8 Magical Libraries in Literature

I suspect many writers spend hours and hours at their local library and, if they’re anything like me, they can often feel like they’re swallowed up in a grandiose, if not downright mythological reservoir of knowledge. I remember living in Los Angeles, going to the Los Angeles Public Library, sitting at long tables and reading […] The post 8 Magical Libraries in Literature appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-11 11:00:00 UTC ]

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11 Books by Filipino American Authors You Should Be Reading

The first time I read a book about a person who even minorly resembled me, I was 19 and teaching at a creative writing summer camp. My coworker Sophie Lee’s YA novel What Things Mean tells the story of a young Filipina girl named Olive who uses reading to cope with feelings of loneliness and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Young Woman’s Formative Queer Affair With a Married Lover

Many of us know Michelle Hart from her wonderful work highlighting queer writers when she was the assistant books editor at O, the Oprah Magazine. Now, she has her own novel to add to the fold: We Do What We Do In The Dark, an exquisitely written, intimately affecting novel about Mallory, a... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Librarians Gather in Texas as Book Bans Mount

In Texas, where libraries are a political battleground, the Texas Library Association recently convened its annual convention in person for the first time since 2019—in the district of a state representative Matt Kraus eager to ban books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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8  Literary Friendships Told Through Letters

In 1995, I left the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle to teach English in Vietnam. Around that time, my friend and fellow bookseller Janet Brown traveled to Thailand to teach as well. There was no email then, and overseas phone calls were a luxury. So we wrote to one another, meditating on the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Jason Schwartzman Believes Everyone Has a Piece of Flash Nonfiction In Them

In our series “Can Writing Be Taught?”, we partner with Catapult to ask their course instructors all our burning questions about the process of teaching writing. This month, we’re featuring Jason Schwartzman, an essayist, and fiction writer, and author of the memoir No One You Know: Strangers... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Canadian Journalist Goes Undercover as an Afghan Refugee on a Journey to Europe

Matthieu Aikins’s olive complexion, dark hair, and ambiguous features means that he is often mistaken as a local in Afghanistan and the Middle East where he has lived since 2008. In his non-fiction book The Naked Don’t Fear the Water, the Japanese Canadian journalist goes undercover as an Afghan... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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IBPA Tackles Book Bans

Last Thursday's Independent Book Publishers Association's “The Battle for Free Expression: Indie Publishers and Libraries in the Fight Against Censorship.” panel offered insights from digital media, public libraries, academic research, and online education on the rise in book banning. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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New Kentucky Law Hands Control of Libraries to Local Politicians

In a move that has alarmed library leaders, Kentucky bill SB 167—which came back from the dead last week with a veto override—will empower local politicians to “appoint whomever they want to library boards and block major library spending.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The pandemic showed us that we still need libraries, even with Google

A pandemic might close a library, but it can’t stop librarians. They were still finding new ways to remind us that libraries are about connections and experiences, writes Heidi LM Jacobs. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2022-04-17 08:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Novels About the Theatre Set in Victorian London

The theatre is a perennially popular setting for novelists and no wonder. The tawdry glamour and sense of spectacle make it a rich gift for any author, but it’s what happens behind the scenes that I find the most interesting. This is particularly true for those novels set on the 19th-century... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-14 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The New York Public Library makes four banned books free nationwide on its e-reader app

The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-04-13 23:48:05 UTC ]
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Authors and Booksellers Mobilize for Midterm Voters

Writers for Democratic Action, an organization of some 2,600 authors, is mobilizing its membership in a campaign called Book the Vote. WDA will facilitate nonpartisan voter registration for the 2022 midterm election, working with authors, bookstores, and libraries to educate voters about their... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Blackstone Ends Library Embargo

Nearly three years after it first announced a 90-day embargo to libraries on its newly published audio titles, Blackstone Publishing this week announced that it is changing course. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In California, you can borrow state park passes from your local library.

Because we can never resist adding another line item to the eternal ledger of what we owe libraries: Californians can now use their library cards to get free entry into state parks! The three-year pilot program will give libraries (including mobile libraries) at least three passes to California... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-08 15:54:11 UTC ]
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A Murder in the Red Light District Sparks a Reckoning of Power and Injustice in Lahore

Aamina Ahmad’s debut novel The Return of Faraz Ali begins with a moment of no return. Born and raised in Lahore’s old city, the young Faraz is forced to leave behind his mother and his sister Rozina. It isn’t until Faraz is an adult in 1968 working as a policeman, that he goes back to […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-07 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Congress to Hold Hearing on Book Bannings in Schools and Libraries

Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, plans to hold a hearing April 7 to examine the wave of attempted book bannings in schools and libraries across the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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ALA Releases Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021

ALA kicked off National Library Week with the release of its annual State of America's Libraries report, and its "Top 10 Most Challenged Books" list. The 729 challenges tracked by ALA in 2021 represent the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling its list 20 years ago,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Falling in Love Is Hard When You’re the Guardian of the Dead

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s debut novel When We Were Birds begins in the time before time and follows the uneasy truce between the living and the dead. Cigarettes are offered, liquor is poured, prayers are said, all in the hope that the buried stay buried. This is the story of Yejide, a young woman who... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-01 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Mixed Results for Libraries in Biden Administration’s 2023 Budget Proposal

A rite of spring, the White House budget proposal officially kicks off the congressional appropriations cycle each fiscal year. And this year, library advocates have their work cut out for them. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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New York City Libraries End Late Fees, and the Treasures Roll In

The decision in New York City set off a wave of returns, accompanied by bashful notes of apology and gratitude. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-03-31 14:46:31 UTC ]
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