Round-Up: PEN America Responds to Trump, the Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair, and Johnny Cash’s Poems
From PEN America’s response to the election of a new collection of poems by Johnny Cash, here are last week’s biggest literary headlines.
Donald Trump
The Female Gaze and the Same Old Songs
I recently went with my husband to a concert. The artist we saw writes gut-wrenching songs, and he and his band put on a great show. But I got restless about half way through. “It’s just so masculine,” I said to my husband, and not long after that the inevitable guitar solo tradeoffs began.
What Would Orwell Make of This Election?
Orwellian. The word has become a catch-all describing an invisible yet ubiquitous bureaucracy whose tentacles influence every corner of citizens’ lives. Conservatives and liberals use the term with disgust. Would that it meant something else, if only because it identifies the author with his best-known—if not best—work, 1984, while ignoring the rest of his contributions to English letters.
The Art of the Twitter Essay
Twitter is maybe one of the most ideal places to watch a draft shape itself into a finished essay—a public place for us to learn the bones.
Daniel Saldaña París’ Among Strange Victims Is the Book You Need in the Post-Trump-Visit-to-Mexico Era
Of all Mexican novels to read in this post-Trump-visit-to-Mexico era, Daniel Saldaña París’ Among Strange Victims reigns supreme. Not that it’s an overtly political novel, but it is one that explores the unbearable absurdities of living in this world.
Colson Whitehead on Slavery, Elevators, and Donald Trump
I got to know Colson Whitehead back when he was infiltrating the poker world for his non-fiction narrative, The Noble Hustle. His new novel, The Underground Railroad, has been honored by none other than Oprah Winfrey with her latest book club selection.
Reading Ondaatje in the Age of Trump
In the age of Donald Trump, of Brexit, of a refugee crisis that is a key force governing international decisions — nations, demarcations of identity, loyalty, apparent belonging are the lifeblood of political discourse. And I despise it. I want to reject it on a visceral level.
Round-Up: #WritersOnTrump, Suzanne Collins, and the Northern Illinois University Press
From writers protesting Trump to a university-funded press closing, here’s a look at the latest in literary news: This week, over found-hundred writers signed an open letter denouncing Donald Trump. Titled “An Open Letter to the American People,” the letter outlined the writers’ issues with Trump, and claimed that Trump’s campaign “demands . . . an immediate and…
Which Candidate Will Write the Theme for the 2016 Election?
Political campaigns, like novels, have a beginning, middle, and end. Hard as it may be to believe, we are still in Act Two of the story that will come to be the 2016 presidential election. Act One is comprised of everything that happens in an election prior to the first primary and caucus votes being…