Teaching in the Age of Intolerance, by Ilan Stavans

Essay Photo by Miko Guziuk / Unsplash In his newest book, What Is American Literature? (Oxford University Press, 2022), award-winning cultural commentator, translator, and editor Ilan Stavans, the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, rereads an assortment of American literary classics through the prism of the Trump years, from the poems of Phillis Wheatley to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. In the primer, written during the presidential election won by Joe Biden—and before the January 6, 2021, sedition instigated by Donald Trump—he also reflects on the role public libraries play in disseminating the nation’s literature, the art of teaching it to new generations of students, and the future of the book as an artifact disseminating knowledge in our graphic-driven age. The volume closes with an epistolary account, in Stavans’s words, of “the Second American Civil War.” What follows is the section on teaching. American literature starts and ends in the classroom. It starts there because whoever is a writer-to-be is likely to discover the magic of literature as an assignment, or else in response to the tedium that comes from feeling disengaged with the educational purpose. And it ends in the classroom because, at a time of precipitous declines in reading habits, books have their largest audiences among students enrolled in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-02 19:59:22 UTC ]
News tagged with: #long ago #white person #divine comedy #attractive option #american literature #public libraries

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Teaching in the Age of Intolerance, by Ilan Stavans'


'The Little Prince' Comes of Age

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the book’s publication, and celebrations are already underway in New York City, where Saint-Exupéry wrote his masterpiece. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #80th anniversary


New Advent Books Tap Into Season’s Teachings

Religion publishers aim to help readers looking for a deeper spiritual experience this Christmas season with a number of new titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #christmas season


Carmen Callil, pioneering champion of female writers, dies aged 84

Publisher who founded Virago Press began as a campaigning outsider who introduced UK readers to authors including Angela Carter and Margaret AtwoodCarmen Callil, the publisher and writer who championed female writers and transformed the canon of English literature, has died of leukemia in London... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-18 09:09:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #carmen callil #pioneering champion #female writers #maya angelou #angela carter #bringing back #modern classics #willa cather #literary establishment #royal society #english literature


Harry Potter and Cracker actor Robbie Coltrane dies aged 72

The actor, known for playing Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise and Fitz in the series Cracker, has died aged 72. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2022-10-14 18:09:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harry potter


Peter Robinson, creator of the Inspector Banks novels, dies aged 72

The Leeds-born novelist whose work included poetry and short stories as well as his bestselling thrillers will be remembered as a master of plot and characterThe crime writer Peter Robinson has died aged 72, his publisher has announced.The Yorkshire-born author died suddenly on the 4 October... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-07 11:56:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peter robinson #titular role #hodder #short stories


'Black Hollywood' photo book stars Black actors at the center of film's golden ages

Photographer Carell Augustus' book recasts classic Hollywood films with Black actors. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-10-04 21:56:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #golden ages #photo book


How Lynne Tillman's 'Mothercare' helped me face my aging parents' future

David Ulin talks with Lynne Tillman about "Mothercare," her memoir on managing her mother's decline — just as he begins a similar journey. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-09-29 13:00:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lynne tillman #memoir


It's Never Too Late: Seven Authors on Making Their YA Debuts After Age 50

These first-time authors are out to prove that life experience and hindsight are advantages when it comes to crafting riveting stories for teens. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #life experience


Hilary Mantel, celebrated author of Wolf Hall, dies aged 70

‘She saw and felt things us ordinary mortals missed,’ her agent says of Booker prize-winning author who died on Thursday• Hilary Mantel remembered: ‘She was the queen of literature’• ‘The pen is in our hands. A happy ending is ours to write’: Hilary Mantel in her own wordsThe Booker... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-09-23 11:29:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hilary mantel #celebrated author #wolf hall #happy ending #publisher harpercollins #booker prize #costa book #novelists #harpercollins #prize-winning author


Marketing in the metaverse—what science fiction can teach brands about Web3

With marketing ploys that are just transaction schemes extended into a digital space, marketers are falling behind the innovation pack. Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2022-09-22 09:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital space #science fiction


The women in ‘Killers of a Certain Age’ are no coastal grandmothers

In Deanna Raybourn’s thriller “Killers of a Certain Age” four assassins on the brink of retirement get a chance to show their stuff one more time Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-09-13 12:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


How the 1954 Brown decision still influences today’s teaching ranks

What historical patterns have influenced the need for diverse teachers today? The author of a recent book addresses myths and solutions. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-09-12 20:54:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Snowman author Raymond Briggs dies aged 88

Beloved creator of Fungus the Bogeyman and Father Christmas brought a distinctive strain of melancholy to the genre• The Snowman, the Bogeyman and Father Christmas: the world of Raymond Briggs – in pictures• Raymond Briggs obituary• Share your tributes and memories of Snowman author Raymond... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-08-10 07:20:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #father christmas #raymond briggs #picture books #career spanning #numerous awards #publisher penguin


David McCullough, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies aged 89

The author of biographies and other works and narrator of documentaries, McCullough was ‘the voice of American history’David McCullough, the Pulitzer prize-winning author whose lovingly crafted narratives on subjects ranging from New York’s Brooklyn Bridge to American presidents John Adams and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-08-08 19:41:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #david mccullough #american history #subjects ranging #simon schuster #prize-winning author


10 Indispensable Black, Queer, and Feminist Coming-of-Age Stories

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, author of the new novel 'Big Girl,' recommends 10 essential stories of young people coming into deeper understandings of race, gender, class, sexuality, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big girl


Bookseller, Former ABA Board President Gail See Dead at Age 94

Gail See, a Minneapolis-area bookseller for many years and a leader in Minnesota's literary community, who served as president of the ABA board from 1984-1986, has died at age 94. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary community #aba board #bookseller


What The Umbrella Academy Can Teach Us About Inclusive Storytelling

The long wait for fans of The Umbrella Academy is finally over. Netflix released Season 3 of this hit series, which centers on a dysfunctional family of superheroes. The siblings reunite to solve the mystery of their father's death (and, of course, stop an imminent apocalypse). The comic book... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2022-07-13 18:48:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #umbrella academy #long wait #hit series #comic book


In ‘The Great Man Theory’ a middle-aged man can’t shift out of neutral

Teddy Wayne's novel is a character study of a protagonist stuck in a rut of self-regard. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-12 14:30:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #teddy wayne #character study


Japanese creator of hit manga series Yu-Gi-Oh! dies aged 60

Kazuki Takahashi found in snorkelling gear floating in the sea off coast of Okinawa, reports sayA Japanese artist who created the hit manga comic series Yu-Gi-Oh!, which spawned a worldwide media franchise including a trading card game, has been found dead in the sea, according to media... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-07-07 09:37:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #found dead #media reports #manga


15 of the Best Coming-of-Age Manga

The best coming of age manga capture this time in our lives in all its beauty and emotion and drama with earnest stories and illustrations. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-06-30 10:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #manga