"Many readers are seeking fiction that addresses environmental issues but explores a successful paradigm shift: fiction that accurately addresses our current issues with intelligence and hope. The power of envisioning a certain future is that the vision enables one to see it as possible." - Reactor Mag
Davis and her husband Julius Tennon are opening JVL Media, adding to their TV and movie production business - their company that has brought out hits like TV's How I Got Away with Murder and the 2022 action movie The Woman King. - The Hollywood Reporter
"It occurred to me that in Iowa you don’t need a permit to carry a gun — open or concealed. A current of people was funneling into the library, and I joined them. I sensed, eerily, that some who were entering alongside me were protesters." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
A book is different from a pair of shoes or a scented candle—but is it that different? The kinds of excess we permit—even exalt—for books is unheard of for other categories of possessions. - The Walrus
"Not every workplace features a guillotine. … Fearsome machines are part of daily life at the lab, which serves as a hospital where ailing books from every department of the museum are restored to health." - The New York Times
"Amid growing criticism over its response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, freedom of expression nonprofit PEN America is facing questions over whether its Literary Awards ceremony, World Voices Festival, and Literary Gala, all scheduled to be held within the next month, can proceed as planned." - Publishers Weekly
Instead of standing up for the robust exchange of ideas, lawmakers in state after state are pushing bills that would criminalize librarians for putting certain books on the shelves. Nuisance lawsuits and fights over book bans are draining librarians' time, energy, and resources. - Newsweek
The full multiday festival – which last year saw 175 authors appearing in more than 120 events across 10 days – will still not go ahead. However, Wee Write, a festival for children and young people, will now go ahead in autumn on a smaller scale. - The Guardian
"The rules are always the same: 30 minutes before the meeting’s official start time, people can come, share what they are reading and find a place to sit. Then someone rings a bell or makes an announcement, and it’s reading time. For an hour, that’s it." - The Washington Post (MSN)
Small presses play a crucial role in the American literary landscape, publishing books that have artistic merit but little commercial potential. Without S.P.D., it could be far more difficult for small presses to get their books to readers, or for those books to exist at all. - The New York Times
"Several authors have turned down awards and awards nominations from PEN America, citing unhappiness with the literary and free expression organization’s stance on the war in Gaza." - AP
"The new report, Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis, reports 4,349 book bans recorded across 23 states and 52 public school districts from July to December 2023. ... More book bans were recorded during the first half of the current school year than in the entire 2022-2023 year." - Publishers Weekly
Income from commercial translation work has fallen significantly since the beginning of 2023. The loss of non-literary streams of income for literary translators will mean the “raising of the bar to entry into the industry, with only those with wealth able to translate literature for publication”. - The Guardian
