Lit Hub Daily: February 28, 2022

TODAY: In 1895, French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol is born.  

• “What happens to language in wartime?” Ilya Kaminsky on Ukrainian, Russian, and the language of war. | Lit Hub Politics

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• Is adaptation a feminine act? Annie Berke describes how the women of Alfred Hitchcock Presents recalibrated—or totally overhauled—their source materials’ shortcomings. | Lit Hub Film & TV

• The art of the blob—or, the 10 Best Book Covers of February. | Lit Hub

• “The immense debt that Argentine culture owes to Antonio Di Benedetto has yet to be settled.” Juan José Saer on a highly original author. | Lit Hub Criticism

• Experimental verbosities: Considering the linguistics of rap. | Lit Hub Music

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• Sherry Turkle reflects on learning to understand her mother’s secret-keeping through writing memoir. | Lit Hub Memoir

• The month in literary listening: AudioFile’s best audiobooks of February. | Book Marks

• “This idea of a dialogue between the past and the present was hugely important. I think that only happens with the difficult stories.” Sarah Polley on her forthcoming essay collection. | Vanity Fair

• Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov discusses life in Kyiv right now, his novel Grey Bees, and his hopes for the future. | The New York Times

• The university library in Mosul has now reopened, eight years after its attack by the Islamic State. | The Guardian

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• “It’s a uniquely English fantasy of impertinent youth being brought to heel by its elders and betters.” James Greig on The Thursday Murder Club. | Gawker

• Barbara VanDenburgh outlines books with insight into the political history of Ukraine and Russia. | USA Today

• Translators and interpreters of Ukrainian and Russian into English have penned an open letter against the Russian invasion. | LARB

• Emerald Faith recommends unsung classics of Black queer literature. | them.

Also on Lit Hub: Learning about human senses through the animal kingdom • 5 audiobooks to get your award season fix • Read from Stéfanie Clermont’s newly translated novel, The Music Game (tr. JC Sutcliffe)

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