Lit Hub Weekly: March 21 – 25, 2022

TODAY: In 1904, American author and mythology expert Joseph Campbell is born, thus beginning his hero’s journey.

How do we mourn without funerals? Olivia Clare Friedman considers grief without ritual. | Lit Hub
Helen Humphreys reflects on the “slippage” between her world and Sylvia Plath’s. | Lit Hub
Ridicule and redemption: What Hopi traditions of the “shame clown” can teach us about healthy uses of shame. | Lit Hub History
Your complete literary guide to Sunday’s Oscar ceremony. | Lit Hub 2022 Oscars
New titles by Anne Tyler, David Keenan, María Gainza, and Stephen Galloway all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
“There’s scares in them thar hills.” Matthew Lyons on the new essential horror fiction of the American West. | CrimeReads
John Tirman recommends books that illuminate the trauma of civilians caught in wars. | The Washington Post
Ostap Kin revisits Ukrainian poetry of the late 20th century with titles that “present vibrant poetic voices, showcasing a wide array of techniques, forms, and themes.” | Los Angeles Review of Books
“How can I move through the world knowing that the men who think these thoughts are real?” Elaine Hsieh Chou on the public and private violence against Asian women. | The Cut
Take a deep dive into Patricia Highsmith’s literary (and personal) relationship with snails. | Vulture
“To visit a place is to visit all the times you’ve been in that place. Spaces hold stories.” Read a profile of Jennifer Egan. | Vogue
Why should we read fiction in a burning world? (No, the answer has nothing to do with empathy.) | Gawker
What are the best science fiction books of all time? | Esquire
Charley Locke recommends the practice of keeping a commonplace book, “filled with quotes, lines from books and songs and poems and conversations that stuck with me.” | The New York Times
“If a book is challenged, it probably means that it’s saying something honest and vulnerable and true.” Maia Kobabe reflects on authoring a memoir that’s been banned from some schools. | Slate
Dionne Brand, Simone Browne, Lauren Michele Jackson, Claire Schwartz, and Adania Shibli revisit Toni Morrison’s only published short story, “Recitatif.” | Jewish Currents
“Time is not a river. It’s a lake.” Samantha Hunt on alcohol and the hauntings of family history. | The New Yorker
Why don’t we acknowledge the danger public librarians face? | Electric Literature
Megan Mayhew Bergman takes a look at the state of Florida’s endangered panther population and recent efforts to protect them. | The Guardian
“I’m so tired of bending my body around a life that was never made to fit me. Instead, I want to remake the world to fit around me.” Lyz Lenz on motherhood, writing, and the necessity of selfishness. | Men Yell at Me
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died Wednesday at 84, authored a number of books on history and foreign policy. | NPR