"I was accused of insulting Turkishness, even though nobody knew what that meant. And it was quite surreal, because the words of fictional characters were taken out of the novel and used as evidence in the courtroom; ... my Turkish lawyer had to defend my Armenian fictional characters." - The Guardian
"The new 24-volume, 8,100-plus-page Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud has been three decades in the making, with psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist Mark Solms spearheading the once-in-a-generation project." - Publishers Weekly
Casey McQuiston explains why romance is literature - if you know how to read it. “Romance holds a mirror to our wants and needs. If we want to study works that sit within a greater literary tradition, romance has one of the richest.” - Time
Then try this 700-page Australian prizewinning novel that “is 'more like an experience’ than a story,” according to its publisher. Then there are the five million feral donkeys. - The Guardian (UK)
The entire Author Events staff resigned in June, after “layoffs loomed internal meetings became contentious.” The resigning staff said they found the work culture “heartbreaking.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
"The hothouse atmosphere of newsrooms, especially at urban dailies, teaches the aspiring writer more about the world, about life, and about writing than any MFA program ever devised" — without the student debt. Think of Dickens, Twain, Whitman, Angelou, Wolfe, García Márquez … All newspaper alums. - Bob Keefer
"Clicking on (the 'OnlyFans' tab) pulls up a catalog of listicles ranking pornographic performers by demographic, from 'Turkish' to 'incest' to 'granny.' These blog posts … are presented as editorial work, without labels indicating they are advertisements or sponsored." (The Voice has one remaining editorial staffer, who insists he is not involved.) - Wired
Nüshu developed among women in the south of Hunan who were barred from education. By the end of the 20th century the script had almost died out, but now younger women who see it as a form of resistance to patriarchal power are learning nüshu, even in Beijing and beyond. - AP
“The anxieties of the art maker – the writer – come through in anxieties about painting, or photography, or sculpture, or dance. But the best art novels transcend this self-consciousness.” - The Guardian (UK)
Firefighters arrived at East Bay Booksellers just before 5:30 am on July 30 and were able to keep the flames from spreading, but the building and its contents are reportedly a total loss. No one was seriously injured or killed, though five residential tenants next door have been displaced. - Publishers Weekly
Over the past few weeks, new laws or regulations have gone into effect in Utah, Idaho, South Carolina and Tennessee that will make it more difficult for young people to access books and library materials that could be considered obscene or harmful. - The New York Times
Scott London, a chief deputy constable in the rural DFW exurb of Granbury, secured subpoenas, filed public records requests, received names of students who’d checked out certain books and wrote draft criminal complaints against three school librarians for books London considered obscene — such as Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. - NBC News
In a development that might raise the hackles of those who criticized the now decade-old rule change that broadened eligibility for the prize, six are Americans. Tommy Orange, nominated for his novel “Wandering Stars,” is the first Native American writer to be named to the longlist. - Washington Post
