The American Library Association has released its preliminary data on attempts to censor books or limit library resources, and the numbers are bad. From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, there were 681 “attempts to ban or restrict library resources,” targeting Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. The judges for this year’s award are Ben Fountain (Chair), Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo. The Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, including memoirs, science writing, biographies, and histories, as well as three books that tackle the pandemic. The judges for this Read more >
The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University shortlist was announced today on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. The prize, which seeks to herald a “new vanguard of British writing,” comes with a £15,000 purse; the other shortlisted writers Read more >
Good news for workers’ rights! The US arm of Verso Books has ratified its union contract 16 months after they began negotiations, making it the first publisher to have a contract with NewsGuild, “the largest union of journalists, media workers Read more >
The Literature of 9/11 is undoubtedly a rich subject that has been explored at length by people with much more extensive education than I have. But there’s a segment of novels that take place in the months leading up to Read more >
In case you needed a strong reminder that banning books is wrong—or extra motivation to read the books that have recently been targeted—LeVar Burton is here for you. During a recent appearance at Rose City Comic Com in Portland, Oregon, Read more >
In 1982, Frank Delaney of the BBC visited Roald Dahl at home for a long conversation that meandered from children’s literature to 18th-century furniture and making orange marmalade. During that visit, Dahl gave Delaney a glimpse at his writing routine, Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry, including volumes by a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and three Whiting Award winners. The judges for this year’s Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature, which includes ten titles originally written in nine different languages: Arabic, Danish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, and Spanish. The judges for Read more >
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the 10 books on the longlist for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, including two graphic novels, three coming-of-age stories, and one remix of The Great Gatsby. The judges for this Read more >
Hey nerds. Have you ever wished you could talk to your books? Or rather, have you ever wished they could talk back? Today I learned that Google has a tool that aims to help you do just that. Sort of, Read more >
Today the Dayton Literary Peace Prize announced its 2022 finalists. The only international literary peace prize given in the US, the prize “honors writers whose work uses the power of literature to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” The Read more >
The revolutionary—and highly literary—filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard died today at the age of 91. Thinking about him, and about all the books in his films (sometimes held sexily by Jean-Paul Belmondo), I was reminded of an anecdote reported by Richard Brody, Read more >
Strand Bookstore is taking the idea of the “status tote” to a whole new level and is now selling a special Bottega Veneta limited edition black tote back for $1,500. I hate it. Yes, we here at Lit Hub are Read more >
Is there any pleasure greater than flipping to the first page of a brand-new book? This week brings us a particularly delightful bounty, with new titles from Ling Ma, Sandra Cisneros, Elisa Gabbert, Jim Harrison, and more. * Ling Ma, Read more >
Let’s be honest: if you have £225,000 to spend on something as frivolous as a signed copy of The Catcher in the Rye instead of giving it to some nuns at a train station, Holden would definitely have considered you Read more >
Wow. If my math is correct, there have been 34 seasons of The Simpsons. What the hell, man. One of the most popular recurring specials in the Show That Will Not Die has always been the annual Halloween Special—aka The Read more >
If you’ve ever spent time in a Facebook parents’ group, you know that aside from the occasional good pediatrician recommendation, they are absolute nightmarish cesspools of sleep-training blowups and decidedly un-gentle Gentle Parenting evangelism. Apparently, though—as there always is with Read more >
It was announced yesterday that Josh Hawley, the senator from Missouri who will always be remembered for fleeing the very crowd he’d recently egged on with a fist, has written a book called Manhood.* The book, to be published by Read more >
