The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Join the thousands of writers who have signed this letter for Gaza.

Yesterday, a group of writers, editors, and academics known as the Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG)—an ad hoc coalition committed to solidarity and the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people and modeled on American Writers Against the War Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Listen to the only recording of Shirley Jackson's voice—as she reads two of her best stories aloud.

This spooky season, why not get under the covers and let Shirley Jackson read to you? It is possible, thanks to the magic of the internet. In 1960, five years before her death, Shirley Jackson recorded readings of “The Lottery” Read more >

By Emily Temple

Dory Fantasmagory author Abby Hanlon has the real Tubtown toy.

The child who got us onto the Dory Fantasmagory books was fiercely cool and advanced at age 5: she dressed as Beetlejuice for Halloween, wore eyeliner, and once told my kid that she caught her mom putting money under her Read more >

By Janet Manley

Read the last words of writer Heba Abu Nada, who was killed last week by an Israeli airstrike.

Novelist, poet, and educator Heba Abu Nada, a beloved figure in the Palestinian literary community and the author of Oxygen is Not for the Dead, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Friday. She was thirty-two years old. In her final Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Jesmyn Ward! K-Ming Chang! Tim O'Brien! Here are 25 new books out today.

We’re nearing the end of October, and that can mean many things to many a person: that you really need to figure out what costume you’re going to wear to that party because you’ve put it off all month; that it’s Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Here are the winners of the 2023 Hugo Awards.

The winners of the 2023 Hugo Awards—one of science fiction and fantasy’s most prestigious awards, decided by the popular vote of WorldCon members—were presented this weekend at the 81st WorldCon in Chengdu, China. Here are the winners in the literary Read more >

By Literary Hub

20 spooky short stories you can read for free online.

The leaves are amassing, the skeletons are out, and enormous bags of candy fill the grocery store aisles and threaten to spill their chocolates right into your mouth, through absolutely no fault of your own. Yep, it’s officially spooky season. Read more >

By Emily Temple

Marty and Leo are bringing another David Grann book to the big screen.

It would appear that Martin Scorsese, Leo DiCaprio, and David Grann’s recent creative ménage à trois was so damn satisfying for all involved that the trio have decided to go for another roll in the hay. Yes, just as Killers of the Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

A new $25,000 book prize will recognize the best new literature about the arts.

Attention all writers who write about writing (or painting, or dancing, or music…): the Interlochen Center for the Arts and The Pattis Family Foundation have established a new annual award that seeks to recognize “outstanding works of fiction or nonfiction” Read more >

By Literary Hub

What to read right now on Gaza and the Hamas-Israel war.

The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. At the time of this writing, some 4,200 people have been killed in Gaza in the last ten days—including over 1,000 children—hundreds of them in a horrifying explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital Read more >

By Literary Hub

Watch the sinister trailer for the adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen.

It’s time: the adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s first novel, Eileen—which she once described as her attempt at “a mainstream book a normal person could read”—is coming to theaters on December 1. Directed by William Oldroyd (who also directed the excellent Read more >

By Emily Temple

Check out 24 excellent new books out today.

It’s the middle of October already, and, if time shows no sign of slowing, the same is true for the pace of new books coming out this month. No matter what you’ve been doing—planning a costume, consuming Halloween candy before Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Here's how you can help people in Gaza right now.

Now in its eighth day, the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening, with Israel cutting off access to food, water, fuel and electricity for the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million residents and unleashing wave after wave of air strikes that Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

Send your favorite Florida resident a banned book—for free.

According to PEN America, Florida is one of the worst states in the country for those who care about the freedom to read: 13 school districts in Florida banned books in the second half of 2022—more than in any other Read more >

By Literary Hub

Here are the winners of the 2023 Kirkus Prize.

On Wednesday, at a ceremony at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York, Kirkus Reviews announced the three winners of the 10th annual Kirkus Prize: one each in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers’ Literature. The winners were chosen from a list Read more >

By Literary Hub

Salman Rushdie's memoir of the attempt on his life will be published next year.

As reported by Publishers Weekly earlier this morning, Random House will publish Salman Rushdie’s new memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, on April 16, 2024. The book will mark Rushdie’s first time speaking at length about the brutal attack he Read more >

By Dan Sheehan