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Poet Nikki Giovanni offers writing advice; Lisa Lucas reflects on her new role at Penguin Random House; French booksellers fight to keep their businesses open during lockdown; and other stories.
“I come here to talk about metaphor, language, and reality—not too ambitious.” In this 2013 TEDx Talk, the late Daniel Menaker speaks about his mother, who was an editor at Fortune magazine, his love of language, the significance of metaphor, and how phrases become clichés. The venerable writer and editor died at the age of seventy-nine on October 26, 2020.
Jess Walter discusses reimagining the Western; J. Nicole Jones recommends Maryse Condé’s I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem; Marlon James talks speculative fiction; and other stories.
Novelist Lynn Steger Strong reflects on motherhood in the pandemic; Kishani Widyaratna to serve as editorial director of the Fourth Estate; Barnes & Noble and former CEO Demos Parneros cease litigation; and other stories.
The New York Times reports on the Strand Bookstore’s call for help; Hilary Mantel reflects on the writing life; poet Diane di Prima has died at age eighty-six; and other stories.
Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza discusses her new book; Angie Cruz celebrates the multiplicity of immigrant stories; Susie Yang charts her transition from tech to creative writing; and other stories.
If you enjoyed our Hurricane Katrina Anniversary virtual event, join us on Thursday, October 29 as we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the NOMMO Literary Society of New Orleans with a Facebook Live event.
NOMMO began as a workshop for Black writers in 1994 led by Kalamu ya Salaam in New Orleans. The workshop had high profile writing guests including Amiri Baraka, Toi Derricotte, and Terrance Hayes. Many consider it the foundation for similar writers workshops that would come soon after, such as Cave Canem and VONA. NOMMO dismantled formally after Hurricane Katrina but many of the participants continue their writing pursuits with success. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jericho Brown was one of NOMMO’s early participants.
The upcoming virtual event will include Jericho Brown, Karen Celestan, Jarvis DeBerry, Freddi Williams Evans, Ayo Fayemi-Robinson, Keturah Kendrick, Marian Moore, and Kalamu ya Salaam. The panel will discuss the need for building community as writers, the cultural impact of New Orleans, and the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and how it is applicable to our current pandemic.
Register for Unique and Unified: Celebrating the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the NOMMO Literary Society here!
To learn more about NOMMO, read my previous post about its history.
The awards buzz for Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart; Vivian Gibson talks being a lifelong writer; translator David Boyd reflects on Hiroko Oyamada’s unique writing style; and other stories.
Publishing veteran Molly Stern has founded her own independent press; Kaitlyn Greenidge writes against the cultural obsession with firsts; editors recover ghost stories by women writers of the past; and other stories.
Tyree Daye recalls finding his poetic tradition; Tamara Payne reflects on completing her late father’s biography of Malcolm X; Donna Hemans traces how family history informs her fiction; and other stories.
