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Lit Hub Daily

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Maris Kreizman reminds us that good spaces still exist in the world (and most of those spaces are independent bookstores). | Lit Hub Bookstores

“The questions… open a remarkable window into the private lives of men and women in an era long before our own.” Mary Beth Norton takes a deep dive into the history of the advice column. | Lit Hub History

On Joseph Sonnabend, one of the world’s first AIDS doctors, and what we can learn from his life and legacy. | Lit Hub Biography

Lena Moses-Schmitt and Martha Park share an illustrated conversation. | Lit Hub Craft

“Why do we need to see writers (or anyone) at their most open and despairing to be convinced that they are also human?” 5 book reviews you need to read this week. | Book Marks

Stephen S. Hall explores the centuries-long evolution of the rattlesnake into an American symbol. | Lit Hub History

Matthew Specktor remembers his mother’s fight to find her place in LA: “All of this suggests not a person who’s simply afraid to be late, but rather one who is running: who remains, always, in flight.” | Lit Hub Memoir

“Dear God, I am very sorry about the prayer I said in school, it was heresy and I was rightly beaten.” Read from Jo Harkin’s new novel, The Pretender. | Lit Hub Fiction

Wilkes University’s Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing elevates diverse voices and offers opportunities for all writers to grow. Learn from accomplished faculty mentors and be supported at every step of your story. Apply today.

An extraordinary work from the author of The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion’s Notes to John is an electrifying, previously unpublished journal written to her husband, John Gregory Dunne.

“In a time like this when we know it’s going to get worse, the main thing to focus on is maintaining your integrity.” David Velasco talks to Sarah Schulman about writing and solidarity. | Bookforum

Martin Dolan considers Andrew Lipstein’s fiction and the cycle of literary masculinity discourse. | The Point

Emma Cole looks back on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Craft, and other icons of 90s goth cinema. | Reactor 

“Places like Iowa City often have scandalous reputations, particularly when embedded in red states. Yet that reputation sometimes stems not from bacchanalian excess, but rather from a refusal to accept the status quo.” Harry Stecopoulos on the poetry of Iowa City. | Public Books

Scholar and translator Donald Rayfield details his personal, cultural, and political reasons for turning down a lifetime achievement award from Georgia’s Writers’ House. | Words Without Borders

“Onto this eclectic stage enters the United States with its reawakened expansionist fantasies.” Ieva Jusionyte on contemporary and historical relevance of Greg Grandin’s America, América: A New History of the New World. | Los Angeles Review of Books

London 1944. Three complete strangers must work together to survive World War II. But can they escape their own dark secrets?

Don’t miss the Academy of American Poets’ highly anticipated celebration of poetry’s profound impact on our lives, featuring readings by Stephen King, Tony Kushner, Christine Baranski, Terrance Hayes, Ada Limón, and more. Free, online, and open to all! 

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