Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
Best-selling author James Patterson has announced the names of the eighty-seven independent booksellers who received individual holiday bonuses, which ranged from one thousand to five thousand dollars each. (American Booksellers Association)
Cheryl Strayed—author of the best-selling novel Wild—talks about her new book Brave Enough, as well as sexism and writing, literature as religion and consolation, and more. (BookRiot)
Over at Tin House, Leslie Jamison interviews Charles D’Ambrosio about his latest collection of essays, Loitering, and the sense of discovery he found in writing each piece. “The essay isn’t a form for know-it-alls, though it’s often used that way, which is probably a leftover expository habit we all pick up in grade school. Mostly I try to write about what I don’t know, which is so vast, so very much the larger part of my existence, and I guess as a result my threshold for surprise is set pretty low. Every one of these pieces surprised the shit out of me. Sometimes I’m just surprised to learn that I think what I think.”
At the Washington Post, novelist Laila Lalami recommends books about Muslim life that she hopes will educate those who do not know about Islam, and will “complicate perceptions, and deepen the conversation.”
“Lispector had no interest in blessing, or happiness for that matter. Rather, she entertained happiness so she could play with it, leave scratch marks on it, wound it as best she could.” Colm Tóibín writes about Brazilian fiction writer Clarice Lispector’s Complete Stories in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books.
Literary Hub asked booksellers across the country to recommend their favorite books of the year. Here are the top twenty-five suggestions.
“In an era when readers seem more fickle than they ever have been, a newsletter’s audience is a model of sustained attention.” One writer suggests that 2015 was the year of the e-mail newsletter. (Guardian)
