Lit Hub Daily: June 15, 2017

• 14 curious (and charming, and sad) telegrams from (or to) famous writers. | Literary Hub
• What would Kurt Vonnegut think of Donald Trump? | Literary Hub
• 5 reasons why a writer should move to St. Paul, the “most livable city in America.” | Literary Hub
• How many false starts does it take to write a novel? (Many, the answer is many.) | Literary Hub
• David L. Ulin on Joan Didion’s shift from fiction to memoir, and writing through grief. | Literary Hub
• Stephanie G’Schwind on the odd and mysterious history of the weirdest organ in the body. | Literary Hub
• A Horse Walks Into a Bar by Israeli author David Grossman has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. | The Man Booker Prizes
• “Camping is dumb and fuck lakes and grass sucks.” An interview with Tommy Pico. | Vol. 1 Brooklyn
• That epic of magic and monsters and fraternal friendship contains many slivers of romance: On The Tale of Beren and Lúthien, a new book edited by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher. | The New Republic
• Disdain for critics is perennially popular: Adam Kirsch on the often antagonistic relationship between artists and critics (and the oft-criticized Donald Trump). | The New York Times
• “Western governments [are] always talking about the importance of human rights and religious freedoms. . . while relegating their Muslim residents to a kind of second-class citizenship.” An interview with Souad Mekhennet, author of I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad. | VICE
• Everyone enjoys a good literary feud: On Richard Ford’s 15-year resentment of Colson Whitehead over a bad review. | The Guardian
• Youaregoingtokillme: A short story by Matthew Sullivan. | Joyland

Also on Lit Hub: Stefanie Maclin-Hurd on the powers of the librarian · Paul Holdengraber talks to the UK’s preeminent magician, Derren Brown · Take an early look at Black Moses, by Alain Mabanckou.