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Authors pull out of Frankfurt book fair over presence of far-right groups

At least four writers have pulled out of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest book fair in the world, citing concerns over the presence of far-right publishers. Writer and activist Jasmina Kuhnke, who was slated to make an appearance at the fair Friday to promote her debut novel, “Black Heart,” posted a statement Monday on Twitter saying she decided to withdraw after learning that far-right books were being promoted at the event. Read more

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‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Author Margaret Atwood Faces Backlash for Gender Neutrality Tweet

On Tuesday, Atwood tweeted out an article by Rosie DiManno from Friday’s Toronto Star entitled “Why Can’t We Say ‘Woman’ Anymore?” The opinion piece argues that gender-neutral language, such as “pregnant person,” equates to “an erasure of women” and causes “well-meaning” people to become “tongue-tied, lest they be attacked as transphobic or otherwise insensitive to the increasingly complex constructs of gender.” Read more

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The Black Mountain Institute will cease publishing venerable Believer literary magazine

Founded in 2003 by authors Ed Park, Vendela Vida and Heidi Julavits and originally published by McSweeney’s, Dave Eggers’ independent publishing house, the Believer is known for its offbeat content and upbeat critical philosophy. Its articles by authors both established and emerging have earned multiple nominations for National Magazine Awards. Nick Hornby, Peter Orner, Amy Sedaris, Susan Straight, Anne Carson, William T. Vollmann and others have contributed to the publication. Read more

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How Oscar Wilde evolved from poet and playwright to symbol of martyrdom and individualism

Oscar Wilde’s birthday is Oct. 16 — he was born on that day in 1854 — and there’s a simple way to both celebrate it and give yourself a present: Pick up a copy of “Oscar Wilde: A Life,” by Matthew Sturgis, an authority on the 1890s whose previous works focused on the artists Walter Sickert and Aubrey Beardsley. Without supplanting Richard Ellmann’s beautifully written “Oscar Wilde” — which a young reviewer bearing my name enthusiastically reviewed in 1988 — Sturgis’s biography is now the fullest one-volume account of the iconic fin-de-siècle writer, aesthete, wit and gay martyr. Read more

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Three Men Win Million-Euro Literary Prize Having Posed as Female Author

Speculation on the identity of one of Spain’s most prominent crime thriller writers, who wrote under the name Carmen Mola, ended on Friday when three men rose to accept the 2021 Premio Planeta literary prize — worth one million-euros — for Mola’s currently unreleased work “The Beast.” Read more

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Hanif Abdurraqib wins the Gordon Burn prize for A Little Devil in America

Abdurraqib’s book is a meditation on Black performance in the modern age, moving from Beyoncé’s Super Bowl half-time show to Aretha Franklin’s funeral. It is inspired by Josephine Baker’s words: “I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.” It topped a six-strong shortlist featuring titles including Jenni Fagan’s Luckenbooth and Salena Godden’s Mrs Death Misses Death, to win the prize, which celebrates “literature that is fearless in both ambition and execution”, in honour of the late writer Gordon Burn. Read more

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