The International Scramble for a Nobel Laureate’s Work

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Booksellers—both large and small—are struggling to stock books by Abdulrazak Gurnah, after he was awarded the Nobel Prize.
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The Grisly Reading Habits of Victorian Children

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Sarah Durn looks at the history of penny dreadfuls, "grisly tales of murder, crime, and the supernatural" that enthralled Victorian children and teenagers and kept them reading.
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That Old Book Smell Explained

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Jude Stewart’s illuminating new book, Revelations in Air, reveals why people are drawn to that “old book smell” and breaks down the chemical reactions involved in producing the scent.
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The Writers Who Helped Jocelyn Nicole Johnson Find Her Place in the World

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Jocelyn Nicole Johnson discusses her debut fiction collection, My Monticello, as well as the writers who influenced her to write about communities surviving racial trauma.
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Elizabeth Alexander Turns to the Arts to Save Us

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Poet Elizabeth Alexander reflects on how art is essential to addressing the most pressing issues of our time.
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The Lesser-Known Children’s Books of Langston Hughes and Graham Greene

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A look at lesser-known children's books written by literary titans such as Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, William Faulkner, and more.
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Jane Wong Curls and Uncurls Her Fists

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Jane Wong discusses her new poetry collection, How to Not Be Afraid of Everything, which depicts her own experience of Chinese immigrant life in the U.S., while also giving voice to generations before her.
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Tiphanie Yanique on the Destruction and Blessing of Love

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Tiphanie Yanique discusses her second novel, Monster in the Middle, which follows the maze-like trajectory of generations of love and relationships.
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A Community Library of Rare Black Books, Courtesy of Solange

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Solange opens the Saint Heron Community Library, a media center dedicated to out-of-print and rare books by Black and Brown voices in poetry, visual art, critical thought, and design.
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The Link Between Writing and Listening with Tracy K. Smith

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Tracy K. Smith discusses her newest poetry collection, Such Color, whose poems allowed her to face this past year and a half with a sense of peace.
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The Case for Picture Books for All Ages

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Amitava Kumar makes a case for more images to appear in literature for adults, as tools to prompt questions and multiple interpretations.
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Eugene Lim Faces the Transformative Power of Grief

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Eugene Lim discusses his newest novel, Search History, which examines grief through his signature mix of the mundane and extraordinary.
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Lucy Ellmann Flies Off the Handle

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Lucy Ellmann discusses her new book, Things Are Against Us, a nonfiction collection that offers many of the surprises and insights from her fiction.
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Reginald Dwayne Betts Finds Freedom in Poetry

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Self-described "lawyer poet" Reginald Dwayne Betts discusses how he uses poetry and law in his day-to-day life to learn about the world.
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Creating Markers of the Moment with Sanjena Sathian

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Sanjena Sathian discusses why she chooses to use concrete pop culture references that ground her work to our current time period.
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Richard Powers Resets Earth’s Trajectory

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Richard Powers discusses his newest novel, Bewilderment, which is set during a period that resembles our own—but not quite.
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Alice McDermott Lets Beautiful Language Chase Her

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Alice McDermott discusses her first collection of nonfiction, where she dissects everything from voice, language, and the trap of beautiful writing.
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Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s Remembers the Beauty of the World Through Poetry

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Melissa Lozada-Oliva discusses her new novel in verse, Dreaming of You, and the role poetry plays in keeping us attuned to the beauty around us.
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