Recommended Reading: Karl Ove Knausgaard and Sheila Heti discuss literary ambition and the price of success.
Writing About Oneself
On Miss Lora
The New Yorker‘s Book Bench talked with Junot Díaz about “Miss Lora,” his story about an illegal liaison between a boy and much older woman published in the magazine this week.
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Vintage Interview with Jaimy Gordon
While you’re waiting to get your hands on Lord of Misrule, the National Book Award winner by Jaimy Gordon, Gargoyle Magazine posts an interview with Gordon from 1983. (via The Paris Review).
Man Uses Twitter to Tweet About…His Roommate
Shhdontellsteve is a Twitter account devoted to “Steve,” the roommate of the unnamed narrator. Kind of like The Truman Show for Twitter. (As I write this, it occurs to me that this may constitute “telling Steve.” Apologies if that’s the case.)
Sad, Sad Puppies
The finalists for the 2016 Hugo Awards were announced a few days ago, and it looks like the reactionaries may have struck another blow. A group which calls itself “The Sad Puppies” has been stirring up political controversy at the Hugos for a few years now. Founded in 2013 by writer Larry Correia, who was highly critical of the Hugos for favoring what he believed were “academic” works that allegedly promote “left-leaning messages,” the Puppies have since campaigned vigorously to have writers whose ideologies line up with their own make the final ballot.
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Virginia Woolf Meets House Party
At what point does Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and the 1990 cinematic classic, House Party, intersect? Many points, actually, according to this incisive comparison of the two done by Sean Gill for The Offing.
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Never Enough Karen Russell
Karen Russell is everywhere these days. She’s sharing her favorite books about Florida with The New York Times, she’s being interviewed about her writing process on our site, and she’s publishing short fiction for Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading blog. Oh, and she has a new book out, too, as you might have heard.
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Lambda Literary Award Names 2019 Finalists
Whittled down from a pool of 1,000 submissions, the finalists for the 2019 Lambda Literary Awards—which highlight and celebrate LBGTQ literature—include Akwaeke Emezi, Joseph Cassara, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Patrick Nathan, and Jordy Rosenberg.
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