What’s it like to have Jacques Barzun edit your first novel? Besides terrifying, of course.
In Defense of First Novels
Silver Press Launches
Silver Press is a new feminist publisher based in London. Forthcoming titles include Leonora Carrington's The Debutante and Other Stories, which you can read about here, as well as the first U.K. edition of Audre Lorde's essays and poetry.
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OWS: A Poet’s Perspective
Why one poet believes that Occupy Wall Street has already won.
Face Off: Kardashian/Kahlo
"Where does the line between the self-portrait and the selfie fall? Both Kardashian West and Kahlo are masters of the form—suggesting that perhaps there is no clear line at all." Anyone who puts Frida and Kim together in an essay, as Sarah Murray has for The Rumpus, has our full and enthusiastic support. Also relevant: Alizah Salario's piece about the naming of North West.
For What It’s Worth
Oh, good! Here is a list of what everyone is reading instead of your 10-year peer-reviewed study on bee colony collapse and the near end of human existence.
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Murakami on 1Q84
A blogger translates a long Murakami interview about 1Q84 (scroll down for parts I, II, and III). (via)
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Reading Tonight at Housing Works
New York-area readers are invited to come tonight to Housing Works bookstore in SoHo, where I'll be appearing at 7 p.m. alongside the Norwegian wunderkind Johan Harstad. We'll be reading from and discussing A Field Guide to the North American Family and Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? Music courtesy of Brooklyn's The Sweaters (not to be confused with The Cardigans.)
Biological Music
“Seaquence is an experiment in musical composition. Adopting a biological metaphor, you can create and combine musical lifeforms resulting in an organic, dynamic composition.”
Required Listening
In response to Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s argument that we should end high-school reading lists, our own Nick Ripatrazone defended reading lists here at The Millions. Now, on New Hampshire Public Radio, the two take the debate to the airwaves. (Bonus: Year in Reading alum Sam Lipsyte makes a cameo.)