National Book Award longlists, Arab booksellers, and Poetry in the Wild
This week we’re celebrating the unveiling of the National Book Award longlists, which highlight great authors and poets in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult literature. We also have links to the German Book Prize finalists, a Banned Books Week event you won’t want to miss, and several entertaining fun finds below. Happy reading!
News, Reviews, and Interviews
The National Book Award longlists were announced all this week, one category for each day.
Harper Lee has officially settled the copyright lawsuit over To Kill a Mockingbird.
The finalists for the 2013 German Book Prize have been officially revealed.
A new psychology study takes a closer look at the word choice differences between suicidal and nonsuicidal poets.
Recognize any names on the list of Top 200 Advocates for American Poetry? Several WLT contributors, including Puterbaugh Fellow Sherman Alexie and Neustadt nominee Ilya Kaminsky, made the cut.
Despite the ongoing political struggles in Syria, new visceral poetry is emerging from inspiring new voices working to shape the country’s identity.
Will a new painstaking study of Shakespeare’s handwriting finally put to rest questions about his authorship?
The Man Booker Prize consideration is officially opening up to American authors for the 2014 prize.
Would you add any titles or authors to this list of Fiction in Translation Every English Speaker Should Read?
Despite censorship, despite war, and despite recession, the booksellers of the Arab world continue with business as usual.
A thought-provoking question considering the rise of ebooks: what does it mean to own a book?
New nonfiction by Haruki Murakami was published this week at Granta.
For Your Calendar
Translators Esther Allen and Susan Bernofsky are appearing at the CUNY Center for the Humanities Friday, September 27, to talk about translation in all its forms. (For more reading, check out our two-part interview with both women about their new book, In Translation.)
To celebrate 80 years of publication, Kirkus Reviews is giving away a literary tour trip to New York City! You can enter daily until October 22.
Join our friends at PEN American all next week for Banned Books Week FREADOM events in and around New York City.
Fun Finds and Inspiration
Planning a wedding soon? Here are a few tips from Buzzfeed on how to have the best literary wedding ever.
From Roboto Bolaño to Cormac Macabre, these creepy author illustrations are just the thing to get you in the mood for Halloween next month.
A bookless public library is open to the public in Bexar County, Texas.
Who knew Google searches could be so poetic?
These Poetry in the Wild art boxes have begun popping up across the United States, combining a love for nature, poetry, and art in a single display.
