TODAY: In 1935, John Steinbeck’s novel Tortilla Flat is published
- WHAT COMES NEXT: Writers, activists, and organizers offer their visions of life in America beyond this pandemic, and share their ideas on how to deconstruct and rework the systems that led us to this point. With contributions from:
Bill McKibben · Ai-jen Poo · Andrew Keen · Madeline ffitch · Noam Chomsky · Elizabeth Catte · Ari Berman ·
Karen Washington · Casey Schwartz · Julian Noisecat - Defining the ethics of the writer and journalist’s gaze: Spencer Wolff on depicting the lives of refugees, in fiction and photography. | Lit Hub
- “Structure begins as a vessel for thought, but can become generative: how kids can begin to play with forms.” Nick Ripatrazone talks to English teacher Matt Carton about structure, music, and vocation. | Lit Hub
- Beyond “Migrant Mother.” Marta Bausells on the unseen work of Dorothea Lange, American master. | Lit Hub Photography
- The long-buried correspondence of Eileen Alexander reveals a feminist vision of war. | Lit Hub History
- “Mary sees herself as a more complete and unflappable being than muse or poet, wife or artist.” On Mary Oppen’s Meaning a Life. | Lit Hub
- Marc E. Fitch reflects on the “subtle horror of life that pervades literary fiction.” | CrimeReads
- Chris Power on Catherine Lacey’s Pew, Christian Lorentzen on Lionel Shriver’s The Motion of the Body Through Space, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
- Larry Kramer, the writer and AIDS activist who Susan Sontag called “one of America’s most valuable troublemakers,” died Wednesday at 84. | NPR
- “As soon as people discovered the pleasures of a diverting novel, some starchy scold swooped in to make them feel bad.” Ron Charles on the meaning of “summer reading”—this year and every other. | Washington Post
- An 1814 newspaper printing of “The Star Spangled Banner”—one of the first—will soon go to auction. | Atlas Obscura
- Essential workers in New York City are writing haiku about their experiences during the pandemic. | The City
- Scientific advancement and the triumph of reason are aims we typically associate with the Italian Renaissance. But what if we’ve been romanticizing this period too much? | New Statesman
- Could China’s entry into U.S. publishing lead to fallout for writers? | Los Angeles Times
- Looking for a jolt? Here are eight horror stories you can read online. | Chicago Review of Books
Also on Lit Hub: “Elderly Greek Scribe at a Temple of the Muses”: A poem by Reginald Gibbons • How America’s proxy wars in Indonesia and Brazil set the stage for the next 50 years • Read an excerpt from Lee Martin’s new novel Yours, Jean.
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