“Brexlit is uniting literary authors across genres, settings and sales brackets. And unlike nonfiction about Brexit, it offers escape as well as insight: an opportunity to understand the nuances of Britain’s decision to leave the EU in a fictional world where, possibly, no such vote has ever taken place. Now, five very distinct and fascinating strands of Brexlit have been identified by [literature professor] Robert Eaglestone.” – The Observer (UK)
Category: words
Seattle Area Libraries Boycott MacMillan E-Books Over New Policy
In response to a new policy on e-book purchases imposed by Macmillan Publishers and effective Nov. 1, King County Library System will be boycotting the publisher’s upcoming e-books, declining to purchase any new Macmillan books in that format. Seattle Public Library will not be boycotting, but warns readers that they may notice long delays in obtaining new Macmillan e-books. – Seattle Times
Elijah Cummings: Librarians Helped Me Most
“The people who helped me the most were the librarians,” Cummings told Steve Kroft in a 60 Minutes interview broadcast in January of this year, adding that the public library was the only integrated institution in his neighborhood. – School Library Journal
A Tiny Bookshop On The Greek Island Of Santorini Fights To Stay “Authentic”
Over the last 15 years, as cruise-ship hoards and souvenir schlock have overrun the village of Oia on Santorini’s northern tip, Atlantis Books has become an unlikely oasis of authenticity and cultural sanity. – The New York Times
Rowan Williams: How Poetry Clarifies Our Language
As Auden says, poetry is “a way of happening”. It takes the passage of time, the reality of loss, the absorption in a sharpened kind of seeing or hearing, and makes all these into speech that can survive (as Auden also insists) and help others survive. Its task of “turning noise into music” is thus irreducibly political, a sustained resistance to commodified, generalised language and the appalling reductions of human possibility that this brings with it. Far from being a decorative adjunct to social or public life, it represents the possibilities to which all intelligent and humane social life should point. “Poetry saves the world every day.” – New Statesman
London Review of Books Isn’t Just Surviving, It’s Thriving. Here’s How
As newspapers and magazines experience diminishing revenue, plunging circulation and attacks from both terrorists and government leaders, the L.R.B. has not merely survived but also flourished, and its circulation has risen consistently since 1985, to its current 78,000 — substantial in a country where the glossy men’s magazine Esquire reaches 57,000 — by doing the things readers are said not to be interested in anymore. – The New York Times
Bookstores Are Awesome. Should They Charge Admission?
Why not monetize the intangibles? The Strand, and stores like it, could charge an admission fee. Something token, like a dollar. For a buck, you’re granted access to everything the store has to offer. You can browse to your heart’s delight. There’s no pressure to make a purchase. And, if you do buy something, perhaps the item costs close to what it would cost online, because all of those dollars would have allowed the store to lower its prices. – The New Yorker
There Is No Such Thing As The Brooklyn Accent
For all the lore that exists around “Brooklynese” (not to mention the insistence of the Brooklyn borough president), a pair of linguistics researchers found that there was no evidence for the existence of an accent particular to Brooklyn (as opposed to New York City as a whole) and that roughly three-quarters of respondents, native New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike, could not distinguish between borough accents. – Gothamist
Elizabeth Warren Hired A Poet For Her Campaign. It Was A Very Good Idea
“In recent months, Senator Warren has become an even more effective storyteller. During a rally last month she conjured the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in rich detail: “It was March 25, 1911; it was a Saturday. And at about 4:45 in the afternoon, people walking through this very park looked up and saw black smoke billowing into the sky.” While still professorial, Warren’s campaign speeches are increasingly verging on lyrical.” – The New York Times
The Scholar Who’s Spent 20 Years Searching For Shakespeare’s Personal Library
Says Stuart Kells, “Shakespeare certainly did have books, and he certainly read them. Why, then, have we found none of his manuscripts, and why are there no books with an authentic Shakespeare signature, bookplate, book label or inscription? … But I have confirmed [his library’s] existence, clarified its scale and scope, and documented what happened to it.” – The Guardian