Here’s Johnny!

"As a writer, it’s not like all experience is useful, but when something is troubling, a form can present itself as a way to think. To put what is essentially chaotic into a container where it can be what it is." The Rumpus interviews John Freeman, the Executive Editor of LitHub, about his recent literary projects, the death of his mother, and empathy. Pair with: Contributing Editor Nick Ripatrazone's Year in Reading which includes Freeman's debut poetry collection, Maps. 

Would you rather have a long literary career, or write a brilliant, successful one-off? Robert McCrum considers the literary career arc.

Did F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Crack-Up" essays -- in which the author began to chronicle his mental collapse -- usher in and anticipate the rise of autobiographical writing in America?

You may have heard that Pulitzer laureate Oscar Hijuelos passed away on Sunday at the age of 62. Hijuelos, who won the prize in 1990 for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, broke ground as the first Latino author to take home the prestigious award. On NPR, David Greene talks with Columbia professor Gustavo Perez Firmat about the author’s legacy. (Related: Thea Lim on people of color and American writing.)

Toni Morrison gives a devastating interview in The Guardian.