Russo on Empire Falls, Replacing Libraries With Amazon Stores, and More
Paula Deen's husband wins Hemingway Look-Alike Contest; Ta-Nehisi Coates to leave role at Atlantic; a bookstore devoted to food writing; and other news.
Genre: Fiction
Suicide Club
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“The book...started with a question about confronting mortality.” Rachel Heng speaks about creating the dystopian world of her debut novel, Suicide Club: A Novel About Living (Henry Holt, 2018), and society’s obsession with immortality.
Genre:
Read More Women, Students Paint Over Kipling Poem, and More
Hanif Abdurraqib on writing something bigger than yourself; lunchtime poetry; Min Jin Lee on Han Kang’s fiction; and other news.
Wildlife
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“If you’ve got a better plan for me, tell me. I’ll try it.” Paul Dano makes his directorial debut with this film adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel Wildlife (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990) about a teenager in 1960 witnessing his parents and their marriage falling apart. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, and Ed Oxenbould, the screenplay was cowritten by Dano and Zoe Kazan.
Genre:
Roque Dalton Murder Case Reopened, Book Marginalia, and More
A day in the life of indie publisher Akashic Books; House of Representatives rejects amendment to cut funding from NEA and NEH; Lauren Groff of novels versus stories; and other news.
Fore-Edge Paintings, Neil Gaiman’s Writing Prayer, and More
John Irving wins lifetime achievement award; longlists for National Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose announced; Lin-Manuel Miranda to publish book of inspirational tweets; and other news.
Something Borrowed
Library books carry with them stories beyond their pages. “Each one shares the stories not only written on the pages, but through pen markings, coffee splatters, filled-in checkout cards, or yellowed tape stretching the book’s life out before its demise,” says artist Kerry Mansfield about her collection of old library books in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. Write a short story that revolves around a library book and the readers who have checked the book out over a period of time. What significance does this particular book have to your main character, and is this shared or contrasted with other readers? How are the readers connected and do they end up meeting each other?
Craft Capsule: Multiple Narrators
The pleasures and pitfalls of writing a novel with multiple perspectives.
Most Anticipated Books of the Second Half of 2018, House Will Vote on NEA Funding This Week, and More
How Afghan poetry helped the U.S. military; Winnie-the-Pooh illustration sells for £430,000 at auction; Kamala Harris to publish memoir in January 2019; and other news.
Ten Questions for Amy Bonnaffons
“I’m coming to believe more and more that the whole body should be engaged in the writing process.”—Amy Bonnaffons, author of the debut story collection The Wrong Heaven
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