TODAY: In 1819, Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” (attributed to the fictional Dutch historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker) is first published in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., a collection of essays and short stories published serially throughout 1819 and 1820.
- Ilhan Omar recalls her early days of getting out the vote, and the power of first witnessing democracy in action. | Lit Hub Politics
- “You must be frightened. Fearful of coming rage.” Indigo Moor writes a letter to Sacramento. | Lit Hub
- Kim Beil on the way we name photographic trends, from the Rembrandt Effect to #sourdough. | Lit Hub Photography
- Whether your running habit is long-standing or pandemic-specific, here are 10 works of running-centric literary fiction to supplement your miles. | Lit Hub
- “Malcolm X’s eulogy of Ronald Stokes doubled as an intellectual seminar on institutional racism in the justice system.” Peniel Joseph on the death that galvanized Malcolm X against police brutality. | Lit Hub Politics
- Reckoning with the toll gymnastics takes on women’s lives, and “the sport’s systematic failure of girls and young women.” | Lit Hub Sports
- “We do not possess a list of words that reflect the qualities of Afro hair, words that demonstrate its strengths, beauty, and versatility.” Emma Dabiri on the history of Black hair. | Lit Hub History
- Just in case your TBR pile is looking a little low, here are 13 new releases hitting shelves this week. | The Hub
- Sarah Neilson recommends 17 of the most anticipated books by LGBTQIA+ authors for the second half of 2020. | Book Marks
- Can’t sleep? Neither can the protagonists of these five crime novels, recommended by Megan Miranda. | CrimeReads
- “Morrison taught us not to be afraid of our age or diminish the adventures available to us just because they didn’t manifest by the turn of a new year.” Lessons from Toni Morrison on finding success on your own timetable. | Zora
- “Possessed by some deranged self-destructive impulse, I go for a run.” Rumaan Alam’s wellness diary includes bedtime reading, The Dharma at Big Sur, and Ali Smith. | Vanity Fair
- How were booksellers able to thrive during lockdown? And now that lockdown is lifting in many places, what’s next? | Evening Standard
- A lot goes into deciding which books might make marketable movies. A look inside a new initiative called Shoot the Book! | Variety
- John Bolton’s memoir is a hot commodity on piracy websites. | Vice
- “The country cannot help those who it fails to see or hear or name.” Gabrielle Bellot on Breonna Taylor. | The Cut
Also on Lit Hub: Roddy Doyle on writing: Start with quantity, worry about quality later • The early days of voting in America involved a lot of white men drinking in taverns • Read an excerpt from Roddy Doyle’s new novel Love.
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