Edan Lepucki Interviews the NBA Finalists

France's top literary award, the Prix Goncourt, has been awarded to the French-Moroccan journalist and novelist Leïla Slimani, The New York Times reports. Slimani's book, Chanson Douce, is loosely based on a tragic case in New York City in which two children were murdered by their caretaker. Earlier this year we reviewed another book that was a finalist for the prize, The Heart.

In an interview with Spiegel, Günter Grass talks about writing after the Nobel Prize, his involvement with Hitler Youth, the e-book movement, and his “declaration of love” to the Brothers Grimm. (via Bookslut)

"I think people always expect artists to have a larger understanding of the issues they write about. People have looked to writers and artists forever and asked them to be cultural commentators or political commentators, which can be very scary because I can only speak to my own perspective, and I’m figuring this out along with everybody else. I’m not even sure I’m the best person to talk about it, whatever it is, but I’m someone who can and does." Electric Literature talks with Sarah Gerard about her debut novel Binary Star, which we reviewed here.