African American

The importance of public libraries; director Pablo Larrain on his Pablo Neruda biopic; poet Lynn Melnick on activism and writing; and other news.

On writing centers in homeless shelters; Christopher Marlowe given Shakespeare coauthor credit; literary blog HTML Giant returns after two-year hiatus; and other news.

“Diverse” books are more likely to be banned; the legacy of Henry James; Maggie Nelson on how poetry informs her nonfiction; and other news.

Earnest versus cool prose; how poetry defamiliarizes experience; Adonis on poetry as salvation; and other news. 

New Yorker profiles Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden; a reflection on Langston Hughes’s “I, Too”; Emma Donoghue on Emily Dickinson; and other news.

Louise Glück and James McBride receive National Humanities Medals; poet Elizabeth Alexander on the Museum of African American History and Culture; Carla Hayden sworn in as fourteenth librarian of congress; and other news.

On misattributing phrases to Shakespeare; poets Wendy Xu and Anaïs Duplan on constructing narratives; a professional book critic’s love of Amazon reviews; and other news.

Frank Ocean’s literary aesthetic; beautiful libraries around the world; books in translation by women; and other news.

Poet Yona Harvey on writing for Marvel Comics; publishers react to recent firing of Barnes & Noble CEO; fiction writer Leopoldine Core on voyeurism and obsession; and other news.