Recommended Reading: For the writers who make coffee for their day jobs, Lucy Schiller discusses the burden of being happy all the time as a San Francisco barista in “Service with a Smile.” The essay is the first in a weekly series by The Riveter, a magazine spotlighting original longform journalism by women. Pair with Jason Diamond’s essay on being mistaken for a professional barista.
Recommended Reading: The Barista’s Burden
“We see these wounded women everywhere”
The latest issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review features Leslie Jamison’s “Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain,” one of the most popular essays from her new collection, The Empathy Exams, which was reviewed for The Millions this past week.
The Age-Old Tradition
Scientists are using x-ray to read fragments of 1,300-year-old manuscripts that have been reused as bookbindings. Pair with this Millions essay on private libraries and what books reveal about their readers.
Suspenseful Degree Program
City University in London is launching the UK’s “first creative writing masters dedicated to crime and thriller novels.” The degree program will allow 12 to 14 students to focus on crime writing, the UK’s second biggest genre, which raked in £87.6m in 2011.
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The Pope of Trash Tours America
It’s only fitting that Baltimore’s City Paper has an exclusive excerpt from Carsick, the new book by Charm City’s Chosen Son, John Waters. After all, they did offer him some of their weed. Meanwhile, the Pope of Trash recently invited New York Magazine on a hitchhiking ride through Manhattan, his home away from home.
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Literary Podcasts
Recommended recommendations: “Eight Excellent Literary Podcasts for Your Morning Commute.”
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P.S.
The summer issue of Prairie Schooner has a short story of mine in it, as well as other good stuff, for most of which a subscription is required. You don’t need one, however, to read this short interview (very much in keeping with the Where We Write theme).
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