TODAY: In 1886, Zoe Byrd Akins, who won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1935 for her dramatization of Edith Wharton’s The Old Maid, is born.
- The best book covers of October aren’t terribly spooky—unless good design keeps you awake at night. | Lit Hub
- Eclipsed by the racial shadow of Shakespeare’s Othello: Aatif Rashad on Edward Said, Ayad Akhtar, and depictions of violent brown men. | Lit Hub
- Almost lost arts: here’s what traditional papermaking looks like in 2019. | Lit Hub
- When the US decided the Menominee Tribe was no longer a nation: Ada Deer on her mother’s fight for tribal sovereignty in the 1960s. | Lit Hub
- North America’s largest crime and mystery convention is this weekend! Ahead of the conference, crime writers discuss the state of the genre. | CrimeReads
- From Carmen Maria Machado to the Astro Poets, check out these 9 witchy new books for Halloween. | Book Marks
- “He just didn’t want others writing any more about him. He wanted to set the story straight”: Prince’s literary agent on what it was like to finish the musician’s memoir after his death. | The Hollywood Reporter
- An interview with author Sara Nović and illustrator Alison Kolesar. Their new book, America Is Immigrants, features illustrated profiles of immigrants and refugees from every country in the world. | The Mantle
- Here’s a convincing argument for turning Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other into an anthology series. | Vogue
- “Well, it’s better than getting a face tattoo.” Debbie Harry discusses her memoir. | Rolling Stone
- On Jonathan Safran Foer and the other literary “climate sad bois.” | The Nation
- Both the wallpaper and the man are gone, but you can still stay in the hotel where Oscar Wilde died. | Spectator Life
- “Studied calm? Dramatic flair? Trance-inducing monotone?” On John Ashbery’s reading voice. | The Paris Review
Also on Lit Hub: The honorable mentions for the 2019 Reading Women Award, from The Yellow House to Know My Name and more • On the fine line between self-preservation and self-deception • Cinelle Barnes on raising a brown girl who believes she can be a writer • Read an excerpt from Mark Barr’s debut novel Watershed.
