Gossip is often seen as inherently frivolous and trashy, which is why it’s odd that a poet would use it as the subject of his or her work. On The Poetry Foundation’s blog, Austin Allen writes about George Green’s collection Lord Byron’s Foot, in which, as Allen puts it, “the dish spares no one.” (h/t Arts and Letters Daily)
Did You Hear?
Williams Reads “Stuff”
Recommended Listening: Joy Williams reads her story “Stuff” from The New Yorker’s July 25th issue.
Have a Seat
"If I've sat on my arse all day—and it’s definitely my English arse I sit on, not an American ass—then what I most want to do come evening is sit on it some more," Geoff Dyer loves to sit. He and other authors discussed why the standing desk is overrated at The New Republic. Here's where our writers work.
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Mister Orhanium’s Wonder Emporium
Orhan Pamuk's Museum of Innocence (named after his most recent novel of the same name) will open this week in Istanbul's Çukurcuma neighborhood. The museum consists of hundreds of objects "collected" by a fictional character in the eponymous book.
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Move It
"These days, nothing says amateur hour quite like an alphabetical bookshelf." Sloane Crosley does not have packing tips for you, though she does have some book recommendations.
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Help Save Langston Hughes’s Home
You can help preserve Langston Hughes’s home in Harlem through this Indiegogo campaign. Pair with our own Tess Malone’s review of Tambourines to Glory.
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Sit Down, Stephen Fry.
Stuart Jeffries at The Guardian: Stephen Fry gives stand-up comedy a go at the Royal Albert Hall but doesn't quite have the punchlines for it.
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Danticat’s Definition
Edwidge Danticat gives us one of the best definitions of the short story in an interview with Kima Jones at The Rumpus. "The short story is like an exquisite painting and you might, when looking at this painting, be wondering what came before or after, but you are fully absorbed in what you’re seeing." They also discuss Danticat's novel Claire of the Sea Light, Haitian and Dominican relations, and giving yourself permission to tell the truth. To find out what Danticat has been reading, see her 2013 Year in Reading.
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“The ringing, defiant poetry of Adrienne Rich.”
The New Yorker has made six poems that Adrienne Rich published in the magazine available online.
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