For the first time, China has more than 100 incarcerated writers, and Israel and Russia entered the list of the 10 countries with the most imprisoned writers. Read more
Category: Authors
The Essential Joan Didion
Didion was not really out to inspire us. She was looking at us and telling us what she saw, including our compulsion to weave myths for survival. Her distinctive prose and sharp eye were always tuned to an outsider’s frequency, even when she was actually an insider (as with most of her writing on Hollywood). Her essays are almost reflexively skeptical; she wrote with authority borne not so much from experience as from a refusal to give in to dogma. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
A Novelist Who Finds Inspiration in Germany’s Tortured History
She became a writer because her country vanished overnight. Jenny Erpenbeck, now 57, was 22 in 1989, when the Berlin Wall cracked by accident, then collapsed. She was having a “girls’ evening out,” she said, so she had no idea what had happened until the next morning. When a professor discussed it in class, she said, it became real to her.
The country she knew, the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, remains a crucial setting for most of her striking, precise fiction. Her work, which has grown in acuity and emotional power, combines the complications of German and Soviet history with the lives of her characters, including those of her own family members, whose experiences echo with the past like contrapuntal music.
Her latest novel to be translated into English, “Kairos,” has been a breakthrough. It is now on the shortlist for the International Booker Prize and considered a favorite to win the award late next month. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
The Essential Stephen King
You Probably Haven’t Heard of These Two Remarkable Fantasy Writers
We’ve all seen those headlines — you know the kind — that run something like, “The best American fantasy writer you’ve never heard of.” Who could that be, we wonder? Well, two possible answers to that particular question are Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) and Avram Davidson (1923-1993). It’s a safe bet you haven’t heard of either of them. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Nation’s Top Poets to Gather for Robert Frost’s 150th Birthday
From March 20-24, 2024, San Diego will transform into a poetic hub where creativity, inspiration, and passion converge. This once-in-a-lifetime Sesquicentennial event will showcase some of the brightest stars in poetry, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy K. Smith, Ruth Lilly Prize-winner Allison Joseph, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Bruce Weigl, and Guggenheim Fellowship winner Jay Parini. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
The Essential James Baldwin
James Baldwin would have turned 100 on Aug. 2 this year. His final works were published almost 40 years ago, just two years before his death in 1987. Yet his writing is as imperative as ever. He wrote with the kind of moral vision that was as comforting as it was chastising — almost surely the influence of the pulpit he once occupied as a child preacher in his native Harlem. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
A Reader’s Guide to Laurie R. King
With any prolific author, readers are likely to have particular favorites, which may not be the same as anyone else’s. Your list is likely to be just as good as mine – but here are the ones I recommend. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
The Old Man at Christmas
The humorist Jean Shepherd—whose writings inspired A Christmas Story—left a surprisingly deep impression on American culture. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
A Masterpiece That Inspired Gabriel García Márquez to Write His Own
For decades, Juan Rulfo’s novel, “Pedro Páramo,” has cast an uncanny spell on writers. A new translation may bring it broader appeal. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
