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May 14, 2025

Today, we’re looking back at 100 years of Mrs. Dalloway!!!

On Lit Hub dot com:

These are the guest editors and covers of the 2025 Best American Series! | Lit Hub

“Surely it’s the sign of a remarkable work of art that it cannot be pinned down to any one definition, that you can find something new in it at each encounter.” On 100 years of Mrs. Dalloway. | Lit Hub Criticism

Why Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a queer pioneer of the study of human sexuality, had to flee the Nazis. | Lit Hub Biography

Mia Manzulli explores what it means to teach Mrs. Dalloway in the age of AI and fractured attention. | Lit Hub Criticism

Emily Temple rounds up 100 Mrs. Dalloway covers for 100 years of the iconic novel. | Lit Hub Design

“They looked happy enough and healthy enough, but not one of them looked as if she had found the fountain of youth.” On the motivations and methods of people who want to live forever. | Lit Hub Health

Alex Foster considers what draws us to doomsday fantasies (and why we should resist our apocalyptic urges). | Lit Hub History

Ling Ling Huang on why logging off and tuning out are essential t0 the creative process. | Lit Hub Craft

Mark Hussey chronicles how Virginia Woolf began drafting Mrs. Dalloway. | Lit Hub Criticism

“like cupid I can only shoot / one arrow at a time / but I’m practicing comrade.” Read “Carmet et Error,” a poem by Rosie Stockton from the collection Fuel. | Lit Hub Poetry

“Abe stands on the shaggy living room rug of his great uncle’s trailer, shoes off, stripped to the waist.” Read from Aaron John Curtis’s new novel, Old School Indian. | Lit Hub Fiction

From around the internet:

“Shame on the White House. Shame on those who should be stopping this slide into autocracy and aren’t.” George Saunders responds to Trump’s firing of librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. | The New York Times

… and Trump’s attempts at taking over the Library of Congress are even more dangerous than we thought. | Rolling Stone

John Garrison revisits Percival Everett’s Wounded. | Public Books

Eliane Glaser explores the many faces of the hero’s journey: “It is an enterprise in which convention is disguised as variety, while constraint is disguised as freedom – and this, surely, is the essence of Western consumer capitalism.” | Aeon 

Kyle Stevens takes a deep look at sneering in The White Lotus. | Los Angeles Review of Books

Edward Gauvin on the Kafkaesque nature of Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud’s The Messengers | Words Without Borders

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It’s still Short Story Month! Today, we recommend reading Sam Rebelein’s “We Never Went Away, We Just Hid Better.”

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May 13, 2025

Today, we’re praising the poetics of basketball, giving AI hype some side-eye, and considering the effects of Trump’s anti-trans policies on incarcerated people.

On Lit Hub dot com:

Alissa Quart wants to know: Why can’t Trump and JD Vance stop talking about dolls? | Lit Hub Politics

“The most interesting fiction, to me, contains this element of strangeness, whether it’s set in the real world or an alternative one.” Jane Ciabattari interviews Karen E. Bender. | Lit Hub In Conversation

From the Cold War to the present, Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna look at the very real dangers of over-hyping AI. | Lit Hub Technology

Lincoln Michel, Susanna Kwan, Domenica Ruta and more authors take the Lit Hub questionnaire. | Lit Hub Craft

“When I watch her, I feel like I’m witnessing something beyond me, something heavenly and incomprehensible.” Mac Crane praises Chelsea Gray and the poetics of basketball. | Lit Hub Sports

Lincoln Michel recommends 10 novels with mind-blowing structures by Alejandro Zambra, Renee Gladman, Percival Everett and more! | Lit Hub Reading Lists

Marguerite Holloway on the virtues of taking a tree-climbing workshop: “I came to know trees more deeply. I began to look closely, to see and to understand our profound connection to them.” | Lit Hub Nature

The 27 new books out today include titles by Ocean Vuong, Rebecca Solnit, and more! | Lit Hub Reading Lists

M.D. Usher takes stock of ancient philosophy, nature, and anthropocentric ideas in The Anthropocene. | Lit Hub History

“Strange people often came to the farm, but they tended to be late risers, so Mad knew the first few hours would be easy.” Read from Kevin Wilson’s new novel, Run for the Hills. | Lit Hub Fiction

From around the internet:

