“Given that there are so few educational programs or degrees in biographical writing, practitioners tend to come from diverse professional backgrounds, including journalism and history. Unfortunately, that seems to be where much of the diversity ends.”
Category: words
Inside An Author’s Brain
“Why am I so distracted? Why do I always want to be alone and write? Why, when my daughter says ‘Will you play a game with me?’ and I say ‘Yes, later,’ do I never play a game with her? Why aren’t I a better version of myself?”
Was Hitler A Sock Puppet For Himself?
“In the early fall of 1923, when Adolf Hitler was still mostly known for his frenzied speeches at Munich beer halls, a slim biography was published that lauded him as the savior of the German nation and even compared him to Jesus. … New research says Hitler penned the work himself.”
So, Is Elena Ferrante’s New Book A Memoir – Or More Fiction?
“According to Michael Reynolds, Europa’s editor in chief, the subject heading is listed in the book’s metadata as ‘essays,’ under the broad category ‘literature and fiction.’ That listing won’t change, he said.”
And What Are The Odds On This Year’s Nobel Prize For Literature?
With a week to go, the favorite was running at 4:1, followed closely by candidates at 6:1 and 7:1.
Here Are The Finalists For The 2016 National Book Awards
“Memory, childhood, and the legacy of race in America are preoccupations that propelled works in each of the categories for this year’s finalists … The winners will be announced at the National Book Awards ceremony on November 16th.”
Joyce Carol Oates, Twitter Troll
“Prolific across all mediums, it is not difficult to imagine Oates delighting in the act of tweeting, of tossing thoughts into the world, both for the enjoyment of the craft and to see what happens, like tiny crystalline bombs. … Joyce Carol Oates has poked 28,000 140-character holes in the notion that anyone can or should serve as a universally competent public intellectual.”
Esperanto Didn’t Change The World, But It Has Changed Its Speakers
“It did not prevent a century of wars (many fought, notably, between people who spoke the same language). Instead, Esperanto’s speakers were persecuted throughout the 20th century.” (Stalinists thought they were spies; McCarthyists thought they were Commies.) “Esperanto may not have changed the world. But in both its ideals and its practice, it holds out the possibility of transforming the lives of the people who use it.”
So You Wanna Say ‘Email’ And ‘Bingewatch’ In Yiddish?
“Two of [the language’s] conservationists have produced the first full-fledged English-to-Yiddish dictionary in 50 years and it is designed to carry Yiddish into the 21st century and just maybe beyond. After all, Yiddish has always had a canny way of defying the pessimists.”
After 20 Years, Arundhati Roy Is Finally Writing A Second Novel
“Twenty years after Arundhati Roy won the 1997 Booker prize for her debut novel The God of Small Things, the Indian novelist’s second, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, is set to be published in 2017, her publisher has announced.”