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WORDS

Canada’s Currently Reigning Major Prairie Poet

As these credentials suggest, there is a widespread view, if not a consensus, that she is one of the major poets writing in English today. - The Walrus

Why Literary Prizes Are A Bad Idea

As I got older and developed a more mature understanding of what literature is, the prizes started to seem increasingly bizarre and then sort of embarrassing. - Persuasion

The Resurrection of Lapham’s Quarterly Begins

“The literary journal Lapham’s Quarterly is relaunching its website and podcast this summer under the editorial guidance of the writers Donovan Hohn and Francine Prose — a fortuitous and surprising turn for a magazine that seemed on the brink of extinction” following suspension of publication in 2023 and Lapham's death last summer. - The New York Times

Facebook Banned Rebecca Solnit After Her Essay About Los Angeles Riots

The author and activist reported on Bluesky last week that her Facebook account on Facebook was suspended, later adding that she was told the decision was permanent. Then the Chronicle reported the ban, and within 24 hours Solnit was reinstated, with a Meta spokesperson saying the suspension was in error. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

For North America’s Beleaguered Indie Publishers, A New Distributor Is Coming

With the sudden closing of Small Press Distribution last year and the impending disappearance of National Book Network, the avenues for small presses in North America to get their books into retail stores have been evaporating. Enter Stable Distribution, a joint venture of Hachette Book Group and the Stable Book Group. - Publishers Weekly

How I Rediscovered The Joys Of Reading In BookTok

To read for joy, for wonder, for emotional truth is to hold onto something deeply human. And in a moment when the stories we’re allowed to tell and read are increasingly politicized, if not outright banned, that act feels quietly radical. - The New York Times

As AI Writing Becomes More Ubiquitous, Will We Change How Humans Write?

 Will we now push ourselves to write in a style that means we can’t possibly be confused for AI? Might we try to sound more human, more distinct, more fleshy, and therefore less algorithmic. - 3 Quarks Daily

Is Poetry Just About The Words? (Not Really)

While what’s lost in translation is admittedly enormous, to conclude that poetry is therefore untranslatable is to fundamentally misrepresent both what poetry is and what translation is. - Poetry Foundation

In New Fiction, The Subject Of AI Has Moved Beyond The SciFi/Fantasy Genre

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been a staple of science fiction, but editors are seeing a change in how novelists are exploring the subject in light of societal shifts in AI use and familiarity and concern about its implications.” - The Bookseller (UK)

Judge Rules Trump Can Dismantle Institute of Museum and Library Services

In Friday’s ruling, the judge wrote that as much as the “Court laments the Executive Branch’s efforts to cut off this lifeline for libraries and museums,” recent court decisions suggested that the case should be heard in a separate court dedicated to contractual claims. - AP News

Tracing Back Where All Our Languages Came From

There are about 7,000 languages spoken in the world today; they can be divided into about 140 families. Nevertheless, the languages most of us speak belong to just five. - Washington Post

Fired Librarian Of Congress Speaks Out

The first woman and African American to serve as the US librarian of Congress before Donald Trump fired her in May has not heard from the president’s administration beyond the 31-word email it sent her with word of her dismissal. - The Guardian

A Studio Visit With One Of New York’s Most Influential Downtown Artists

Agosto Machado “has been a witness to decades of cultural moments in New York: the experimental theater of the early sixties, Warhol’s factory, the Stonewall riot, the AIDS epidemic, the gentrification of downtown Manhattan.” - Paris Review

The Romance Writer Who Owns Three Bakeries

They do say don’t quit your day job, right? Yet: “Cupcakes and rom-coms, it turns out, have a lot in common.” - The New York Times

Author Geoff Dyer Says Reading Emma Started Him On A Lifelong Habit

Dyer: “The open secret remains as mysteriously elusive as ever. Which is fine because I don’t go to books for comfort; I have a much-loved memory foam pillow for that.” - The Guardian (UK)

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