Mira Ptacin on teaching writing in prison and the devastating consequences of Trump’s anti-trans policies: “They declared Maine out of compliance with ‘agency priorities’. The punishment: cut funding, and not just any funding, but programs that worked.” | The Guardian 

Hannah Zeavin considers the relationship between poets and psychoanalysis. | The Paris Review

The integration of life and art: Victoria Horrocks re-remembers Vanessa Bell. | Los Angeles Review of Books

What even is close reading? Dan Sinykin considers. | The Nation 

Megan Fritts examines the success (and futility) of establishing guidelines for the use of AI in academia. | The Point

Clare Malone on the past and future of The Washington Post. | The New Yorker

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Sheila Heti, Omar El Akkad, Madeleine Thien, Sarah Bernstein and other prominent authors are auctioning signed editions of their books to benefit Crips for eSims for Gaza, a crowdfunding organization made up of disabled people from around the world.

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Today, the DAG Foundation announced the five finalists for the DAG Prize for Literature, a new annual award that grants $20,000 to “an early-career prose writer whose work expands the possibilities for American writing.”

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It’s Short Story Month! Today, we recommend reading Donald Barthelme’s “A City of Churches.”

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May 12, 2025

Today, we’re thinking about anti-fascism, remembering The Wonder Years, and looking at the messed up history of IQ testing!

On Lit Hub dot com:

Tracy Slater examines the parallels between Trump’s anti-trans policies and the persecution of Japanese Americans during World War II. | Lit Hub History

Sonya Bilocerkowycz on the impact of generational trauma in the midst of Russia’s imperialist onslaught against Ukraine. | Lit Hub Memoir

David Renton shares lessons on anti-fascism, courtesy of Sinclair Lewis and Philip Roth. | Lit Hub Criticism

How writing for The Wonder Years taught Mark B. Perry to write a novel. | Lit Hub Craft

“That was the first time I discovered that a place—and a person—could be lost forever in a frantic instant.” Nova Ren Suma explores the allure of writing lost places. | Lit Hub Craft

Mark Lynas on what would happen in the first few hours of nuclear war (and how to prevent nuclear war in the first place). | Lit Hub Politics

“I knew my mother’s story and what was at stake would resonate with others. But how?” Priscilla Gilman talks to Jill Bialosky about her new memoir, The End is the Beginning. | Lit Hub In Conversation

“One day, I asked my father what was the most distant city he’d ever visited. He simply said: ‘Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.’ And nothing more.” Read from Anthony Passeron’s novel Sleeping Children, translated by Frank Wynne. | Lit Hub Fiction

From around the internet:

“The killing of the NEA feels like the last little bit of the end of American culture, and it’s the last little bit of voices of true resistance. All that’s left is content created for an algorithm that a corporation wrote.” Kaitlyn Greenidge on the tragedy of Trump’s gutting of the NEA. | Harper’s Bazaar

Jeremiah David reads—and lives—Camping on Low or No Dollars (aka The Guide). | The Paris Review

“How does Trump perpetuate the faulty logic of IQ tests and tracking? By suggesting that people with disabilities do not belong in the workforce.” Pepper Stetler traces the eugenicist roots of IQ testing. | Los Angeles Review of Books

David Kaczynski reflects on the letters he sent his brother, Ted Kaczynski, after turning him in to the FBI. | The New York Times

Tanvi Misra details the disastrous collaborations between ICE and local authorities. | The Baffler

Nikhil Mahant on what we can learn about human language by imagining how aliens might communicate. | Aeon

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Yesterday, the Trump administration abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

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These are the things that got the Lit Hub staff through the week!

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What should you do if your NEA grant was terminated? Brittany Allen compiles some good advice.

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Louis C.K. is...publishing a book? James Folta has some thoughts.

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May 9, 2025

Today, we’re reading some (illustrated!) Joy Harjo poety, considering the relationship between “art monsters” and women’s loneliness, and swooning over art!

