“Does handwriting matter?” That’s the question some researchers are working to answer and that Maria Konnikova tackles in a piece for The New York Times. The article ends by suggesting that “with handwriting, the very act of putting it down forces you to focus on what’s important… maybe it helps you think better,” which is doubtlessly encouraging to every writer who works on their drafts in longhand.
Write This Down
Lateral Moves
What happens when a literary fiction writer tackles YA? If that writer is Sherman Alexie, he produces an award-winning book that rivals the quality of his books in other genres. At the Ploughshares blog, Annie Cardi writes about writers who’ve made this transition, including Alexie, Roddy Doyle and Louise Erdrich. You could also read our survey of high school students on the best YA books of 2013.
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A Little Bird Told Me
Catapult has a new anonymous column in which a little bird called Magpie collects nice things that happen each week.
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“Elbowing, nudge-nudge, wink-winking”
Recommended Listening: Alissa Nutting discussing her new novel on Brad Listi’s Other People Podcast.
Tuesday New Release Day
Milan Kundera’s new collection of essays, Encounter, is now out. And for those still trying to figure out Inception, the shooting script has been published.
The Long Goodbye
A lot of writers have alter-egos, but few are as interesting as Benjamin Black, the crime-writing persona of Irish novelist and Year in Reading alum John Banville. The author’s new novel adds an entry to the saga of a crime-fiction icon: Raymond Chandler’s Angeleno detective, Philip Marlowe.
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Against Neutrality
Over at World Literature Today, Diane Clarke writes against neutrality, capital letters, and easy translation. “I want a poetics of translation that is not just anti-assimilationist.” Pair with this Millions essay about translators at work.
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What do Ian McEwan and Willie Nelson Have in Common?
The University of Texas is on a tear right now. Not only has its Ransom Center acquired Ian McEwan’s literary archive this week, but the nearby Dolph Briscoe Center for American History also just acquired the complete papers of Willie Nelson.
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