TODAY: In 1953, Herta Muller, Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature, is born.
- Jill Bialosky on the time she moved to New York City to become a famous young poet. | Literary Hub
- Scott McClanahan: “Most fiction feels like a bunch of dumb stories.” | Literary Hub
- On a poetic pilgrimage in search of Stanley Kunitz’s Provincetown garden. | Literary Hub
- These are not 1980s Womanpower witches: Read Margaret Atwood’s 1985 review of John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick. | Book Marks
- “For the first time that I can remember, I am politically troubled by a good novel doing exactly what it is that good, socially conscious novels traditionally do.” Jonathan Dee on the fate of the social novel in a time of global crisis. | Harper’s
- Are you afraid / Of the country that exists outside of your cave?: “Hymn,” a new poem by Sherman Alexie. | Early Bird Books
- “What does it mean to stay without staying, or to leave without leaving?” On the poetry of Cuban poet Dulce María Loynaz, who lived in internal exile. | The New Yorker
- In the wake of Serial, literary true crime/memoir hybrids are on the rise. | Slate
- “If I died today, the books would keep coming to the office, and I think about the poor person who would get stuck dealing with several thousand pounds of galleys each month. Which is why I plan to never die.” An interview with GQ digital deputy editor Kevin Nguyen. | Poets & Writers
- Against the Booker Prize: author and critic Amit Chaudhuri argues that “today there’s little intellectual or material investment in writers: literary prizes and shortlists are meant to sell books.” | The Guardian
- “Moving away from “useful” doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. You can still need poetry while also needing money or food or physical health.” An interview with Why Poetry author Matthew Zapruder. | Guernica
Also on Literary Hub: Michael Frank on his legendary Hollywood grandmother • Hannah Tinti learns to shoot a gun (for literature) • An excerpt from Elizabeth Day’s novel, The Party
