At Lit Hub, Tiphanie Yanique discusses her second novel, Monster in the Middle, which follows the maze-like trajectory of generations of love and relationships. “I want the book to consider how what is monstrous to us might also be what is holy,” Yanique says. “The book is structured in what might feel like a wending manner, as with a labyrinth. Labyrinths and other images of journey are used to metaphorize the idea of, well, love. Because what is more likely to destroy you or bless you than love?”
Tiphanie Yanique on the Destruction and Blessing of Love
Sunday Simic
The PEN Blog has a present for everybody: four poems by Charles Simic.
German Literature Month
Oktoberfest may be over, but the inaugural German Literature Month is just beginning. If you’re wondering what to imbibe while you sit down with The Sorrows of Young Werther, Magic Mountain, and The Clown, Melville House’s MobyLives blog has you covered.
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Protesting Orson Scott Card
With the Ender’s Game movie approaching, critics of Orson Scott Card are drawing attention to the writer’s anti-gay rhetoric. In protest of his position, they compelled DC Comics to scrap a Card-penned Superman comic and started a movement to boycott the upcoming movie. In New York Magazine, Kyle Buchanan runs through the nitty-gritty of the controversy, which includes a recent statement from Card that the repeal of DOMA means “the gay marriage issue” is now “moot.” (You might also want to read our interview with Card from back in May.)