Essay John Weir Adapted from a photo by Jake weirick on Unsplash Like a dead pop star, Susan Sontag left behind a lot of fans who claim they knew her. After the release last September of Benjamin Moser’s new biography, Susan Sontag: Her Life and Work, they were all over the internet, sharing stories. Writers, of course. Especially queer writers. Does every queer writer who lived in New York City and published a book sometime between 1960 and 2000 have a Sontag story? I do! Here’s mine: Eighteen years ago, shortly after she won the National Book Award for her fourth novel, In America, some of which she had been accused of plagiarizing, and a few months before she published, in the New Yorker, maybe the only response to the 9/11 attacks, in their immediate aftermath, that was worth considering, she was invited, along with John Updike and Norman Mailer, to read at Queens College CUNY, where I teach creative writing. Surely the most impressive trio of literary bigwigs of a certain era ever to read together in Flushing. Three idols. I had long regarded their work with awe and envy. In my early twenties, in the 1980s, in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hot and airless in summer, frigid in winter, I read—eagerly, jealously—everything they wrote. I was an aspiring writer, and they were my workshop instructors and problematic literary parents. Updike’s Couples taught me how to do a party scene. Mailer’s An American... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-07 22:09:56 UTC ]
A few years ago, I found myself a bit tipsy at the National Book Award ceremony. It was my first—and so far, only—time there. The experience felt grand; it was a red-carpeted “benefit dinner” on Wall Street. People wore tuxedos and gowns. I couldn’t look around the room without seeing a writer I... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-12-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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On November 17, Nancy Pearl was honored with the 2021 National Book Foundation Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community by the National Book Foundation. It is a lifetime honor richly deserved. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-12-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s safe to say that in general, 2021 was an improvement on 2020—but that doesn’t mean it was a big one. Among the many disappointments of this year was the fact that we lost far too many members of the literary community, from poets to novelists to editors to critics to publishers. To them, we […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-15 09:49:46 UTC ]
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Here are the 2021 winners of the National Book Award across five different categories. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-11-18 12:21:03 UTC ]
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Tiya Miles won the nonfiction prize for “All That She Carried.” The author Karen Tei Yamashita received a lifetime achievement award. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-11-18 02:46:50 UTC ]
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Jason Mott took home the National Book Award for fiction. Other winners included Tiya Miles, Martín Espada and Malinda Lo. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-11-18 02:37:03 UTC ]
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He is a National Book Award finalist for “A Little Devil in America,” but he has more books to write, more projects to take on and more s’mores to research. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-11-14 22:29:28 UTC ]
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Dear Readers, In what feels like a never ending cycle of disappointing media news, last week we in the literary community were astonished to learn that after two decades The Believer magazine will discontinue publication. (Since 2017, The Believer has been published by the Black Mountain... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-10-28 11:05:00 UTC ]
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On this day in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston was born in Stockton, CA. Kingston, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, took the literary world by storm with her seminal work The Woman Warrior (1976), which blends autobiography and mythology. The Woman Warrior, the winner of the 1976 National Book... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-27 16:42:53 UTC ]
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News and Events (c) Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr NORMAN, OKLA. – World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Tuesday evening that Boubacar Boris Diop is the 27th... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-26 21:56:54 UTC ]
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The New York Times takes a look at lesser-known children’s books written by literary titans such as Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, William Faulkner, and more. Though these writers did not stay long in this genre, their efforts were lauded, as in the case of James Thurber and Many Moons. “When... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-10-25 20:30:32 UTC ]
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News and Events World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, will host the 2021 Neustadt Lit Festival on Zoom from Oct. 25–27. The festival features numerous panels exploring the... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-11 18:55:28 UTC ]
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Anthony Doerr snags a spot in the National Book Award for Fiction as a finalist for 'Cloud Cuckoo Land,' which charted overall as the #3 book in the country while 'Unrequited Infatuations' lands at #7. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hanif Abdurraqib, Anthony Doerr, Ge Fei, and Lauren Groff are among this year's National Book Award finalists. The winners will be announced live on November 17 at the 72nd National Book Awards Ceremony, which will be held exclusively online. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Five of the 10 authors on the National Book Award longlist in fiction have been honored in various stages of the program in the past. The post US National Book Awards 2021 Longlist: Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-09-20 06:54:49 UTC ]
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Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction. This year’s longlist features three debuts and includes, appropriately for this year, many novels that ask questions about the nature of home. These ten books were chosen from a total of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-17 14:15:53 UTC ]
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The flash fiction literary community is like an extended family. If you are a writer and reader of flash, it is in all likelihood that your inner circle of literary peeps are other flash fiction folks or, you at least, know of one another. Six degrees is more like one or two in this community.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-09-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction. This year’s judges for the National Book Award in Nonfiction are Eula Biss, Aaron John Curtis, Nell Painter, Kate Tuttle, and Jerald Walker. The finalists will be announced on October 5,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-16 19:15:52 UTC ]
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Today, the National Book Foundation announced their longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry. This year’s longlist is made up almost entirely of first-timers—with the exception of Forrest Gander, who was longlisted in 2018 for his poetry collection Be With. This year’s judges for the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-16 14:15:01 UTC ]
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Translations longlisted for the National Book Award have been recognized in stages of the International Booker, the Valle Inclán, and more. The post US National Book Awards 2021 Longlist: Translated Literature appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-09-16 03:17:03 UTC ]
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