Rumors that authors would take a stand regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict during the ceremony were flying in the days leading up to the event, but it was unclear what the statement would include, leaving several sponsors concerned. - The New York Times
Actually, there are two controversies. One is about restoration to the list of some of the epithets that were deemed offensive and eliminated in 2020. More appalling is the addition of some word forms, particularly plurals of irregular nouns, that just don't actually exist in English, such as "feceses." - Slate
"In the 1880s, almost a century after Burns died, Edinburgh forger Alexander 'Antique' Smith produced hundreds of fake manuscripts, selling them to booksellers, pawnshops and collectors. … Many of his counterfeits remain in circulation (and) can fetch tens of thousands of pounds at auction today." - BBC
In a statement, the jury said: "The modernist experiment continues to burn incandescently in Sarah Bernstein's slim novel, Study for Obedience. Bernstein asks the indelible question: what does a culture of subjugation, erasure and dismissal of women produce? - CBC
Psychologists Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis "wanted to see how a word’s phonology (sound), spelling, and meaning influenced whether people found it amusing, as well as the effectiveness of incongruity theory — the idea that the more something subverts expectations, the funnier it gets." - Mental Floss
There's a reason Finnegan's Wake often has reading "gropes" instead. "Fialka leans into that visionary aspect, describing his group as 'more a performance art piece than a book club.'" - The Guardian (UK)
"Over the past four decades, Andrew Wylie has reshaped publishing in profound and, some say, insalubrious ways. He has been a champion of highbrow books and unabashed commerce, making great writers famous and famous writers rich. In the process, he has helped to define the global literary canon." - The Guardian
There are reasons (plural) why editors warn writers not to quit their day jobs, even after the first book is published and sells reasonably well. - Esquire
Using machine learning, the detector examines 20 features of writing style, including variation in sentence lengths, and the frequency of certain words and punctuation marks, to determine whether an academic scientist or ChatGPT wrote a piece of text. - Nature
Though traditional book clubs have been a fixture of American social life for decades, some bibliophiles think they have lost the plot. These bookworms don’t want to read books that don’t interest them. Even worse is recommending a book the rest of the group hates. - The Wall Street Journal
It's not just the common expressions — "wild goose chase," "cruel to be kind," "in a pickle," "fair play," and lots of others. Shakespeare coined hundred of basic words we use today: "eyeball," "bedroom," "puppy dog," "bedazzled," "jaded," and on and on. - BBC
Among other things, the scandal of the 1987 National Book Award emphasizes just how little we, as readers, know about how literary distinction is doled out, and by whom. - Public Books
