National Book Award Longlist in Poetry, Stormy Daniels Memoir, and More
Bob Woodward’s Fear has already sold 1 million copies; romance novelist charged with killing husband; the fight over Franz Kafka’s manuscripts; and other news.
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Birdbrain
The National Audubon Society, National Geographic, BirdLife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have teamed up to declare 2018 the Year of the Bird, to celebrate and draw awareness to the centennial of the signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. As you go about your daily tasks this week, keep an eye out for the birds that you encounter, whether flying overhead, perched in trees, or underfoot. Write an essay inspired by the feathered friends that fly in and out of your day. What memories or emotions do birds bring to mind? Have they been symbolic of an important moment in your life?
NEA Report on Arts and Reading, Woodward on Writing Fear, and More
Gary Shteyngart on “one of the most unexpected and crushing lines in fiction”; Whiting Foundation expands its annual literary magazine prizes; Ron Charles takes down James Frey’s Katerina; and other news.
Welsh Bookstore Raffled Off to Customer, Literary Beef, and More
Saint Rita’s Traveling Bookstore; the ultimate round-up of Fall 2018 books; books everyone lies about having read; and other news.
Emma Audiobook, the Role of Public Libraries, and More
Memoir by John Steinbeck’s second wife to be published; Teju Cole on the meaning of resistance; poet Dorothea Lasky on poetry and obsessions; and other news.
Folio Acquires Harold Ober Associates, Behind the Booker Prize, and More
Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell’s illustrated essay on the importance of reading; Eileen Myles talks politics and poetry; Jonathan Lethem’s Trump-inspired detective story; and other news.
Patty Yumi Cottrell
Caption:
“It was sad. I would rather talk to my idea of a person, a fantasy ghost-person that existed only in my imagination, than talk with my own parents.” Patty Yumi Cottrell, author of Sorry to Disrupt the Peace (McSweeney’s, 2017) and a recipient of a 2018 Whiting Award in fiction, reads from her essay “My Abyss.”
Genre:
First Novel Prize Shortlist, Joyce Maynard on #MeToo, and More
Leo Tolstoy’s vegetarian cookbook; Mark Twain’s writing advice; literary podcast recommendations; and other news.
Deeper, Darker
In the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, Heather Lanier writes: “Don’t settle for your first idea or point, the thing that might have brought you to the page. Let that first point be a jumping-off place to deeper questioning.” Lanier shares an anecdote about starting an essay initially focused on exploring the etymology of a word, and then realizing it was on track to recreate a well-trod argument, a realization which steered her toward a more challenging and uncertain direction. Think of an essay topic that seems like a good idea for exploration, and then seek “the deeper questions, the ones for which you don’t have ready answers” as you write and dive into your topic. Where do you end up when you can’t see where you’re headed?
Bob Woodward’s Book on Trump, Merriam-Webster’s New Words, and More
National Book Festival breaks records; Little, Brown to reissue series of J. D. Salinger classics; Sonia Sotomayor on the power of books; and other news.
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