“Independent bookstores are intellectual centers of a city.” Our own Bill Morris, who’s currently on tour for his latest book, Motor City Burning, writes for The Daily Beast about the importance and continued relevance of bookstores in the age of Amazon.
Indie in the Age of Amazon
Cheering Up the Country
Recommended Reading: Booker Prize winner Anne Enright on Donal Ryan’s The Thing About December.
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Know Every Name
Year in Reading alumna Porochista Khakpour has a stunning new story in Bennington Review. She writes, “I had made a point of trying to learn the names of everyone in my department, after my previous department chair at my last VAP job advised ‘best way to make a best impression is know every name of professor and student alike.’” For more of her writing, check out her Millions piece on George Saunders.
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To Antarctica We Go
Recommended Reading: Chris Jones went to Antarctica, and on the way he started believing in ghosts.
Writers on Politics
For 3:AM Magazine, English writer Joanna Walsh gathered other writers’ thoughts on Brexit. “Brexit is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake,” said Ali Smith.
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“It is the last hour of the city watch.”
In an act of grand generosity, Ilya Bernstein has made his translation of Osip Mandelstam’s poetry available for free via Google Books. (h/t Keith Gessen)