The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Here are the winners of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards.

Last night, in a ceremony at the New School in New York City, the National Book Critics Circle announced the winners of its 2022 awards, narrowed down from an impressive list of finalists in six categories: Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Read more >

By Emily Temple

What we talk about when we talk about "cli-fi."

When the waters rise above the doors of the Chicago Cli-Fi Library at the University of Chicago and books beg to be let in, a key question asked by the gatekeepers will be “what is climate fiction?” As extreme weather Read more >

By Janet Manley

Here are the finalists for the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize.

The shortlist for the £20,000 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the biz, was announced this morning and includes four debuts. The prize, named in honor of the iconic Welsh poet who died in Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Congratulations, we did it: 1,200 book bans in 2022.

The American Library Association (ALA) tracked 1,269 demands to censor library books and other resources last year, double that of 2021 and the highest in over 20 years; the highest since the ALA began tracking such things. Of the titles Read more >

By Janet Manley

Style icon Dolly Parton is telling the inside story of her fashion journey.

Not only is Dolly Parton one of the greatest songwriters in the history of America—and more recently, one of its foremost advocates for childhood literacy—she has also been one of its true style icons. From her classic, over-the-top signature rhinestone Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Live out your Jane Austen cosplay fantasies in the Austen family home, now for sale.

Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort. Especially if your home is the Austen family’s Steventon House in Hampshire, a 6,900 square foot Georgian beauty on 51 acres, beautifully updated and complete with walled garden, swimming Read more >

By Emily Temple

This Aussie author had a book idea while 'high as a kite' after brain surgery.

She might not have written an entire book in one day, but Australian author Karina May has a pretty good, pretty sweat-smile story behind the rom-commy Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast, which comes out March 28 from Pan Macmillan Australia. Read more >

By Janet Manley

Robert Macfarlane hopes this poem can stop an axe.

Keeper of the lost words and defender of the trees Robert Macfarlane has released a poster of his poem “Heartwood” into the wild in the hopes that people will use it to support land preservation. In an Instagram post, he Read more >

By Janet Manley

Won't you read Sam Neill's book?

The media got itself into a twist this week as (old) news that your favorite friend to pigs Sam Neill had dealt with a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma hit the airwaves. Neill, who is 8 months in remission for the Read more >

By Janet Manley

Exclusive: See the cover for Benjamín Labatut’s new novel, The MANIAC.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Benjamín Labatut’s new novel, The MANIAC, which will be published by Penguin Press this fall. Here’s how the publisher describes the book: From one of contemporary literature’s most exciting new voices, Read more >

By Literary Hub

Coming to tellyboxes: An adaptation of Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo.

Crivvens! Good news has come in on the morning winds for fans of Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart. He has already teamed up with studio A24 on a TV adaptation of his 2020 Booker Prize winning novel Shuggie Bain, about a Read more >

By Janet Manley

Jonathan Franzen would like to remind you to keep your vicious little cats indoors.

Yes, that’s right, for the birds!! In a new video for PETA, Jonathan Franzen—speaking from what I can only assume is his own kitchen (pardon, could that be a new manuscript next to the stove? BE CAREFUL)—pops up yet again Read more >

By Emily Temple

Exclusive: See the cover for Bryan Washington's new novel, Family Meal.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Bryan Washington’s latest novel, Family Meal, coming this fall from Riverhead Books. Here’s a bit about the book from the publisher: From the bestselling, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot, an irresistible, Read more >

By Literary Hub

Watch President Biden award Colson Whitehead, Amy Tan their National Humanities Medals today.

Today, President Joe Biden will award 12 Americans a National Humanities Medal at the White House. Dr. Jill Biden, a woman of letters, will watch on, as can you via a live stream beginning at 4:30 pm EDT. The medals, Read more >

By Janet Manley

20 new books to check out today!

It’s the 21st of March, a Tuesday, which means a whole bunch of good, new books hitting shelves today. We hope you’ll add a few to your TBR pile. * Catherine Lacey, Biography of X  (FSG) “A] staggering achievement . Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

There’s a Banshees of Inisherin video game and you should all play it.

There is a Banshees of Inisherin video game and it is a goddamn delight. Created by marketing concern Cogs & Marvel, the game—which has a classic late 80s 8-bit aesthetic—is a Pac-Manesque collect-and-escape adventure in which you play as Colm Read more >

By Jonny Diamond

Read Mary Gaitskill's sequel (of sorts) to her classic short story "Secretary."

Today, The New Yorker published “Minority Report,” a new short story by Mary Gaitskill in which she “revisits” her classic short story “Secretary,” originally published in her 1988 collection Bad Behavior, and adapted (loosely) into a movie in 2002, starring Maggie Read more >

By Emily Temple

Petition over book by 'AIDS denialist' delivered to publisher.

A petition organized by advocacy group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) has been delivered to publisher Simon & Schuster. The petition alleges that the forthcoming The Real AIDS Epidemic: How the Tragic HIV Mistake Threatens Us All (March Read more >

By Janet Manley

See the cover for Carmen Maria Machado and J. Robert Lennon's Video Game Anthology.

Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games, edited by Carmen Maria Machado and J. Robert Lennon, which will be published by Graywolf in November. Graywolf executive editor Yuka Igarashi shared the table Read more >

By Literary Hub

Olivia Colman on playing her latest mother monster: "My little girl wouldn't cuddle me."

Olivia Colman’s mother characters have often concealed a spike beneath their smiley, feminine exteriors. There was the stepmother from hell in Fleabag—the kind of monster who mounts a sexhibition with a wall of plaster penises showcasing those of both your Read more >

By Janet Manley