Lit Hub Daily: September 30, 2020
THE BEST OF THE LITERARY INTERNET
TODAY: In 1207, Rumi is born.
- “Merwin asked why they were the only naked people, and then ‘every fucking person in the place took their clothes off.’” Didn’t think we could love W.S. Merwin more than we already did. | Lit Hub
- We cannot stress this enough: without the mighty beaver we are all well and truly screwed. | Lit Hub Nature
- “Here was the president of the United States confronting the American people over their materialism. It was a moment of breathtaking honesty.” Jonathan Alter on a crucial moment in Jimmy Carter’s presidency. | Lit Hub History
- Literature for justice: seven books that rethink mass incarceration, a reading list from the National Book Foundation. | Lit Hub Politics
- “Every nature girl and boy should be prepared to defend the places they love. Otherwise we have not earned them.” Sara Reggiani on translating Ellen Meloy and finding an unlikely home in the Utah desert. | Lit Hub Nature
- “Being a parent means discovering how little one knows about things that once seemed obvious, and for me one of these is: Is reading important?” Katherine Gaudet on raising reluctant readers. | Lit Hub
- “My face was now red, I think, and I felt sweat forming on my temples…” Jeremy Sigler does what we all want to do: goes on a rant at an Apple Store. | Lit Hub
- “When I look at masked people my brain still feels like its malfunctioning.” Darcey Steinke life in our newly masked world. | Lit Hub
- Why Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne, a three-story bookstore open from 1883 to 1929, was basically a fun fair for book lovers. | The Guardian
- Rumaan Alam interviews author and critic Charles Finch about the purpose of literary criticism. | Slate
- “I was always outspoken. The book just gave me a bigger platform to say everything I was always saying.” Viet Thanh Nguyen on how his role on the Pulitzer board transcends literature. | NBC News
- Because it’s almost October, why not brush up on these evil books in horror cinema? | SYFY
- “People, generally speaking, gravitate toward pithy phrases and simple rules, even just to end up disagreeing with them.” On Louis Sullivan, the originator of “form follows function,” and the popularity of how-to books. | Lapham’s Quarterly
- From producer Peter M. Johnson, a call to “hear more authors’ diverse views and voices on-air.” | Current
- In his new book, author Roberto Lovato “aims to reframe Salvadoran American identity itself.” | Los Angeles Times
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