Janelle Monáe’s Queer, Afrofuturist Literary Debut

MEMORY LIBRARY And Other Stories of the Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe’s love of science fiction is like blood through her music. Promotional sketches and music videos for their debut album and EP have shaped Monáe as a robot and android in various ways, predominantly from canonical sci-fi movies like “Metropolis,” “Blade Runner,” …

Stubborn Follower of Literary Archives, Thomas F. Staley, Dies at 86

Shortly after being hired to run the Ransom Center, Dr. Staley learned that the archives of Stuart Gilbert, Joyce’s translator and friend, were available. According to The New Yorker, the papers that cost the Ransom Center $265,000 came with an unexpected find: handwritten edits of the first episode of Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake.” Dr. Staley estimated …

An Urgent Mission for Literary Translators: Bringing Ukrainian Voices

Last week, PEN America, a literary and free expression organization, held a conference. online forum with many Ukrainian writers, including Andrey Kurkov, head of PEN Ukraine. Kurkov’s novel “Gray BeesRecently translated and published into English,” is set against the backdrop of a long-running conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region in …

Henry Louis Gates Jr. On Literary Freedom as a Fundamental Human Right

“Freedom to write”: PEN America’s the ever-sounding slogan It has a special resonance for black writers, because for many it was something they fought so hard for freedom. “Freedom” and “literacy” were inseparable. As James Baldwin said, “There was hardly any language for the horror of the life of the Negro American” once noted. Remember, …

Colm Toibin’s ‘The Wizard’ Captures a Literary Giant Up Close

Mann published his first novel, Buddenbrooks, at the age of 26. He married Katia Pringsheim, the imposing daughter of a difficult family in Munich. Katia may be the most memorable character in “The Magician.” His new novel “The Magician” is about the life of Thomas Mann by Colm Toibin.Credit…Reynaldo Revera Toibin is a ping dialogue …

Diversity Conflicts in Literary Organizations Keep Coming

Two other industry groups, the Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Association and the American Booksellers Association, also faced criticism this summer. In June, the society’s equality and inclusion authority issued a statement denouncing antisemitism in response to the rise in hate crimes, but not condemning Islamophobia. He resigned after the reaction and apologized for neglect. …

Are Capital-P Policies Always at Play in Literary Fiction?

RADIANT LEAKS by Nawaaz Ahmed Anyone trying to understand 21st century America through literary fiction may believe that neither religion nor politics play a major role in shaping the lives of its inhabitants. With a lowercase p, politics is often at work, but with a capital P almost never; and religion largely belongs to Marilynne …

New Journals and Magazines Shaping Africa’s Literary Scene

KISUMU, Kenya — Troy Onyango remembers two years ago when he was completing his master’s degree in creative writing in England, complaining with his friends about how little literary publication was devoted to black writers, poets and photographers. For Onyango, “How can we find a space where we can all gather?” Said it was about. …