While Liz & Dick might have failed to live up to our campy expectations, you can still get your Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor fix from the recently-published Richard Burton Diaries.
The Reluctant Actor
A Tale of Murder
Over at The Atlantic, Terrence Rafferty claims that women are writing the best crime novels. “Their books are light on gunplay, heavy on emotional violence. Murder is de rigueur in the genre, so people die at the hands of others—lovers, neighbors, obsessive strangers—but the body counts tend to be on the low side,” he writes. Pair with this Millions piece on novels where women are true detectives.
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“In matters like writing[…], a man does what he has to do—if he has to write, why then, he writes”
Rebecca Davis O’Brien unearths a letter in which Malcolm Cowley tackles the timeless question, “Should I get an MFA?” Just as poignant as Cowley’s letter is novelist Helen DeWitt’s pointed dismissal of Cowley’s advice in the comments section.
On Zadie Smith and Barack Obama
Electric Literature’s blog The Outlet begins a series of essays with the question: “Is Zadie Smith the Barack Obama of literature?”
Infographic of the Week: Yoga for Writers
Infographic of the Week: Electric Lit’s Yoga for Writers. Try the Accepted Story Pose or the Plot Twist. Pair with our own Sonya Chung’s essay on healthiness and writing.
Ramadan Kareem!
A belated “Ramadan kareem” to all of our Muslim readers! If you’re looking for some Ramadan-centric reading, the Poetry Foundation has rounded up a selection of poems, podcasts, articles and blog posts that should do the trick.
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The Headless Horseman
“Every culture has its monsters,” and Jason Diamond writes about the Headless Horseman and one of the oldest American horror stories for Electric Literature.
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