Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin
The first lines of a dozen noteworthy books, including Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo and To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.
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Genre: Not Genre-Specific
Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster Respond to Antitrust Lawsuit, Lessons From Greg Tate, and More
Jonathan Galassi pays tribute to the late Roberto Galasso; Macmillan cancels plans to reopen offices in January; Luis H. Francia and Eric Gamalinda recall editing Flippin’: Filipinos on America twenty-five years ago; and other stories.
Los Angeles Review of Books at Ten, Anne Rice Has Died, and More
Michael Pietsch reflects on what lies ahead of the publishing industry; Riva Lehrer discusses rendering disability in writing and in visual art; Madeleine Thien discusses the unique nature of her protagonist from “Lu, Reshaping”; and other stories.
Deadline Approaches for the Essay Press Book Contest
Submissions are open for the 2021 Essay Press Book Contest, cosponsored by the University of Washington in Bothell MFA program. Given for manuscripts “that extend or challenge the formal possibilities of prose,” the award includes publication by Essay Press, a cash prize of $1,000, and an invitation to read on the Bothell campus near Seattle, travel expenses covered. Lyric essays, prose poems or poetics, experimental biography and autobiography, and hybridized text/art manuscripts, among other forms, are eligible. Ronaldo Wilson will judge.
Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 70 to 200 pages with a $20 entry fee ($25 to receive a copy of a previously published Essay Press book) by December 15. Some fee waivers are available. All entries will be considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Authors Eula Biss, Stephen Cope, and Catherine Taylor founded Essay Press in 2006. The independent, volunteer-run press publishes “artful, innovative writing that questions convention and explores issues of significant contemporary relevance.” Previous winners of the book contest include Valerie Hsiung, Silvina López Medin, and Yanara Friedland.
Speaking Out Against Attacks on Books in Schools, Uncertain Future for English Graduate Programs at Purdue, and More
The Loft Literary Center selects Arleta Little as next executive director; Kirstin Valdez Quade’s The Five Wounds earns the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; the Guardian names the top books of the year; and other stories.
Abdulrazak Gurnah Delivers Nobel Lecture, the Limits of an Author’s Social Media Platform, and More
Musician and culture writer Greg Tate has died; Knopf hires Jennifer Barth as senior vice president and executive editor; poets Mai Der Vang and Sophia Terazawa discuss how to write about difficult histories; and other stories.
Cornelius Eady Named Interim Director of Poets House, How Cis Authors Represent Trans Characters, and More
Kira Josefsson writes on credit and pay for translators; Ashley Hope Pérez reiterates the high stakes of the recent wave of book bans; Literary Hub determines the best covers of the year; and other stories.
Patrick Radden Keefe Donates Finalist Prize Money From Financial Times and McKinsey, the Paris Review to Honor Jamaica Kincaid, and More
Spanish novelist Almudena Grandes has died; Harper has hired Adenike Olanrewaju; Shilpi Suneja writes about pervasive mythologies of dirtiness and cleanliness; and other stories.
What Happens in an Aside, a Criticism of Alice Sebold’s Apology, and More
George Saunders has launched a Substack; Christopher Gonzalez discusses the emotions at the heart of his debut; Eric Nguyen talks reading diaries and memoirs; and other stories.
Jenna Johnson Appointed Editor in Chief of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Bernardine Evaristo to Become President of Royal Society of Literature, and More
Idaho library book turns up after more than a century; Percival Everett explains his belief in the primacy of the reader; Lydia Davis reflects on her “exhaustive impulse”; and other stories.
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