The Best of the Literary Internet, Every Day
TODAY: In 1924, James Baldwin is born. This year is his 100th birthday.
- Celebrating a century of James Baldwin’s life and work on his birthday. | Lit Hub
- “Baldwin doesn’t judge; he observes, leaving his readers to judge.” Tom Jenks on reading—and rereading—James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” | Lit Hub Criticism
- Colm Tóibín on the enduring influence of James Baldwin: “I think what’s terribly important about Go Tell It on the Mountain is that almost no white person gets to speak.”| Lit Hub In Conversation
- Natalia Olbinski chronicles the long, strange trip she took while designing the cover of Ruby Todd’s Bright Objects. | Lit Hub Design
- “In fiction, place is where the writer and reader first collaborate.” Bret Anthony Johnson on creating a story’s foundation. | Lit Hub Craft
- “To understand Charles Perrault better, we should perhaps explain a little of the labyrinthian path that has led him to this salon.” Read from Clare Pollard’s new novel, The Modern Fairies. | Lit Hub Fiction
- On “planetary turn,” Anthropocene literature, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. | Public Books
- Where do your reading habits come from? And should you change them? Molly Templeton contemplates. | Reactor
- Anna Krauthamer considers Sarah Maguso’s new novel, Liars, and the narrative function of rage. | The New Republic
- Neil Gaiman denies new sexual assault and abuse allegations by two women. | The Bookseller
- “Motherhood is crunchy. There is a sonic weight to it. It makes noise. Like eating potato chips in a quiet room, I am painfully aware of how loud this benign event is.” Gloria Alamrew on the sound of motherhood. | Hazlitt
- James Baldwin’s life in pictures. | The New York Times
- “Food is a culture connector, but I discovered that only a couple of years into my immigration.” Poet Elina Katrinon on writing in three languages, sensory memories, and “(un)belonging.” | Asymptote
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