“Suddenly, it seems like gay characters are everywhere in Y.A. literature. Or, if not everywhere, certainly in far more places and in a greater variety than ever before.”
Coming Out of the Woodwork
Mussolini and Mario and the Magicians
Thomas Mann’s parable “Mario and the Magicians” was inspired by Mussolini, but its content is also applicable to a certain political candidate we all know and are trying to make sense of. Pair with our piece on Trump: The Novel.
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4chan in Literature
Cole Stryker‘s Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan’s Army Conquered the Web looks into one of the internet’s most infamous image boards. Housing Works Bookstore will be hosting a party in September to celebrate its launch. To tide you over, you can check out the author’s interview at Betabeat.
Norris Church Mailer dead at 61
Norris Church Mailer, widow of Norman Mailer, died yesterday at 61 following a long battle with cancer. Mark Olshaker, president of the Norman Mailer Society, wrote: “She was the pilgrim soul who captured and won Norman’s heart and mind and who shared with him the last three decades of his life.”
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The Naipaul Test
V.S. Naipaul (seemingly a professional misogynist at times) rankled many by suggesting there are no women writers that can equal him and calling Jane Austen “sentimental.” Now the Guardian offers up a quiz that challenges readers to identify the gender of an author simply by reading a passage of his or her writing.
The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans
The Iowa Review will begin accepting submissions for the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans on April 15. The award honors creative writing by members of the U.S. military, and it’s open to both veterans as well as active duty personnel.
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i c wut u did thier
In an interview with the CBC, Anne Trubek makes the argument for the wide acceptance of poor spelling. Trubek also had an essay in Wired earlier this year on spelling and autocorrect.
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Guthrie’s Novel to Release with the Help of Johnny Depp
With the help of Johnny Depp, author Douglas Brinkley plans to release Woody Guthrie’s unpublished novel House of Earth next year. Guthrie finished the manuscript—which should yield a finished book about 250-pages long—in 1947, and it concerns a couple from West Texas who fight against banks and lumber companies.
I just posted a good podcast with Craig Gidney, who recently published a queer YA novel called Bereft. You can check it out at http://chimeraobscura.com/vm/podcast-the-importance-of-being-out
It also features an interview with Ed Hermance, owner of Giovanni’s Room, the oldest operating queer bookstore in America.