Over in the New Statesmen, Ed Smith makes the case for increasing your productivity by making sure to get your R&R. He mentions Bertrand Russel’s In Praise of Idleness, which is my go to piece for arguing with myself against being too busy to argue with myself. Or would be, if only I could find the time.
Chilling out is good for society.
More Praise for Alina Bronsky
Following up on our look at the German literary landscape, Three Percent publishes a glowing review of Alina Bronsky's Broken Glass Park.
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Weather Advisory
“These are not stories about the weather, these are stories about life and death.” Over at Ploughshares, E.V. De Cleyre considers the weather in contemporary literature.
A Heartbreaking Playlist of Staggering Sadness
Emma Straub's super sad true Year In Reading entry had our eyes welling up just from its synopses, but now Ms. Straub's put together an extremely sad playlist to keep you depressed through all of February.
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Cultural Moments
“It took me ten years (four of writing, six of rewriting) to complete The Listener. Now ‘trans is trending,’ and the book has been published into this particular cultural moment, one I could never have envisioned twelve years ago.” Rachel Basch discusses writing in the context of social change at Lit Hub. Pair with our own Sonya Chung’s piece on literary activism.
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Interview with Pinckney Benedict
At The Rumpus, an engaging interview with Pinckney Benedict, author of Town Smokes and Miracle Boy and Other Stories, and one-time writing apprentice under Joyce Carol Oates.
Not Another Trauma Memoir
What I didn’t want was for my book to become a trauma narrative or a healing narrative that would be touted as merely a testament to love. It’s not meant to be only an uplifting and inspirational piece of literature. I’m tired of the type of memoir that just shows you its scars and wants you to feel sympathy for it. This is not that kind of memoir." Garrard Conley interviewed over at Electric Literature in conjunction with the release of his new memoir, Boy Erased.
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“Requisite dog bark. Far off.”
Recommended Reading: "Bitter Night in the Country" by Hayden Saunier.
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Curious Case of the Missing Publishers
What’s going on in Hong Kong? Last week, a man by the name of Lee Bo became the fifth member of the Hong Kong-based publishing house Mighty Current, which specializes in provocative tomes about Beijing leaders, to vanish mysteriously. A few of those missing have been in sporadic communication with worried family members, letting them know in opaque terms that they are “helping with an investigation.”
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