Posted on by

David Means Wins the 2025 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story

“David Means has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the short story form throughout his decades-long career,” said Malamud Committee Chair Jung Yun. “His six collections to date serve to remind readers how finely observed, emotionally compelling, and formally inventive a short story can be, particularly in the hands of a craftsperson like Means who possesses such a clear understanding of the powers and pleasures of the form…”

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard

“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.” So reads the 10th of “10 Rules of Writing” (2007) by Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), the New Orleans-born, Detroit-raised, Hollywood-savvy author who changed the nature of crime stories (in print and on screen) while becoming one of the most successful and highly regarded writers of his genre and generation. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

Tool To Identify Poisonous Books Developed by University of St Andrews

Historically, publishers used arsenic mixed with copper to achieve a vivid emerald green colour for book covers. While the risk to the public is “low”, handling arsenic-containing books regularly can lead to health issues including irritation of the eyes, nose and throat along with more serious side-effects. The toxic pigment in the book bindings can flake off, meaning small pieces can easily be inhaled. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

German Poet Durs Grünbein, British Translator Karen Leeder Win Griffin Poetry Prize

The $130,000 prize is the world’s largest prize for a single book of poetry written in or translated into English. Because the winning book is a translation from German, the Griffin Poetry Prize will allocate 60 per cent of the prize to the translator and 40 per cent to the original poet. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

Novels Inspired by Opinion Polls? They’re Here, and They’re Weird

Pick up a novel and suddenly you’re at the whim of the author’s imagination. Plot, characters, setting — you have no say in these matters. This is part of the appeal of fiction. Now, perhaps for the first time since Choose Your Own Adventure, Tom Comitta tweaks the equation in “People’s Choice Literature,” coming out from Columbia University Press on June 3. The hefty 584-page volume contains two distinct works: “The Most Wanted Novel” and “The Most Unwanted Novel,” each incorporating results of an opinion poll on the literary preferences of 1,045 readers from across the United States. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

‘Metallic Realms’ by Lincoln Michel

…a delightfully broad satire of many things: pulp sci-fi, literary fiction, writers’ groups, MFA programs, nerds™, Brooklyn thirtysomethings, and, most of all, the possibilities and pathologies of fandom culture. It is about the joy and necessity of artistic creation, the self-consuming doubt of struggling writers, the simultaneously symbiotic and parasitic relationship between art and fandom, and the musings of one extremely odd dude. It’s a hoot. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)