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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Jessica Zhan Mei Yu on Loving Literature That Hates You

Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s smartly interior debut novel But the Girl appears to follow the path of a bildungsroman. Our protagonist, simply named Girl, is on a flight out of Australia for an artist’s residency in the lush Scottish countryside. She is leaving behind her tight-knit Malaysian family and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-30 11:05:00 UTC ]
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On Politics: Eric Adams' library cuts would sever a vital lifeline

One of the great embarrassments of New York, the richest city in America, is how money can’t be found to keep public libraries open every single day.It is, truly, a matter of priorities. Other far-reaching, progressive policy proposals can come with enormous upfront costs — municipal or... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-04-29 15:50:14 UTC ]
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23 Indie Presses to Support After the Close of Small Press Distribution

On March 28, Small Press Distribution (SPD), the 55-year old company that helped 385 indie publishers deliver their books to customers, collapsed without warning. This is an existential blow in a business where finances are delicate at the best of times. Books remain stranded in warehouses and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-26 11:10:00 UTC ]
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A Secret Letter to the KGB Turned A Lost Family History Into a Novel

Journalist Sasha Vasilyuk’s debut novel Your Presence Is Mandatory is a poignant look at the reverberating effects of war through the story of a Ukrainian World War II veteran’s struggle to hide a damaging secret for the sake of his family.  Vasilyuk’s book begins with death—the first chapter... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Predicting the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

With March Madness and the Super Bowl recently crowning champions and the Grammys and Oscars awarding music and movies, it’s finally time for the literary world to have its own big moment in the sun. And that can only mean one thing: It’s Pulitzer time! While there are many book awards that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-19 11:15:00 UTC ]
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“The Stone Home,” My Second Novel, Was Crafted From Shocking Historical Truths

In January 2016, I was an unpublished writer working on my first novel when I learned of an artist residency on a tiny island off the west coast of South Korea. Excited, I daydreamed of finishing my manuscript in my motherland, visiting family, and of course, eating an abundance of delicious... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-18 11:05:00 UTC ]
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7 Short Story Collections Set in Nigeria

I have always loved the versatility of the short story, how it can so easily take on the forms of other things. There are playlist short stories, recipe short stories, diary and epistolary-style short stories. There are flash fiction stories, short short stories, and long short stories that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Exclusive Cover Reveal: “Homeseeking” by Karissa Chen

Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Homeseeking, the highly-anticipated debut novel by Karissa Chen, which will be published by Putnam on January 7th, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-11 11:10:00 UTC ]
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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,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-11 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How Public Libraries Are Targeted Right Now—It’s Not “Just” Books: Book Censorship News, March 29, 2024

The methods of destabilizing and dismantling public libraries may not look like how you think they would. Here's how it's happening right now. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-03-29 11:30:00 UTC ]
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9 Short Story Collections About Women’s Bodies

Short stories can do things novels cannot because they’re short. They’re limber and can dart in and out of close-fitting places. They can be weird and daring in ways that novels cannot always sustain. Joy Williams writes in, “8 Essential Attributes of the Short Story (and one way it differs from... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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I Don’t Have To Choose Between Writing About Myself And Writing About The World

I was balancing a plate of honeydew in the green room of a book festival when I walked by a white man bemoaning the state of the publishing industry. The man wore a suit, and he spoke to a white woman; both of them looked to be in their 40s. As the man speared a […] The post I Don’t Have To... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-27 11:05:00 UTC ]
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“Worry” is the Novel of the Online Generation

The biting cultural commentary that emanates from the pages of Alexandra Tanner’s debut novel Worry is like the too-bright light of a smartphone screen at night, pulling you closer and keeping you absorbed late into the night. One year following a secret suicide attempt that only Jules, our... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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For the Teenage Girls in “Headshot,” the Boxing Ring Is a Place of Transformation

Rita Bullwinkel’s debut novel Headshot takes place in the confines of a boxing ring in Reno, Nevada, over two days of championship matches to determine the winner of the 12th Annual Women’s 18 & Under Daughters of America Cup. Her protagonists, eight teenage girls, fight each other in a... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Leslie Jamison Writes A Different Kind of Love Story In “Splinters”

Leslie Jamison’s new memoir Splinters follows the aftermath of divorce and the awakening of motherhood, but it explores desire more than it does any kind of death. Jamison wants to make meaning, to connect, to love, to feel, to mother, to write, and to revise her life endlessly. There are losses... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Books Written as Letters to Family Members

When I began writing my unborn son a letter in 2018, a book was the furthest thing from my mind. I wasn’t trying to unpack the countless ways in which the words “all men are created equal” have failed us in this country. Instead, I was thinking that I would write a letter, something that […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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What You Should Be Reading This Winter According to Indie Booksellers

Every Tuesday, a wave of new books is published, fresh off the printing press onto the shelves of bookstores around the world. Even for a book editor like me, it gets overwhelming to keep track of all the forthcoming titles. So we’ve turned to our most trusted source for recommendations: indie... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 29, 2024

“At a time when books are being banned in schools and public libraries in unprecedented numbers, it’s alarming how writers have been reproached simply for signing letters that call for peace.” Maris Kreizman on the Jewish Book Council’s new initiative. | Lit Hub Politics The best book covers in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-29 11:30:17 UTC ]
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For libraries, e-book lending is a new chapter – and a new challenge

The “Netflix model” of leasing e-books to public libraries is expensive, full of limitations, and potentially a boon for censorship, librarians say. It’s a growing business model that shifts power to publishers and makes access harder for patrons. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2024-02-22 16:28:54 UTC ]
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12 Brilliant Short Stories by Black Writers to Read Year-Round

From one girl’s aspiration to Olympic gymnastics glory, to a boy’s stint living in the Idaho wilderness in hopes of fixing his unruly behavior, something that remains a guiding principle in Black storytelling is the breadth of our lives. These stories, a collection of some of EL’s most-loved... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
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