April 2014
-
Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
Today seems like a good day to talk about that time a Pope’s corpse was put on trial. BibliOdyssey has some Thai fortune-telling manuscripts for you. Hello there, earliest known pterodactyl. My new band is called Black Hole Skin. And…
-
The Rumpus Interview with Laura Cogan and Oscar Villalon
Laura Cogan and Oscar Villalon, the editors of ZYZZYVA, sit down to discuss the literary journal’s 100th issue, thriving as a print publication in the digital age, and being a staple of San Francisco’s cultural community.
-
The Many Faces of Librarians
This past week was National Library Week! Still imagine all librarians as the curmudgeonly figures you encountered in elementary school? Think again. Slate has a photo project representing the diversity of librarians—showcasing their personalities, appearances, and many vast fields of study. It…
-
Can Beer Save Bookstores?
Independent booksellers face plenty of competition from national chains and the Internet, but a new kind of hybrid store might offer a model that Amazon can never replicate: bookstore bars. Niamh Ni Mahoileoin writes over at ZY that successful bar-bookstores…
-
The Priestly Writer
I write for many of the same reasons that I wanted to become a priest. I want to bear witness to a sacramental vision. I want to admit my life as a sinner. Rather than judge others, I want to…
-
Ted Wilson Reviews the World #231
FUR ★★★★★ (4 out of 5) Hello, and welcome to my week-by-week review of everything in the world. Today I am reviewing fur.
-
Illustrated Orwell
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Ralph Steadman has illustrated the classic satire with distinctive interpretations of the book. Brain Pickings has gathered some of the gleefully odd images.
-
Notable Los Angeles: 4/28–5/4
Monday 4/28: When’s the last time you brightened up someone’s day? Go volunteer for 826LA. Tuesday 4/29: Red Hen Press features a reading by Robin Coste Lewis and Ron Koertge. Brendan Constantine will moderate. 7:00 p.m. at Boston Court Performing Arts…
-
National Poetry Month Day 28: from “Bombyonder” by Reb Livingston
from Bombyonder Without an imaginary world, without a proper backpack, without my little pink orb, without an old tablet’s commandments, without a hair dryer, empty hands, empty birdcage obscured by a crate of empties. Left without a predictable choice, without…
-
The Whiteness of BookCon
This year’s BookCon is facing a lot of heat for the lack of diversity in their speakers. BookRiot feels that popular YA author (and one of BookCon’s speakers this year) John Green needs to speak up about the controversy flying…
-
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
Ben Pfeiffer reviews THE BLAZING WORLD by Siri Hustvedt today in The Rumpus Book Reviews.
-
Details Inform Readers Beyond Fictional Reality
Fiction writing gains more than verisimilitude from the included details. Writing at Beyond the Margins, Nichole Bernier examines how a writer’s choice of details informs the reader about a great deal more than the reality of a story: But choosing which facts…