 new books out today.

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 >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Mahershala Ali is raising money for a Palestinian poet's family.

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 >

By Dan Sheehan

Annie Ernaux has joined the boycott of German cultural institutions.

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 >

By Dan Sheehan

The people's hero Keanu Reeves has written a novel with China Miéville.

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 >

By Emily Temple

Announcing the 2024 class of Periplus fellows.

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 >

By Literary Hub

Here are this year’s finalists for The Story Prize.

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 >

By Literary Hub

22 new books out today!

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 >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Cops search middle school for banned books in liberal Massachusetts

It’s easy to ridicule Florida for all its feverish urges to ban sexy books, but America’s latest obsession with censorship has truly gone nationwide. Towards the end of last year, in deeply blue, liberal Massachusetts (at W.E.B. DuBois Middle School Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Here's how you can help resurrect Gaza's libraries.

Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza has devastated all aspects of life in the region. The starving, traumatized survivors of relentless Israeli airstrikes spend their days digging through rubble with their bare hands. Health care workers and journalists are targeted by Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Here are the winners of the 2024 Silvers-Dudley Prizes for literary and arts journalism.

Today, the Robert B. Silvers Foundation announced the recipients of the third annual Silvers-Dudley Prizes, which recognize “outstanding achievement in literary criticism, arts writing, and journalism.” The six winners will receive a total of $135,000—with individual prizes ranging from $15,000 Read more >

By Literary Hub

These are the bestselling (new) books of 2023.

Another year has come and gone, full of best books—and also bestsellers. As it turns out, just 23 percent of the bestselling books of 2023 were actually published in 2023—which is only a slightly smaller share than last year. Backlist Read more >

By Emily Temple

New York cults! Lawrence of Arabia! 18 new books out today.

A belated Happy New Year’s to all of you! To usher in 2024—and your likely resolutions to read more books this year than before, or, at least, to read a whole bunch of them—here are eighteen new books fresh off Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Colm Tóibín! Geraldine Brooks! A guide to killing time! 19 books out in paperback this January.

2o24 is approaching! It’s hard to believe that 2023 is over, but a new year means new possibilities (always), new resolutions (maybe), and new books (once again, always). But it also means a new chance to pick up some excellent Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

These are the poets and writers who have been killed in Gaza.

One of my dreams is for my books and my writings to travel the world, for my pen to have wings so that no unstamped passport or visa rejection can hold it back.  Another dream of mine is to have Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Are you the Literary A**hole?
Ask Kristen Arnett.

Starting at the end of January, Kristen Arnett will be answering all your questions about how to get by as a writer, from the daily struggle of getting words on the page to how to behave when you’ve had too Read more >

By Jonny Diamond