TODAY: In 1819, Julia Ward Howe, a prominent American abolitionist and author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” is born.
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“It is a fact that if you are looking to raise llamas with another person, you are seriously considering a lifelong commitment to each other.” Aileen Weintraub on finding love in upstate New York. | Lit Hub Memoir
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When everyone in London was trying to learn Marilyn Monroe’s signature, sultry walk. | Lit Hub Biography
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Maggie Shipstead on the difference between fiction and bullshit. | Lit Hub Craft
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Do public figures’ unknowability make them easier to fictionalize? Francesca Giacco reflects on writing (a version of) Leonard Cohen. | Lit Hub
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“I felt betrayed by a place I had wanted to be in for so long.” Victoria Reynolds Farmer on visiting her feminist foremothers in an inaccessible city. | Lit Hub
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Elif Batuman’s Either/Or, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Translating Myself and Others, and Colin Barrett’s Homesickness all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Month. | Book Marks
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Boyd Morrison and Beth Morrison discuss 14th century crimes. | CrimeReads
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“While the writer needs all her intellect to write well, the manuscript may, in some instances, be weakened if the text’s voice is intellectual.” Kate Rossmanith on ditching the New Yorker voice. | Public Books
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Bernardine Evaristo talks to Rhoda Feng about Black British literature, her new memoir, and how to know when a book is finished. | Bookforum
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Are cookbooks becoming more literary? | Bon Appetit
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Jeff VanderMeer considers The Left Hand of Darkness as a climate change parable. | Orion Magazine
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Elizabeth Weil visits Emily Gould and Keith Gessen at home to talk parenting, writing memoir, and the literary internet. | New York Magazine
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Daniel Politi reports on literary life in Buenos Aires, where bookselling is better than ever. | The New York Times
Also on Lit Hub: Frances Ha is all grown up • An interview with indie press Dzanc Books • Read Tommy Orange’s story “Maheov,” from I Know What’s Best for You (ed. Shelly Oria).