Next-Level Diversity: Beyond Faces and Names
The author of Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird (Norton, 2025) encourages writers to consider a deeper definition of diversity and embrace alternative storytelling styles and structures.
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Genre: Fiction
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
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Written and directed by Laura Piani, this French romantic comedy follows a bookseller at the legendary bookshop, Shakespeare and Company, who dreams of experiencing love akin to a Jane Austen novel and becoming a writer. The film stars Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson, and Annabelle Lengronne.
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Ann Patchett on Her Writer’s Life
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In this BBC News interview, Ann Patchett speaks about her journey as a writer, the shared themes in her novels, and the unexpected joy she found from owning a bookshop. “There are always going to be people who want to read,” she says. “I’m here to serve the people who still want to read a book.”
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Complimentary
What kind of effect can a casual, offhand compliment have on a stranger? According to social psychology research, compliments benefit both the giver and receiver, spread positive emotions, and are usually more welcome than expected. This week write a short story in which the bestowing of a compliment has a ripple effect and transforms, in slight or significant ways, the lives of both the giver and the receiver. Spend some time considering how you wish to set up the trajectory of each character before the compliment is given and what compels this exchange to occur. Is the admirer moved to say something in the moment or is this something they’ve been wanting to say for a long time?
Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Entry Fee:
$0
Deadline:
May 1, 2025
A prize of $25,000 and a two- to three-day residency at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan, is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction published
Laila Lalami: The Dream Hotel
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In this Poured Over: The Barnes & Noble Podcast episode hosted by Miwa Messer, author Laila Lalami talks about the quickly evolving nature of surveillance technology and how a conversation with her husband about data privacy led her to write her novel The Dream Hotel (Pantheon, 2025).
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Trailer: The Friend
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Watch the trailer for The Friend, a film adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award–winning novel of the same name. Written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the film stars Ann Dowd, Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, and Bing the Great Dane.
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Jeremy Gordon: See Friendship
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In this Green Apple Books event, Atlantic senior editor Jeremy Gordon reads from his debut novel, See Friendship (Harper Perennial, 2025), and talks about the decision to write a book of fiction amidst a career in journalism in a conversation with New Yorker staff writer and author Jay Caspian Kang.
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Dream Count
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In this Late Night With Seth Meyers interview, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses the process of writing Dream Count (Knopf, 2025), her first novel in ten years, and how turning to poetry and the memories of her mother inspired her. “I have always felt that poetry nurtures your language and I read it to remind me of the magic of language,” she says.
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Influenced
In Matt Spicer’s 2017 dark comedy film Ingrid Goes West, Aubrey Plaza stars as a woman obsessed with social media who moves to Los Angeles after a brief stint in a psychiatric ward and attempts to befriend her influencer idol which eventually leads to chaos. The satire makes clear the extent to which the use of social media can be a type of performance and the potential destruction that may result from mistaking artifice for truth. Write a short story in which one of your main characters interacts with social media in a way that has dramatic repercussions due to their excessive trust in digital personas and confusion between reality and life online. You might play around with describing and presenting social media posts, language, and imagery in an innovative way.
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