“Women writers and writers of color don’t really have the luxury of being known simply as writers. There’s always a qualification,” Roxane Gay writes for The Nation. She ponders what it means to be a “black woman writer” and concludes that we should view diversity as a search for “urgent, unheard stories.”
The Black Woman Writer
Holy Listicle Batman!
The Guardian has published a top ten list of superheros and it is official: Batman is the greatest. Would Spider-Man have been bumped up to number one if the latest movie had less Peter Parker, and more Jean-Ralphio?
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Ancient Welsh Book To Be Made Available Online
A 13th century Welsh book originally written by monks on pages of animal skin has finally been made available online thanks to the country's National Library. The ancient Book of Aneirin contains the Gododdin, one of the oldest poems ever written in the language.
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Pamela or Plath?
I’m disappointed that I was only able to get 8/12 correct on the Guardian’s “Who’s the Poet: Pamela Anderson or Sylvia Plath” quiz, but I’m consoling myself with the fact that the 50% is the average.
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New Maeve Binchy Coming Up
When Maeve Binchy passed away two years ago, she left behind a novel, A Week in Winter, that appeared to cap off an accomplished 40-year career. It turns out her fans have more posthumous work to look forward to: a new 400-page story collection, Chestnut Street, that comes out on April 24th.
Curiosities: Alternative Punctuation
Newsweek names "The Most Dangerous Man in Publishing."Adam Kirsch interviewed about his new bio of Benjamin Disraeli."Daily Routines: How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days." (via Jacket Copy)David Horvitz discovers several pages of his writing in this year's Dave Eggers-edited Best American Nonrequired Reading. He was not told that his work (pulled from his website) would be appearing in the book. Now he is peeved and has made several demands. (No permalinks, so check out the long Dec. 9 entry.) (Thanks Buzz)The LA Times unveils its Favorite Books 2008.Google's year-end "Zeitgeist" of 2008 search activity. Breaking Dawn the unsurprising top search.Recently discovered aggregators of quality content: The Browser and Give Me Something to Read.This week's Wikipedia treat: a gem of alternative punctuation: the "irony mark." In the history section of that entry, take note of the "doubt point, certitude point, acclamation point, authority point, indignation point, and love point."Scott gets to the bottom of the striking new cover designs on Dalkey Archive Press' books.NPR features an excerpt from Firmin, a Millions favorite (and former LBC pick) that is soon to be published in a new edition by Delta, a Random House imprint.The Association of American Publishers teams with several celebs to create BooksAreGreatGifts.com and accompanying YouTube vid. "Books make great gifts because they are an amazing way to kill time while your web site is buffering." - Jon Stewart. (thanks Laurie)