Lit Hub Daily: June 28, 2021

• “In the vast majority of novels I read, nostalgia served as a harbinger for racism, and southern pride was a stand-in for white fragility.” Anjeli Enjeti on the unbearable whiteness of southern literature. | Lit Hub Criticism

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• Hope, joy, and rage: a photo essay from Angela Rose Brussel, captured one year ago at Occupy City Hall in NYC. | Lit Hub Photography

• Erin Flanagan recommends romances for Hot-Everybody Summer, in which “the concept of joy is not exclusive to one demographic.” | Lit Hub Reading Lists

• “Both Child and James write for the same reason they read books growing up: escape.” Heather Martin searches for—and finds—uncanny connections between indie novelist Heidi James and thriller royalty Lee Child. | Lit Hub

• Saskia Vogel reflects on translating Linda Boström Knausgård’s autobiographical novel, in which “the bounds of fantasy and reality become porous.” | Lit Hub Translation

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• Eric Nguyen’s Things We Lost to the Water, Anuk Arudpragasam’s Story of a Brief Marriage, and more rapid-fire book recs from Megha Majumdar. | Book Marks

• Kelsey McKinney recommends eight beach reads perfect for lovers of the literary novel. | Jezebel

• Stonewall Honor winner Leah Johnson discusses her new YA novel, her creative process, and the power of live music. | BookPage

• “We build ladders made of myths and misconceptions.” Nina MacLaughlin illuminates humanity’s long-standing lunar fascination. | The Paris Review

• “Very few people are willing to make the step to be in opposition to the apparatus of power, because we’re ambitious.” Sarah Schulman unpacks the historical legacy of ACT UP and the messy joy of political commitment. | Jacobin

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• Gene Seymour on the dangers and rewards of speculative fiction. | Bookforum

• “You don’t want to miss out on the zeitgeist, so you get the book that everyone’s talking about.” Welcome to BookTok. | The Guardian

• Frankie Miren on writing her debut novel and developing a “space for more complex, conflicting accounts of what it feels like to be a sex worker.” | VICE

Also on Lit Hub: Orsola Casagrande recommends books that explore Venice • Richard Sanger on the surprises and banalities hidden in shorthand • Read from Alex Phelby’s new novel, Lucia