Paul Muldoon raised this season’s commencement bar with his address to Bennington College’s Writing Seminar graduates. At The Russian Samovar a few months ago, before reading from Maggot, he explained the phrase “cock a snook.”
Muldoon’s Commencement Address
2016 International DUBLIN Award
The winner of the 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award is Family Life by Akhil Sharma. Find out more about the author at the International DUBLIN Literary Award website.
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Did You Say Paid?
“It is intended to attract candidates who otherwise would not have access to publishing, and to therefore increase the diversity and inclusivity of the industry.” Indie publisher Graywolf Press is offering a paid, 10-month internship “designed to support a person who is interested in learning more about the publishing industry through an introductory, hands-on experience.”
Gun Fight at the O.K. Bookstore
Stick ’em up, partner! In a confusing marriage of literature and implicit violence, a bookstore in Austin, Texas is offering a ten percent discount to any customers openly carrying a handgun in their establishment.
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“Oh, you Irish—you’re such MAR-velous storytellers”
The Testament of Mary author Colm Tóibín was interviewed as part of the President’s Reading Series at Johns Hopkins University, and he spoke about the difference between “being a reader, and being an Irish reader.”
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Alice Walker on Screen
Still deciding what to do this Friday night? Watch PBS’s new documentary on Alice Walker, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, at 9 p.m. EST. At The Daily Beast, Agunda Okeyo discusses the history of the film’s production, which took six years. “Stories about women of color told by women of color are sidelined and neglected in favor of our stories being told by white women and men,” director Pratibha Parmar says.
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