On Lit Hub dot com:

“You truly cannot separate the personal experience of having this disease from the social experience of it.” Gavin J. Grant and Anne Ursu on chronic illness, writing, and family. | Lit Hub In Conversation

Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, Amanda Hess’ Second Life, and Florence Knapp’s The Names all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. | Book Marks

Tramaine Suubi recommends fourteen books on Black motherhood by Black daughters by Toi Derricotte, Toni Morrison, Deesha Philyaw, and more. | Lit Hub Reading Lists

Amie Souza Reilly reflects on “the art monster,” fairytales, and women’s loneliness. | Lit Hub Craft

Patrick Dougher remembers his punk rock stint working at The Strand in the 80s. | Lit Hub Memoir

Joy Harjo writes about the aftermath of her mother’s death, with illustrations by Dana Tiger. | Lit Hub Poetry

Abigail Leonard explores the intersections of traditional and modern parenting in Kenya. | Lit Hub History

“From this boredom, words flow. I can’t stop them.” Craig Mod praises the creative power of going for a walk. | Lit Hub Craft

“How the fuck did it come to this?” Read from John Tottenham’s new novel, Service. | Lit Hub Fiction

From around the internet:

“Even George W. Bush liked libraries.” Nitish Pahwa examines Trump’s assault on the Institute of Museum and Library Services. | Slate

Lindsey Adler remembers the life and legacy of Melody Beattie, who (literally) wrote the book on codependency. | The Cut

Pete Wells considers revered cookbook author Marcella Hazan’s culinary legacy. | The New York Times

Lara-Nour Walton reports on the NYPD’s most recent mass arrest of student protesters at Columbia. | The Nation

Zahid Rafiq and Nafeesa Syeed discuss writing beyond bodies and capturing the cadence of a language. | Public Books

Robert D Zaretsky explores the history of swooning over great art. | Aeon

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James Folta remembers the childhood joys of reading with his mom.

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It’s Short Story Month! Today, we recommend reading Marie-Helene Bertino’s “Viola in Midwinter.”

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May 8, 2025

Today, we’re thinking about fighting Nazis (in the past and present), NEA cuts, and comics as journalism!

On Lit Hub dot com:

Michele Filgate on navigating loss alongside her father: “Is this my family’s thing? The need to pin memories down, preserve them in a drawer, put a frame around them?” | Lit Hub Memoir

“Rivers are the veins of our mother, the earth; they are the visual mapping of a watery network.” Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on rivers as teachers. | Lit Hub Nature

Shelly Sanders excavates the women snipers of the Red Army, who were silenced by the country they fought to protect. | Lit Hub History

Mo Ogrodnik on fusing research and filmmaking techniques to write a novel that depicts violence against women from multiple perspectives. | Lit Hub Craft

“We need indie presses and literary magazines for a thriving literary ecosystem.” Maris Kreizman wants to know what can be done in the face of Trump’s devastating NEA cuts. | Lit Hub Politics

“In this artful and sad novel, forbearance is courage.” 5 book reviews you need to read this week. | Book Marks

Becky Aikman on the “Atta-Girls,” the women pilots who chased adventure during World War II. | Lit Hub History

Natasha Lester recommends globe-spanning books on World War II by Ariel Lawhon, Emma Pei Yin, Anne Sebba, and more! | Lit Hub Reading Lists

Books by Ross Gay, Isabella Hammad, Chet’la Sebree, and more authors are in Jennifer Hope Choi’s TBR pile. | Lit Hub Reading Lists

Paul Vidich looks back on the influence of Len Deighton’s spy novels as the first Bernard Samson trilogy turns 40. | CrimeReads

“There are certain things that happen in the world, certain big events that make everyone ask afterwards: Where were you when . . . ?” Read from Graham Swift’s new story collection, Twelve Post-War Tales. | Lit Hub Fiction

From around the internet:

“Would we get a different view of translation, one that is both more illuminating and more appreciative, if we turned to translators themselves?” Lawrence Venuti on why critics can do better when discussing translation. | Public Books

Joe Sacco explains why he returned to comics journalism about Palestine: “I know the cities they’re bombing. I have friends there. I’ve written about the history of those places I’ve walked in.” | The Comics Journal

“No satirist arrived at our dystopian moment better prepared than Carl Hiaasen. The bad guys in Hiaasen’s books have always been dangerous and mockable.” Dan Kois on “the bard of Florida’s fever swamps.” | Slate

Read a letter by the National Endowment for the Arts’ literary arts staff about their decision to resign from the agency. | n+1

“In a state of despair”: How college professors are coping with the ubiquity of A.I. | New York Magazine

Richard Brody rediscovers Andre Sennwald, whose short tenure as a New York Times film critic captured a distinct perspective of Hollywood’s golden age. | The New Yorker

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Today for Short Story Month, we recommend reading Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves.”

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Get ready to party with the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Research Center, which hosts one of America’s largest collections of Black arts, literature, and history!