Poet in Residence
"Some words have come, some have not." An average day in the life of Barbara Brownskirt, self-appointed poet in residence at the 197 bus stop in London.
A curated selection of videos, including book trailers, brief interviews, and other literary curiosities updated daily.
Zadie Smith
The novelist, essayist, and short story writer whose most recent novel, NW, was published by Penguin Press in 2012, is seen here reading from her essay "That Crafty Feeling" at the New York Public Library in 2010.
"Flower Box"
"As if huddled on some high plain, surrounded by the sound of distantly beating drums, telling myself, 'Well, this is it.'" In this Single Sentence Animation for Electric Literature, Bianca Stone animates "Flower Box" by A-J Aronstein.
Lydia Davis
She is anything but jejune. The author most recently of the story collection Can't and Won't, published next month by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Lydia Davis answers questions about reading, writing, and translating Madame Bovary.
Writing Letters
Nina Sankovitch talks about the trove of old letters she found buried in her yard and how they inspired her to write Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Celebrating the Joys of Writing Letters, a book about about how writing, receiving, and reading letters connects us all, forthcoming next month from Simon & Schuster.
Sun, 03/16/2014 - 20:00
Bill Knott
"The way the world is not / astonished at you / it doesn’t blink a leaf / when we step from the house / leads me to think / that beauty is natural, unremarkable / and not to be spoken of / except in the course of things...." Poet Bill Knott, the author of numerous poetry collections, including Laugh at the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969–1999 (2000), passed away on March 12. His poem "Sonnet" is featured in this brief clip.
Ian McEwan
"There is a distinct difference between reading a novel and reading a novel by someone you know." The author of acclaimed novels such as Atonement, Amsterdam, Saturday, and On Chesil Beach discusses his latest novel, Sweet Tooth, at last year's Louisiana Literature Festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
Forrest Gander
Poet, essayist, and translator Forrest Gander is profiled in this clip from Brown University, where he is a professor of comparative literature and literary arts.
Gigi Rosenberg
Writer and artist coach Gigi Rosenberg performs "My Italian Haircut" at Curious Comedy in Portland, Oregon.
John Banville (Benjamin Black)
Man Booker Prize-winning author John Banville, whose pen name as a crime novelist is Benjamin Black, recently appeared on PBS NewsHour to discuss his new Philip Marlowe crime novel, The Black-Eyed Blond, and the difference between writing literary fiction and crime fiction.