Recent estate sales, auctions, and rights deals concerning the legacy and works of William Faulkner are “raising complex questions about what happens to the works of great writers after they die,” writes Stefanie Cohen. “For their part, Faulkner’s heirs say they aim to both honor the writer’s work and raise funds.” (Bonus: the ongoing, public legal battle over rights to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.)
The Rights of Southern Writers
“This recent column was just bonkers”
Catching you up to speed with two recent literary controversies: 1) Poets & Writers' MFA rankings kerfuffle gets a climactic and eloquent summary from The Missouri Review's Michael Nye. 2) In response to her Salon article, "How the National Book Awards made themselves irrelevant," Victor LaValle has some fightin' words for Laura Miller.
Failure
"I’ve learned that people—writers and non-writers alike—don’t like that word. Failure.... I take a bizarre pleasure, now, in using that word. Maybe because during my decade as a failed writer, the one thing that took the edge off was wallowing in that failure—carefully, in a proscribed fashion, like having a drink when you’re still hungover." Stephanie Feldman writes for Vol. 1 Brooklyn about being a literary failure, about the two books she wrote and never published, and about the one she finally did. Pair with the stories of these 5 writers and their failed "novels in drawers."
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The Graphics of Storytelling
The New York Times asked graphic artists if “the power of storytelling could be communicated in one panel,” and they responded in comics, of course. For more comics, read Paul Morton’s essay on the 25th anniversary of Drawn and Quarterly.
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Supplementing Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño's posthumous releases may rival Tupac's in quantity. Indeed, the author "sustains an interest in Latin American literature all by himself," writes Robert Birnbaum. But what if you want to broaden your survey of Latin and South American literature? Well, luckily, Birnbaum's got some recommendations for you.
Thank You for Your Submission
If you’re a writer planning to submit a novel manuscript to a literary agency, you might want to read these guidelines and recommendations, over at Electric Literature. Pair with Edan Lepucki’s Millions interview with her agent about publishing a first book.
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A Writer’s Day
The Green Road author Anne Enright shares her writing day, over at The Guardian. “22:00 Bedtime stuff with offspring. 23:00 Dishes. Netflix. Two bottles of IPA. Chill.” Pair with Diane Prokop’s Millions interview with the author.
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Mapping the Territory
"No map can be a perfect representation of reality; every map is an interpretation, which may be why writers are so drawn to them," Casey N. Cep writes about the fictional map at The New Yorker. Pair with: Our review of Where You Are.