TODAY: In 1993, Maya Angelou recites her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration.
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Ethan Warren considers love, war, and the ethos of James Herriot in the PBS series All Creatures Great and Small. | Lit Hub Film & TV
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Jared Yates Sexton reflects on growing up with conspiracy theories and end-times prophecy: “Through the mythology, I crafted for myself a complicated narrative of how the world worked, creating a story in which I was a warrior in a much larger war.” | Lit Hub Politics
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Economist Ha-Joon Chang examines our misconceptions about poverty in poor countries. | Lit Hub History
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Dawn Raffel recommends books of very short stories. | Lit Hub Reading Lists
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Bret Easton Ellis’s The Shards, Colm Tóibín’s A Guest at the Feast, and Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
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“How did so many people convince themselves that ‘pony’ and ‘horse’ are the same word, or, at least, close enough?” Christine Smallwood on Sold a Story and the failure of the “balanced-literary” method. | NYRB
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Ryan Ruby surveys the poetry of A.E. Stallings. | The Nation
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“There’s some analogy to be had between a ghostwriter and a tailor—both have got to make their client look well cut and elegant.” James Fox on Prince Harry’s memoir and the work of the ghostwriter. | Air Mail
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“These attacks on drag shows and performers strike at the heart of our rights to gather, read, and perform together.” On drag queen story hours in public libraries and free expression. | PEN America
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Dan Kois explores Lorraine Louie’s iconic Vintage Contemporary covers. | The New Yorker
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“To desire is to make ourselves vulnerable; to come up empty-handed hurts.” Benjamin Schaefer considers professional jealousy and the power of embracing disappointment. | Electric Lit
Also on Lit Hub: Susan Griffin on following the sounds of words • Read from Bridget Pitt’s latest novel, Eye Brother Horn