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Kafka’s Metamorphosis turns one hundred this month; multicity literary event series benefits PEN Emergency Fund; Random House vice president leaves to focus on writing; and other news.
"The mission of Deep Vellum is... to promote and foster the art and craft of translation." Will Evans, founding publisher and executive director of Deep Vellum Publishing, speaks about the need for translation in contemporary literature and his hopes for a more vibrant literary culture. The Dallas-based press is featured in Small Press Points in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Write a letter to a friend you’ve lost touch with for at least ten years—perhaps you haven’t spoken to each other because of a falling-out or one of you moved to a new town. What do you remember about the last time you saw this person? Reflect upon the ways in which you have changed and remained the same from who you were ten years ago. Examine the emotions that surface when you think about this old friend and your relationship, and the physical places that your memories take you.
Amazon vice president responds to New York Times investigative article; rare “Sinners Bible” up for auction; Tim Parks on Primo Levi; and other news.
Kathleen Jamie reads "The Whale-watcher" from her poetry collection The Tree House (Picador, 2004). Jamie's poetry was published in Issue 131 of Granta, which is featured in Literary MagNet in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Vladimir Nabokov said, “Although we read with our minds, the seat of artistic delight is between the shoulder blades. That little shiver behind is quite certainly the highest form of emotion that humanity has attained when evolving pure art and pure science. Let us worship the spine and its tingle.” Try your hand at writing a spine-tingling tale. You might create a feeling of mystery or unease by introducing a creepy premise in the first sentence, or decide to lull the reader into a sense of security with a few run-of-the-mill details before unleashing an element of horror.
"I've learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns. That's why writers, for example, like to establish routines for themselves." Choreographer Twyla Tharp explains how creativity comes from the willingness to work hard and make it a habit. The book includes thirty-two practical exercises to inspire people across the creative spectrum to become more productive.
"What puts the mean in some of us?" Ada Limón reads her elegy, "Marketing Life for Those of Us Left," in this video for the Academy of American Poets. Limón's fourth poetry collection, Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions, 2015), is a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award.
Proust’s madeleine began as toast; print vs. digital battle may be over; David Lynch announces hybrid memoir/biography; and other news.
A literary history of whales; Nobel Prize–winning author Svetlana Alexievich profiled at the New Yorker; Margaret Atwood on her new novel; and other news.
