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“In this book of mine, Brave New World, I postulated a substance called ‘soma’...I think it’s quite on the cards that we may have drugs which will profoundly change our mental states without doing us any harm.” In this Blank on Blank animated video of a 1958 interview with journalist Mike Wallace, Aldous Huxley speaks about his 1932 novel and his predictions for the future of political leadership, propaganda, and technology.
“We must grow to become enough for ourselves, to fill our own vacancies. We must slay our own demons on our own terms.... You have to be kind to yourself so that you can keep on making your art....” In Life Without Envy, writers and creative thinkers of all types and levels of experience will learn how to slay their creative demons. DeAngelis’s helpful tips, inspiring anecdotes, and practical exercises demonstrate how to overcome feelings of negativity and competition, find support in community, and build a healthy, happy mindset as an artist.
This week, write a scene in which the main character is watching the presidential debates on television with another character and a confrontation arises over a disagreement of opinions. Have these characters just met, or are they old friends? Do their differing politics come as a surprise to the reader, or to each other, or are they expected? Politics aside, what does the disagreement reveal about the characters’ respective personalities, emotional states, and motives in relation to the narrative? Consider incorporating this scene for a short story you’ve written in the past or are currently working on in order to deepen a relationship.
“Diverse” books are more likely to be banned; the legacy of Henry James; Maggie Nelson on how poetry informs her nonfiction; and other news.
“A sentence just came out of nowhere and it said: ‘So here I am, upside down in a woman.’” In a conversation with Christopher Beha at the 92nd Street Y, Ian McEwan discusses the origins of his new novel, Nutshell (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2016), which is narrated by a fetus.
Hollywood has a long tradition of remaking films and television shows from decades gone by, including recent or forthcoming reboots of The Magnificent Seven, Die Hard, Full House, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Point Break, MacGyver, Twin Peaks, Splash, and Mary Poppins. Write a remake of a poem written between the 1960s and 1980s. Select two major elements to retain from the original poem such as setting, narrative voice, overarching formal structure, or emotional progression, and then give it a fresh, new spin by altering other aspects of the poem.
Earnest versus cool prose; how poetry defamiliarizes experience; Adonis on poetry as salvation; and other news.
“Maybe he will be the boy who studies stars. / Maybe he will be (say it) / the boy on the coroner's table / splayed & spangled / by an officer's lead as if he, too, weren't made / of a trillion glorious cells & sentences. Trying to last.” Aracelis Girmay reads an excerpt from her new collection, The Black Maria (BOA Editions, 2016), at the 2016 Split This Rock Poetry Festival.
James Patterson cancels publication of novel The Murder of Stephen King; Lidia Yuknavitch reimagines Joan of Arc; PEN releases report on China’s censorship of foreign journalists; and other news.
In this film adaptation of Rosalie Ham's debut gothic novel, The Dressmaker (Penguin Books, 2015), Kate Winslet stars as Tilly Dunnage, who returns to a small Australian town to take care of her ailing mother.
