Literature

In the early days of pandemic isolation, I found solace in TV. It was entertainment, of course, and perhaps a distraction, but it also became a meaningful source of connection for me. I want to study the craft of that connection, but not just for my writing life. I want to use the strange magic

I spend my winter holidays shopping at favorite indie bookstores, and curling up with books, hot chocolate, and loved ones. Lauren Oster’s terrific Smithsonian article this week about the Jólabókaflóðið—Christmas (Yule) Book Flood—helped me realize I’m not alone in centering my holiday around books. In Iceland, Christmas is synonymous with books. In Jólabókaflóðið, families and

I was just out killing time, sitting at the bar of one of my favorite watering-holes in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (Population: 14,778). I would gladly share the name of this tavern, but for reasons that will soon become obvious, I won’t, at least not here. Happy Hour had just concluded, and the place was packed

Remember the scene in You’ve Got Mail in which Kathleen Kelly tells Birdie that she’s going to close the shop? Don’t let that happen to your neighborhood treasure! Visit an indie bookstore, and pick up one of these books—for yourself or for a loved one. Big thanks to the booksellers at Sweet Pickle Books (New York,

The following is an excerpt from A Left-Handed Woman: Essays by Judith Thurman, and first appeared in Lit Hub’s The Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. * What does it mean to write like a woman? Ferrante posed that question, partly to herself, thirteen years ago, in an interview with the Italian magazine Io Donna.

‘Mindful’ is a popular poem by Mary Oliver (1935-2019), an American poet who has perhaps not received as much attention from critics as she deserves (and who has been criticised by some of those who have paid her attention). But it’s been estimated that she was the bestselling poet in the United States at the

TODAY: In 1823, the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (more commonly known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”) is first published, anonymously, in the Troy Sentinel (NY). Though the poem has long been attributed to Clement C. Moore, controversy remains over the true author.    Also on Lit Hub: Judith Thurman considers the work of

‘The Agony and the Sweat’ is the title sometimes given to one of the most memorable Nobel Prize acceptance speeches: the American novelist William Faulkner’s acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature at Stockholm in 1950. In his speech, Faulkner makes his famous statement about the ‘duty’ of writers: that they should write about ‘the

Noah Baumbach’s crackerjack, whizbang adaptation of Don DeLillo’s White Noise is one of the year’s great surprises. Not because Baumbach isn’t a superb writer and director, but because DeLillo’s 1985 novel, a satire of the “endlessly distorted, religious underside of American consumerism,” is one of the great un-filmable books, a rhetorical playground for the most

Often, at the beginning of the semester, a crow flies through the classroom. This is usually after the introductions—I ask my students what brings them to the poetry workshop I am teaching, then about what they understand as the “poetic”; and, just before the class is about to end that day, a few of them

December 20, 2022, 3:21pm Donna Tartt’s cozy/murderous winter classic The Secret History, which turned 30 this year, is Today’s December Read With Jenna Pick—and the famously publicity-agnostic Tartt answered a few questions about the book and her experiences over the last 30 years for the website. The most interesting bit of the interview (to me)

December 19, 2022, 11:01am Happy Birthday to one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, which was published on this date in 1843. Dickens—who, like all writers, needed money at the time—wrote the now-classic parable of avarice and redemption in just six weeks. With another child on the way, and

‘In This Place (An American Lyric)’ is a poem by the contemporary American poet Amanda Gorman (born 1998). The poem is an example of what is known as an occasional poem, or a poem written for a specific occasion: Gorman wrote it for the inaugural reading of the US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith at

December 19, 2022, 12:15pm For those of you anticipating—or dreading—Noah Baumbach’s new adaptation of White Noise, which officially releases on Netflix on December 30th, fun news! You can get a jumpstart and read the screenplay in its entirety, courtesy of Deadline. Tragically, the screenplay does not begin with a voiceover of Adam Driver describing moving-in day at

Well, it’s mid-December, 2022—how are we all doing? Sick, right? Yeah, we’re all sick. Not even necessarily with Covid, though it sure feels like Covid’s fault. If you, like me, are stuck in bed, wondering what to do with yourself, too discombobulated even to read, why not treat yourself to one of the year’s best

TODAY: In 1917, sci-fi author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke is born. He’s pictured here accepting the Marconi International Fellowship Award from Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 1982.     Also on Lit Hub: In defense of forgotten classic Random Harvest on its 80th anniversary • Two poems by Pier Paolo Pasolini (tr. Cristina Viti) • Read

December 16, 2022, 9:30am Lit Hub is excited to share the cover of Amy Brady’s debut book, ICE: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—A Cool History of a Hot Commodity, out from Putnam in June 2023. Ice is a captivating cultural history that examines the unexpected and unexplored ways that ice has transformed our nation

TODAY: In 1892, the first issue of Vogue is published.   Behold the 103 best book covers of the year, as picked by the experts. | Lit Hub How much pain should we tolerate for publicity? Or, when your book tour is interrupted by a near-death experience. | Lit Hub Memoir How Paul McCartney responded to the Beatles’