Year: 2026

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French Literature Is in an Uproar

If you have never picked up a book in French, you might not ever have even heard of Grasset, and what it might mean to have its longtime chief executive Olivier Nora effectively guillotined by the rapacious right-wing industrialist Vincent Bolloré. And yet, in France, the news of Mr. Nora’s sudden departure from his post quickly flew beyond the borders of Parisian publishing and cultural elite circles. In the aftermath, over 200 writers — myself included — walked away from Grasset. This is not just a story about the French publishing industry. The evident struggle between Mr. Bolloré and Mr. Nora is a microcosm of the battle for cultural control that is taking place globally between the wealthy new right and the cultural old guard. Think Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post, Rupert Murdoch and Fox News. The abrupt change in leadership at Grasset, too, is a case study in the way members of the increasingly powerful ultra wealthy treat those who don’t think or see the world as they do. Read more

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Marianne Boruch Wins $100,000 Jackson Poetry Prize

Boruch is an emeritus professor of creative writing at Purdue University, where she founded the MFA program and taught for more than thirty years. She has written eleven books of poetry, most recently Bestiary Dark (Copper Canyon Press, 2021), as well as essays, memoir, and hybrid work. Her previous honors include the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for The Book of Hours (Copper Canyon Press, 2011) and numerous fellowships. Upon learning that she is this year’s Jackson Poetry Prize winner, Boruch reacted with disarming modesty, asking: “Are you kidding?” Read more

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Adaptation of ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ Coming to Netflix May 8

Based on the bestselling phenomenon by Shelby Van Pelt comes the story of Tova, a widow who forms an unlikely friendship with the curmudgeonly Marcellus — a giant pacific octopus that lives at the aquarium where she works. Unbeknownst to Tova, Marcellus is on a mission to solve a mystery that will heal the widow’s heart and lead her to a life-changing discovery. Watch trailer

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