The Guardian

Round-Down: McDonald’s Happy Readers Initiative Fated for Great Success

Round-Down: McDonald’s Happy Readers Initiative Fated for Great Success

  Roald Dahl’s estate, the National Literacy Trust, and McDonald’s have teamed up in a smart, new installment of the fast food franchise’s recent UK literacy initiative, Happy Readers. Fourteen-million Roald Dahl books have been created specifically for the project, featuring excerpts from some of the author’s classics, and will be distributed with Happy Meals in…

Round-Down: On Women Writers And the Fallout from ‘Confession’ in the Digital Age

Round-Down: On Women Writers And the Fallout from ‘Confession’ in the Digital Age

Social media is in the spotlight—or crosshairs, as it may be–in the literary landscape this week. Several articles and author interviews have touched upon both the benefits and the tremendous costs known to an author maintaining their online presence, none of them coming to a firm conclusion about whether it’s better to be Harper Lee or Hanya Yanagihara, Cheryl…

Round-Down: What You Should Know Going Into GO SET A WATCHMAN

Round-Down: What You Should Know Going Into GO SET A WATCHMAN

Today, July 14, is an auspicious day in literary news: Harper Lee’s much anticipated, and controversial, Go Set A Watchman is officially released across the world. An event for the record books–the title already broke the pre-order record held by the Harry Potter series and promises to break still others before the week is done—many…

The Ploughshares Round Down: 10 Times in Life When Writers Have the Upper Hand

The Ploughshares Round Down: 10 Times in Life When Writers Have the Upper Hand

I’ve interviewed a lot of entry level job candidates. I’ve had plenty of recent college graduates sent to a conference room to meet me with a strong thumbs-up from Human Resources. Bright, well-dressed, great resumes, and eager. This impresses the HR types. However, when I’d ask questions, especially follow-up and off-script questions, I would get…