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Knoxville Reverses Its Ban Of Alex Haley’s “Roots” From School Libraries

“Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said the district will return the (Pulitzer-winning) 1976 novel to school library shelves, walking back a decision that (led to) … weeks of community backlash, board member pressure, and statewide criticism.” - Tennessee Lookout

How The Cherokee Bible Reveals Differences Between European And Native American Worldviews

One can learn quite a bit by noticing which English words and phrases had no Cherokee equivalent — and in how translators chose to render those words and phrases in Cherokee. - The Conversation

Booktok Sells Tons Of Books. Its Reviews, Though…

While TikTok’s stunted critical language sells legions more books—even good ones—than the literary critics who dismiss the platform, as a doubtfully salable fiction writer I’m less interested in how a book goes viral than in what this costs the reader. - The Point

Behind Book Bans In The Digital Age

I think the library feels like a place where you can do something concrete. You can go to an actual library; you can pull books off the shelves. And I think maybe that’s behind this strange resurgence of book banning. - The Walrus

Weird Writing Advice (It’s The Best)

Writers have a bevy of mantras—“show don’t tell,” “kill your darlings”—that mainly help by giving the writer a sense that there are rules. But the rules can’t govern the place the work comes from. - The New Yorker

Chicago Tribune Strikes Last-Minute Agreement To Buy Suburban Paper Daily Herald

The Tribune, owned by finance firm Alden Global Capital, landed the deal to purchase the employee-owned Herald (based in northwestern suburb Arlington Heights) after several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and (probably) a premium price. - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)

The Perils Of Writing With AI When You Don’t Check

My fellow nonfiction writers: AI can be a helpful tool. If you rely on it for factual accuracy you are putting your reputation, your career, your very livelihood in peril. - The AI Humanist

Short Story Which Won Prize Last Week Is Now Thought To Be Written By AI

“’The Serpent in the Grove’ was named as the winning entry for the Commonwealth Prize from the Caribbean on Saturday and published in Granta magazine. … Shortly (afterward), internet sleuths — and a few literary critics — seized upon the work and its author, Jamir Nazir, reportedly a 61-year-old from Trinidad with few publications to his name.” - The Guardian

Pirated Audiobooks Voiced By AI Bots Are All Over YouTube

“While piracy has long been an issue for the book business, the rapid rise of unauthorized audiobooks” — typically with vocally flat narration and unrelated visuals — “on YouTube, which publishers and authors believe are eroding sales for their books, poses a new challenge for the industry.” - The New York Times

Author Of A Book About AI And Truth Admits Some Of His Book Was Written By AI With Fake Quotes

The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence on truth acknowledged on Monday that he had included numerous made-up or misattributed quotes concocted by A.I. - The New York Times

International Booker Prize, For First Time, Goes To Novel Written In Mandarin Chinese

Taiwan Travelogue, written by Yáng Shuāng-zi and translated by Lin King, takes the form of a travel memoir by a (fictional) Japanese novelist on a culinary tour of occupied Taiwan in the 1930s, charting her complex relationship with her local interpreter. The novel won a U.S. National Book Award in 2024. - AP

New York Magazine Investigates Contributor For Alleged Plagiarism

“Ross Barkan, who is a contract writer for the magazine, … has been accused of plagiarism after publishing at least three stories with striking similarities to other published work.” - NPR

Judge Delays Approval Of Anthropic Authors Settlement

Calling out lawyers for requesting more than $320 million in legal fees when each author only expects a $3,000 payout, some objectors asked the court to delay approving the settlement until a more reasonable plaintiff compensation plan is constructed. - Ars Technica

The Story Of The Community College Prof Who Suddenly Found Out Her Novel Was A Pulitzer Finalist

Stacey Levine’s Mice 1961, published by a very small press in Oregon, is "a deeply weird book, a kind-of coming-of-age comedy with no easy takeaway, full of twangy dialogue that reads like an alien in a human suit going ‘hello fellow Earthlings.’”  - LitHub

The Egyptian Mummy Buried With The Iliad

Was Greek literature a “cheat code” to the afterlife for Egyptian royals of Roman-era Egypt? - The New York Times

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