The latest literature stories from our curated news sources.
Annie Dillard, the masterful stylist and brilliant thinker, has died at 81. Her death was confirmed by her literary executor, Maggie Nelson. Dillard, who wrote in many forms and experiments, was an invigorating writer whose dedication and care seemed to
Though we do well to celebrate the rise of Widow’s Bay and Jean Smart’s 193rd public recognition, another excellent thing happened at the Emmys this year: librarians got a much-deserved shout-out. Specifically recognized were the librarians behind The Librarians, a
It’s looking like a great year for indie cinema. Which is swell news for nerds. For those of us particularly loyal to print and celluloid, the late festival circuit—including the Venice Biennale, New York Film Fest (NYFF), and the Toronto International
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 285 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Poetry are Rob
As Lit Hub’s resident Caro-head, I’m committed to bringing you regular updates on the historian’s progress on his Years of Lyndon Johnson series (searching “Folta Caro” on Lit Hub turns up more results than I remember). And if on Monday
Who actually benefits in an MFA workshop? Devon Halliday explores why these spaces might need “a greater clarity of purpose.” | Lit Hub Craft The truth is out there! What UFO fanaticism reveals about American conspiracies. | Lit Hub Politics
The dentist’s quote for the surgery was between two and four thousand dollars. “I’m sorry I can’t be more precise,” he said, “but I can’t really know until we get in there.” It wasn’t a life-ruining amount. It wasn’t going
I. The first time he sees it, a chord is struck inside him. He is overcome by a kind of excitement he has no words for. The mountain looms above him. Sheer rock walls rise, snow-covered up top with patches
Twelve years ago, Vikram Chandra’s Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, The Code of Beauty was published. In terms of actual history, that isn’t long at all; in terms of technology, it’s an eternity. In Geek Sublime, Chandra drew on
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 159 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Translated Literature
Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 290 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Young
Don’t have time to read all those fall reading lists? That’s okay. We read them for you. Here’s the Ultimate Fall Reading List. | Lit Hub Reading Lists Gabe Bullard explores the detrimental nature of convenience (after writing a book
The leaves are changing, and so is the footwear. The names on the books are getting bigger. There is, some might say, a crispness. Yes, it’s time for Literary Hub’s annual Ultimate Fall Reading List, in which I read all
Post-pandemic dystopias are at the center of Emily St. John Mandel’s most celebrated novels. Station Eleven (2014), which won the Prix des Libraires du Québec, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the
Madeleine Thien’s new story collection, Simple Recipes is available now from W.W. Norton. * What part of your writing routine do you think would surprise your readers? Since I turned fifty, I have written most things by hand. Initially this
I grew up in Moscow at the tail end of the Soviet era. Despite its grand title—the capital of the USSR—the city of my youth held little charm. Life, at least for my family, was defined by scarcity, monotony, and
Let me just say I don’t like Lee Cronin. Not that I know the Irishman, best known for regurgitating horror’s tired tropes with a view to winning the most nauseating gore competition—but I watched his latest film. And no matter
“A second surface mirror, also known as a standard or regular mirror, creates a ghosting effect (double image).” ______________________________________________________________ “Displaced people also lived in two time zones, the here and the there, the present and the past, being as
The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: Grace Krilanovich (Acid Green Velvet) Emily Ogden (Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art
Flynn and Miss Ogilvie had been given no part to play in the blind judging of the Festival Cake. Denholm had requested their presence merely as observers—messengers who would convey the verdict back to Savoy Court. Flynn was there as
An onslaught, as ever, in this bountiful month: today we welcome the brand new speculative work by Emily St. John Mandel, the conclusive end to Leigh Bardugo’s trilogy, and an historical feat by Kate Atkinson. This is to say nothing
A study released at the top of this month found that e-lending at public libraries could be having a negative effect on the book market. In other words? Your Kindle has some explaining to do. Commissioned by the Association of
A new interactive exhibition about the writing of James Baldwin features an AI programmed typewriter that directs users to writing drawn from Baldwin’s books, essays, and letters. If you, like me, are aghast that “AI” and “James Baldwin” are in
Does your town need a bookstore? Maybe you should start one. | Lit Hub Bookstores John J. Lennon Talks to Harriet Clark, Author of The Hill, about writing real and imagined lives in and outside of prison. | Lit Hub
I am descended from Vikings. My paternal lineage runs all the way back to Erik the Red, the first European to stumble upon the shores of North America. Even for a Viking, he was brutal and hotheaded. His clan exiled
The Ian Curtis whose torch singing floats above the high bass and glistening synths of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is hardly recognizable as the guy who sang “She’s Lost Control” or “Dead Souls.” It makes sense that the song
Fall is the perfect time for curling up with a good book—or maybe a good movie. (We’re not monsters.) Even better if you can hit two birds with one stone, of course, and this after all is Literary Hub, so
This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Literary History newsletter—sign up here. On September 19, 1819, after walking along the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, the 24-year-old poet John Keats—who had, earlier that year, completed “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a
This spring, I read Harriet Clark’s novel, The Hill, about a girl named Suzanna who grows up visiting her mother in a prison on a hill. I had just published a long Mother’s Day essay in Esquire, grappling with having
The morning my life changed, I was sitting in a cafe talking to a student at a writers conference in Southampton. My phone rang, but I didn’t answer it. When the student left, I saw the missed call was from
Rabih Alameddine, award-winning author of The Wrong End of the Telescope, celebrated the release of his new novel, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) at The Center for Fiction. Wildly original and wickedly funny, Alameddine’s
