TODAY: In 1906, Frank Wedekind’s play Spring Awakening: A Children’s Tragedy premieres at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin under the direction of Max Reinhardt. “The policing of language has to do with fears of foreigners and vagrants, with suspicions about languages of the underground.” On the suppression of Rotwelsch, the lost language of Central Europe. |
Literature
November 20, 2020, 1:51pm Today The New York Times published their list of 100 notable books of 2020—and while plenty of our favorites made the cut, we were surprised to see there was only one short story collection on the list. Susan Minot’s Why I Don’t Write: And Other Stories, the lauded collection, is wonderful; but far
TODAY: In 1955, James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son is published by Beacon Press. “Art is made in the space between the artist and their early, chosen readers, a space that is filled with love.” Sheila Heti on the importance of finding your trusted readers. | Lit Hub Craft Rebecca Solnit: How are we supposed to
November 20, 2020, 3:05pm Next in our series of interviews with the shortlisted nominees for the 2020 Albertine Prize is Yannick Haenel, author of Hold Fast Your Crown, translated from the French by Teresa Lavender Fagan. Haenel is the author of several novels, including The Messenger, which was published in France under the title Jan Karski and won
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle delves into the origins of a famous Shakespeare quotation ‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much’ is a phrase people sometimes use in jest, especially the sort of folk who are fond of talking of heading to the nearest hostelry for flagons of ale
November 20, 2020, 3:08pm It’s been a tough week for Poets House. On Monday, the organization announced that it would temporarily suspend operations in light of financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic; today, a group of former employees claims that the closure was motivated by recent staff complaints over harassment and discrimination, along with their
I first watched The Silence of the Lambs on the TV in my parents’ darkened family room. A sometime friend of mine had somehow talked me into renting it at Video Plus, and we’d pushed a bulky square of the sectional right up to the screen, where we hunched, knees tucked up to our chests,
November 19, 2020, 3:48pm If you watched the virtual ceremony of the National Book Awards (and if you didn’t, don’t fret: watch it here), you likely had a smile on your face when John Darnielle, novelist, musician, and 2020 judge, closed the heartwarming ceremony with a live performance of “This Year” on his guitar. I was
The following is excerpted from Ismail Kadare’s novel, The Doll, translated by John Hodgson. Kadare is Albania’s best-known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2015. Hodgson (translator) has taught at the universities of
Who are the funniest female authors – whether poets, novelists, or writers of short fiction or non-fiction – in the English language? Reducing the number to just ten names is going to be a challenge, but here’s our essential pick of the funniest female voices in English (or English-language, more accurately) writing. 1. Jane Austen.
November 18, 2020, 1:45pm It’s clear already that this year’s holiday season is going to be a weird one, but here’s a cool gift opportunity that also helps out a great publication: n+1 is creating personalized reading lists for people who donate to its newest fundraiser. The initiative, called Bookmatch, asks people who donate to fill out a
Translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać “They ate, they drank, behind they left nothing for us.”–Roma fairy tale* The Slovenian pop group Zaklonišče prepeva [Air-Raid Shelter Singing] recorded the song “Samo da prođe demokratija” [“If Only Democracy Would Pass”]. Their video made the rounds in the post-Yugoslav countries on the internet and in social media when it
November 17, 2020, 2:04pm As many on this side of the pond may not know, Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford is currently all that stands between the United Kingdom and compete moral ruination. In a year where a particularly grotesque grotesquerie of Brexiteer Tories consolidated power, Rashford’s public campaigns on the issues of homelessness
Phillip Lopate spoke to Literary Hub about the new anthology he has edited, The Glorious American Essay. He recounts his own development from an “unpatriotic” young man to someone, later in life, who would embrace such writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who personified the simultaneous darkness and optimism underlying the history of the United States. Lopate
‘But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?’ is a speech made by Romeo at the beginning of Act II Scene 2 in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The whole of the speech beginning ‘But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?’ represents the consolidation and confirmation of Romeo’s love for Juliet, as he echoes his
November 16, 2020, 3:44pm Terry McMillan broke the most exciting literary adaptation news of the month on Friday afternoon when she tweeted this to her 263k followers: So, WAITING TO EXHALE is going to be a TV series. Produced by Lee Daniels. Attica Locke and Tembi Locke are writing. Anthony Hemingway will direct. I lucked
A few days ago, I read the first chapters of the latest draft of a novel written by a friend. I had reviewed her previous book for the London Review of Books, at which time I didn’t know her. That was about eight years ago, and afterwards we developed a correspondence. I would ask how
November 13, 2020, 9:00am Good morning! Here are some cool, true facts that we now know about Jonathan Franzen’s next novel. 1. It will be published by FSG on October 5, 2021. 2. It will be called Crossroads: A Novel: A Key to All Mythologies, Volume 1 3. Yes, that means it will be the