Or, The Power of Enchantment How much do you remember about reading in early childhood? I ask because I’m always bemused when I see other peoples’ statements about learning to read at age 3 or 4 and remembering the very moment they realized they could make sense of the squiggles on the page. I ask […]
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How the Essay and the Novel Inform and Influence Each Other Here’s an excerpt from Jane Smiley’s recently published collection of essays, The Questions That Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom (Heyday Books, 2023): Most of the essays in this book have been assignments—I am handed a topic and asked to reveal
‘It’s not climate change, it’s everything change’: sci-fi authors take on the global crisis “Margaret Atwood and Cormac McCarthy led the way. Now a new crop of novelists is putting the heating emergency at the forefront of their plots” Categories: Author News, Literary History Controversial book ‘Stamped’ added back into Pickens Co Schools libraries PICKENS
Logan Steiner on Learning Life Lessons From Anne of Green Gables I was drawn to this article because much of what Logan Steiner writes here reflects my own reactions to reading Anne of Green Gables. The book demonstrates not only what it means to be human, but also how literature can unconsciously teach us how
queer indie and self-published books to read during pride month The indie and self-published community offers a great range of identities and diversification that you often can’t find in traditionally published books, but because of people’s prejudice against these books, or because of their laziness in trying to find them, indie books often go unnoticed.
What I Learned About Writing From Reviewing Bethanne Patrick writes, “I believe in both author and reader as partners in a delicate dance. The author wants to speak; the reader wants to listen. I’ve occupied both roles.” Having been both a critic and a writer, Patrick here offers some advice for writers. Categories: Literary Criticism,
6 Mid-Life Memoirs of Transformative Years “6 Life-Changing Memoirs” “What would it take for you to transform your life? Could you do it in the span of a year or two? Spurred on by loss, career changes, new hobbies — or even a global pandemic — what if your life could become something new? In
Learning How to Read Slowly Laura Sackton, a self-proclaimed fast reader, explains her reasons for learning “about how to shift some of my bookish energy toward slower, more deliberate reading” because, she writes, “there are some books that are better when read slowly.” I couldn’t agree more. And I was especially intrigued by her realization
Magda Szabó and the Cost of Censorship “The Hungarian writer’s fiction examines how silence—politically enforced or self-imposed—can warp and disfigure a life.” Charlie Lee profiles Magda Szabó, whose life under Hungary’s repressive political regime “was an experience that seeded her fascination with the cost of silence in all its forms—politically enforced, self-imposed—as well as her
‘Little Banned Library’ featuring books removed from schools opening in Houston’s Heights neighborhood Many of the current book challenges are coming out of Florida. Here’s a heartening story about a Little Banned Library erected in a Houston suburb featuring books that have been challenged in or removed from public schools. Be sure to take a
