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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

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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

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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

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‘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

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