America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country

Growing up, the library was not just Amanda Oliver’s favorite place but also her “first beloved destination, first embodied center… it was absolutely sacred.” However, soon after Oliver began her career as a librarian at a Title I school and then in the D.C. public library system, she witnessed how systemic racism, income inequality, the […] The post America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2023-01-05 12:00:00 UTC ]

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It’s Time for Disabled Writers to Tell Their Own Stories

Alice Wong’s work as an activist, podcaster, writer, qualitative researcher, and editor is on full display in her new anthology Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. Her new anthology is an extension of the projects she’s become known when it comes to always... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-19 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How Will Public Libraries Adapt To New School Year Norms?

How will public libraries handle being unable to be community centers when their communities are most in need of them? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-08-13 10:35:00 UTC ]
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The Delicate Balancing Act of Black Women’s Memoir

As Crown Publishing predicted, readers eagerly anticipated Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Autobiography and memoir are best selling categories because virtually everyone enjoys learning about the private life of public figures. In this case, many were curious about the woman who seemed to rise above... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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An Unconventional Love Story, Told In Trinidadian Dialect

Ingrid Persaud made the grandest of debuts in the literary world by winning the BBC Short Story Award in 2018 with “The Sweet Sop,” the first short story she ever wrote. After this extremely auspicious beginning, the Trinidad-born writer, whose resume includes stints in legal academia and art... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-04 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Queer Memoir About Navigating Toxic Masculinity

I met David Adjmi at a fancy writing residency. The kind of place where you work all day alone and then eat dinner together, have a drink in the parlor afterwards. I remember a night when someone suggested watching a movie. As people were perusing the house copy of the criterion collection... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian Libraries Respond to 'Globe and Mail' Essay Attacking Public Libraries

Canadian librarians push back against a recently published editorial arguing that public libraries are "a net harm" to literature. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Emma Straub on the Future of Indie Bookstores

Emma Straub is a New York Times bestselling author and owner of the beloved independent bookstore, Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. Her latest novel, All Adults Here, explores the complexity of love for your family, the love for yourself, and for the town you grew up in.  The story revolves around... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s Time to Radically Rethink Online Book Events

Before the stay-at-home orders came down in Baltimore, the last thing I did in person was participate in a panel conversation about—ironically—“art and the apocalypse.” In retrospect, we should have cancelled, but the threat in Maryland still felt surreal; those were the days when it seemed like... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Ann and Jeff VanderMeer on Fantasy’s Influence on Today’s Literature

At Electric Literature, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer take a look at fantasy’s impact on comtemporary pop culture, in their introduction to the new collection, The Big Book of Modern Fantasy. “Fantasy becomes something of use to a writer to make a political or social statement,” they write. “It’s not... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2020-07-20 20:30:05 UTC ]
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Dismantling White Supremacy in Public Libraries

American public libraries operate under white supremacy. It's time to dismantle it. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-07-20 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Hong Kong book bans are 'extremely concerning', says IPA

The International Publishers Association has expressed concern following reports in the Guardian, Global Times and the Wall Street Journal that certain books have have been removed from public libraries and bookshops. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-19 23:19:42 UTC ]
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Library Supporters Urge Action on Bill to Provide Relief Funding for Public Libraries

With the August recess looming and a second round of coronavirus relief in the works, $2 billion in funding for libraries hangs in the balance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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How Fantasy Literature Helped Create the 21st Century

The following is the introduction to The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, to be published by Vintage Books on July 21, 2020. Introduction copyright (c) 2020 by VanderMeer Creative, Inc. Fantasy is a broad and various category that on the one hand can feature... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries could be leaders once again

As they try to re-open, public libraries have two big problems and three large advantages. The first problem, obviously, is that they have to be so safe that people actually want to work in and visit them. I don’t think anyone anywhere has solved that problem yet - but I’m sure there are... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-16 06:10:47 UTC ]
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The Most Anticipated Debuts of the Second Half of 2020

There’s no doubt COVID-19 has forever changed the world as we know it. A small slice of life that had to shift trajectory is the publishing industry. Debut authors are especially struggling as the books they have worked on for countless years are released into a world without in-person book... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In “All My Mother’s Lovers,” a Mother’s Secret Letters Reveal Her Secret Life

Not to sound like an assistant district attorney from SVU, but it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that acclaimed essayist and book critic Ilana Masad has carved a prominent space for herself in the realm of mother-daughter literature with her debut novel, All My Mother’s Lovers. It sits upon a... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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I Am the Faceless Woman on the Cover of Your Novel

POC Book Cover Model I feel the most brown facing a solid, bright background that seduces preteens at the Scholastic fair. My long black-as-licorice braids with their sweet virginal shine beg for pity, are maybe a metaphor for tradition, repression, machismo, all the miserable Mexican girls that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
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10 Books Set in Museums

Museums are a lot like libraries and bookstores: quiet, contemplative spaces filled with wondrous objects that can light up your imagination and transport you to a different time and place. Now, like so many other cultural institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most are shuttered for the time... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Changes Loom as Public Libraries Begin to Reopen

Observers in recent years have argued that if public libraries didn’t already exist in America, we wouldn’t be able to invent them. In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the question now is: Can we reinvent them? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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20 New Asian American Books to Read Right Now

It’s been just over 45 years since the publication of Aiiieeeee!, a groundbreaking and trailblazing anthology that established the category of Asian American literature. Since then, we’ve seen the amalgamation of great organizations centering around Asian American Pacific Islander literature,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-05-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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