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Bill Gates shares his annual summer reading list, which includes Walter Isaacson’s biography Leonardo da Vinci (Simon & Schuster, 2017) and George Saunders’s novel, Lincoln in the Bardo (Random House, 2017).
A new exhibit on Tolkien’s Middle-earth; recommended literary biopics; Meg Wolitzer on feminism; and other news.
Amazon launches new line of digital stories; Zack Snyder to adapt The Fountainhead for screen; what it means to be well-read; and other news.
“The main advice I would have is to be really easy on yourself, to shut off as much as you can the voice that’s saying maybe you’re wasting your time, and maybe everything that you do is stupid.” Elif Batuman, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel, The Idiot (Penguin Press, 2017), talks to Granta about the literary model of Charles M. Schulz’s Snoopy and the blurred boundary between fiction and nonfiction.
A study on the difference between owning a print book versus an e-book; Elena Ferrante on reading and insomnia; how to read autofiction; and other news.
How true is your fiction? In his novel 10:04 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which is about a writer writing a novel, Ben Lerner blurs the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, or as he explains it in the book, his writing occurs on “the very edge of fiction.” This week, conduct your own experiment with this genre boundary. Write a short story in which you, or somebody who closely resembles you, are the main character. Incorporate autobiographical details into your narrative, and cross the line into fiction through acts of imagination that differ from your lived experience.
New York City–based independent press Four Way Books celebrates twenty-five years.
Accountant at literary agency accused of embezzling $3.4 million; the New Yorker profiles Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; inside the London offices of the Times Literary Supplement; and other news.
On Chesil Beach is a film adaptation of a 2007 novel by Ian McEwan, who also wrote the screenplay. Directed by Dominic Cooke, the movie explores the relationship of a young couple, played by Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, on the day they are wed.
As we head into the holiday weekend, consider submitting to these writing contests, all of which are given for stories, groups of poems, and essays. Each contest offers an award of at least $1,000 and publication and has a deadline of June 1.
American Short Fiction Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction will be given annually for a short story. ZZ Packer will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Boston Review Poetry Contest: A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Boston Review website is given annually for a poem or group of poems. Mary Jo Bang will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Boulevard Emerging Poets Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who has not published a poetry collection with a nationally distributed press. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $16.
Southern Humanities Review Auburn Witness Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Humanities Review is given annually for a poem of witness in honor of the late poet Jake Adam York. The winner also receives travel expenses to give a reading at Auburn University in Alabama in October with the contest judge; this year's judge is Camille T. Dungy. Entry fee: $15.
Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition: A prize of $5,000, publication in the 87th annual Writer's Digest Competition Collection, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City to meet one-on-one with four agents or editors is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay. Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in the Writer's Digest Competition Collection will also be given for a rhyming poem, a non-rhyming poem, a short story, and an essay. Entry fee: $25–$35.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
