Recommended Reading: Chloe Garcia Roberts and Guangchen Chen on translating ninth century poet Li Shangyin.
Ancient Poetics
Big Ideas and Bigger Books
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Nobel Speculation
With the Nobel Prize for Literature to be awarded on October 7th, speculation is heating up at the Literary Saloon as to who might be this year’s main contenders.
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The Old Town
“What knits together the families of Roth’s Newark are adults—some foreign-born but many the children of immigrants—who either experienced the insecurity and deprivation of the Old World themselves or heard stories about it from their own parents. What they want most is to find stability in a neighborhood, in a city, and in a country that offers them the chance at security for their families.” On Philip Roth and Newark, NJ.
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The Return of Binge Reading
Novelist Ben Dolnick makes the case for indulging in a good binge-reading session.
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No Fanfiction, Please
For those of you who were not on Twitter yesterday, the novelist Elizabeth McCracken tweeted a series of tips for applying to MFA fiction programs. Among other bits of good advice, she says it’s generally best to apply with a solid short story rather than a novel chapter.