For Buzzfeed Rachel Vorona Cote explores Eve Babitz and the white literary It Girl. “Readers, particularly literary women in their twenties and thirties, seem to be entranced by this child of Hollywood, who unabashedly relished her LA milieu and both chronicled and defended its paradoxes. But it’s still a milieu that flattens the city into one that is homogenous, wealthy, and white.” Pair with this essay about her novel Sex and Rage.
The Millennial Resurgence of Eve Babitz
“Der Nister”
Here's a great article about the underrated Soviet/Yiddish writer Pinkhes "Der Nister" Kaganovich.
That’s So Miami
The organizers of this year’s O, Miami Poetry Festival are holding an online poetry contest entitled “That’s So Miami.” To participate, submit a poem that begins or ends with the phrase, “that’s so Miami.” Entries – which can be culled from both Twitter and Instagram – are accepted in English and Spanish (duh), and submissions are posted daily on the organization’s new Tumblr. For a rundown of the festival’s other April events, check out their Facebook page.
Dzanc and Melville Houses’s Independence Sales
Not to be outdone by Graywolf, Dzanc Books is also offering an Independence Sale of its own. You have until July 7th to buy one, get one free over at their website. Likewise for Melville House, which is offering a 40% discount on everything it’s got.
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Tennessee Williams’s College Days
The Strand Magazine is publishing a previously unseen Tennessee Williams short story in its spring issue. "Crazy Night" is about Williams's lovelorn college days when he describes sex like "vaccination the first day of school."
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Leigh Stein’s Other People Pod
The Fallback Plan (reviewed on our site) and Dispatch from the Future author Leigh Stein was interviewed for Brad Listi’s Other People Podcast, so that makes us all winners.
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The Alphabet of Silence
Recommended Reading/Listening: Maia Evrona’s translation and recitation of a poem by Abraham Sutzkever, who has been called one of the primary poets of the Holocaust. Gabriel Brownstein’s essay for The Millions on what it means to be a “Jewish writer” is a good complementary piece.
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On Writing While Parenting
Having kids changes everything, of course, but for the writer, used to working in quiet solitude, it can feel like the end. Jessica Francis Kane writes about how she learned to write again, in a new way, after having children and offers some tips for new parents who write.
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