TODAY: In 1891, Zora Neale Hurston is born.
- “Frankly, I don’t know how to write a novel—and I say that having written a novel.” Miranda Popkey talks to Kristin Iversen about life as a narrative. | Lit Hub
- The power of fiction? How Ivan Turgenev’s short stories helped convince Czar Alexander II to liberate the serfs. | Lit Hub
- Chuck Palahniuk recommends digging ditches to tackle writer’s block, editing in a bad mood, and The Hunger. | Lit Hub
- “Hollywood doesn’t like their black women subtle.” Chloé Hilliard on confronting racist stereotypes in Hollywood’s casting rooms. | Lit Hub
- Has listening become a lost art? Kate Murphy on evolving modes of communication in the 21st century. | Lit Hub Science
- Jess Lourey recommends new crime fiction series for a new year. | CrimeReads
- Jerome Charyn recommends five books that invoke invisibility, from The Metamorphosis to Moby-Dick. | Book Marks
- “It’s okay to imitate Saunders, just not in the hapless, superficial way you’re doing it.” Benjamin Nugent on the proper way to stan (and yes, steal ideas from) short story master George Saunders. | The Paris Review
- “There’s something self-destructive about this essay, and I’m grateful to the London Review of Books for rejecting it.” Nell Zink on Dotoevsky, Walser, and…a lot of other people! | N+1
- What better actress to sit in on your creative writing class than one starring in a play in which she portrays a terminally ill creative writing professor? Mary-Louise Parker drops in on Leslie Jamison’s Columbia course. | The New Yorker
- Will you accept these six books to read if you love The Bachelor? | The New York Times
- France’s culture minister is considering whether to strip author Gabriel Matzneff of his state pension following accusations by publisher Vanessa Springora that Matzneff raped her as a minor. | France 24
- “He was a truth seeker and a truth speaker.” On the book club inspired by Nipsey Hussle. | The Los Angeles Times
- What does your choice of dialogue tags exclaim about you? | Jane Friedman
Also on Lit Hub: On the mathematical problem of human creativity • 12 books you should read in January • Read from Chris McCormick’s debut novel The Gimmicks.
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