Category: words

Jane Heap and Margaret Caroline Anderson were, separately, forces to be reckoned with. Together? “Via their shared endeavors and the cross-pollination of their ideas—artistic, literary, and spiritual—these two remarkable women left an indelible imprint on avant-garde culture between the wars.” – The Paris Review

The British borrowed 3.5 million more ebooks (and a total of 5 million more e-books, audiobooks, and e-comics) between March and August than in the same time in 2019 – and a lot of them were crime thrillers, a report shows. – The Guardian (UK)

It’s not easy, especially for Black women writing crime fiction. Rachel Howzell Hall: “I think for the most part, people of color, writers of color who write mystery and crime, have written the proper cop. … There are those cops that don’t do the right thing and we reflect that in our novels because we’ve lived it.” – Los Angeles Times

At least, according to readers. (Yes, yes, everyone hated the end of Gone Girl.) Think of Atonement, for example: “‘I’ve never been more mad at an ending to a book, and will never read another word Ian McEwan writes as a result,’ wrote Brenda M. ‘Why would I ever trust a writer who has so much contempt for his readers?'” – Washington Post

Burns, who won the Booker Prize for Milkman in 2018, has won the International Dublin Literary Award. She’s the first Northern Irish writer to win the prize (and was the first to win the Booker as well). She thanked the Belfast Library and said, “There seemed to be a black market in library tickets when I was growing up. … I managed to go into the building with about three to five cards and come out with about nine to 15 books.” – BBC

“Rather than relying chiefly on bookstores, retailers, advertising and other traditional channels to promote authors,” Molly Stern plans to have her new venture, Zando, “team up with high-profile individuals, companies and brands, who will act as publishing partners and promote books to their fans and customers.” – The New York Times

“The interactive museum fills three floors of the historic Franklin School with play spaces, games and videos screens — lots of video screens — that invite visitors to think about the origins and evolution of English, to explore the unique qualities of other languages and to play with words by reading, singing and speaking. … With a decidedly middle-school-students-on-spring-break vibe (most obvious in its bathroom humor), it is a descendant of science centers rather than the Smithsonian facilities that line the Mall.” – The Washington Post

“[It] inhabits essentially the same universe as most of the museums that preceded it a century ago: It hopes to raise up the discourse, and spread the blessings of the educated and elite to those who hope to be educated and elite. … Everything is up to date in this museum of video screens and touch panels except its founding principle, which is the old noblesse oblige.” – The Washington Post

“Here he’s writing to a magazine editor basically begging for money. The person behind these incredible psychological thrillers and macabre tales was in fact struggling and could maybe relate to the chaos around him.” – Baltimore Sun

The Atlantic is a magazine not precisely of the center but rather of a set of liberal civic ideals; more than any other publication, its purpose seems to be the continual renewal of educated Americans’ commitment to high-mindedness. The past four years have severely tested those ideals. – The New Republic