Finnegans Wake Set to Music, Poetry Survival Kit, and More
Jim Shepard wins $30,000 Rea Award; a protest poetry survival kit for women; study measures poetry-induced chills; and other news.
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Drive My Car
As self-driving cars get closer and closer to becoming a reality, the social interaction of driver and passenger may become a thing of the past. Think back to a significant memory you have as the driver or passenger in a motor vehicle. Perhaps it was an adventurous road trip, a taxi ride on a faraway vacation, or in a bus with classmates on your way to a field trip. Write an essay about this event and your role in it. Were you directing the way and in control, or staring dreamily out the window? Was there an argument or a memorable conversation on the journey?
Short Story Month, Patricia Lockwood’s Memoir, and More
Lisa Ko on writing and rewriting her debut novel; Tor Books launches experimental genre imprint; poet Jack Muller has died; and other news.
Barbershop Books, Congress to Fund Arts Through September, and More
Writer and editor Jean Stein has died; more than 41 percent of U.K. readers lie about what they’ve read; Elizabeth Strout on embracing childhood feelings; and other news.
Hisham Matar
Caption:
“In literature you get these magical moments when you can actually feel yourself to be somebody else...and those moments I think are incredibly important for the development of a society because they’re expansive moments.” Hisham Matar, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in autobiography for his debut memoir, The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between (Random House, 2016), talks about the role literature plays in creating social change.
Genre:
Books Are Magic, Books n Bros, and More
Poetry and prose books by Latinx authors to read for a hundred days and beyond; U.K. readers turn back to the print book while Chinese readers embrace the e-book; Almog Behar on bridging the gap between Arabic and Hebrew writers; and other news.
Handmaid’s Tale Giveaway, Robin Coste Lewis Named L.A. Poet Laureate, and More
PEN America releases report on the state of free speech in the first hundred days of Donald
Trump’s presidency; Mohsin Hamid on writing fiction and migration; the New Yorker profiles poet Morgan Parker; and other news.
Lisa Lucas Talks Books
Caption:
“Books tend to get short shrift in the cultural world,” says Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, in this interview with James Brown. Lucas speaks about the foundation’s goal to promote a love of writing and the BookUp program, which connects young people with published authors and provides free copies of books.
The Parthenon of Books, Between the World and Me Adapted for Stage, and More
Barnes & Noble names Demos Parneros as its new CEO; Michelle Dean on Granta’s “Best American Young Novelists” and the conflicting impulses of American fiction writers; Major Jackson’s “Renga for Obama” to conclude this Sunday; and other news.
A Token of Your Memory
Three current Monopoly board game tokens—the boot, the thimble, and the wheelbarrow—will be cycled out this fall and replaced with a penguin, a rubber ducky, and a T-Rex. Classic board games often get continually updated with new features, and brand new games are constantly created, but most of us have favorites and personal memories of playing board games in the past. Write an essay that focuses on an old board game you’ve held onto, or explores memories of playing, arguing, and competing with friends and family during game nights.
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