A Pittsburgh-based nonprofit is offering free housing and stipends to “foreign-born scribes who endured imprisonment, or worse, in their home countries.”
City of Asylum
New from Jess Walter
The Financial Lives of the Poets author Jess Walter has a new short story out in the Kindle Single format: “Don’t Eat Cat“.
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New Franzen in 2015
Sound the Franzen alarm! The Corrections and Freedom author will release a new book in 2015. Called Purity, the book will supposedly feature elements of magical realism (or something like it). Head over to Vulture for more.
The Real-Life Inspiration behind Hugo’s Quasimodo
The Telegraph reports that a new discovery appears to reveal that Quasimodo, the seemingly mythical hero of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, may have been based on a real-life figure.
Speaking in Tongues
“What do I want to say with this new language that I can’t say in my native language—or any other language that currently exists?” From The Lord of the Rings to A Game of Thrones, Josephine Livingstone explores the history of invented languages, over at The New Republic.
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McSweeney’s Issue Release Party
L.A.-based readers might be interested in the McSweeney’s Issue 37 release party at 826LA West on Monday, May 9th at 8 pm. I’ll be reading, along with fellow contributors Kevin Moffett and Larain Newman. The event will be hosted by Josh Bearman, and musician Tristen will perform.
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