Posts by author
Ian MacAllen
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Notable NYC: 9/12–9/18
Saturday 9/12: Nicole Cooley, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Kathleen Ossip, D. Nurkse, Lynn Emmanuel, Tom Sleigh, and Sarah Arvio celebrate The Plume Anthology of Poetry 3. BookCourt, 4 p.m., free. Ellen Urbani and Sheri Fink discuss Landfall, a novel set in the…
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New Zealand Just Banned a Book: A Rumpus Roundup
New Zealand, an otherwise seemingly modern nation, has just banned a book. Ted Dawe’s Into the River was banned this week in the island nation where it is now a crime to supply, display, or distribute the book with fines starting…
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High-Priced Higher Education
Another school year has begun leading to age old questions like: is this degree worth it? The New Yorker takes a look at college degrees and how over the last century, the liberal arts degree that once served as a…
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Title Written Later
Over at the London Review of Books, Robert Hanks meditates on procrastination: Procrastination is the main way I express anxiety and depression, if I can use these medicalised, dignifying terms. It’s franker to say that I put things off because…
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This Week in Indie Bookstores
Tokyo’s Morioka Shoten stocks just one book. Shop owner Yoshiyuki Morioka selects a single book each week to sell in his austere boutique. A new non-profit bookstore in Istanbul, Turkey seeks to focus on Arab culture and the refugee experience as…
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Notable NYC: 9/5–9/11
Monday 9/7: Er Zhang, Yu Wang, and Wo Chan read in English and Chinese for an event presented by Belladonna*. St. Marks Bookshop, 7 p.m., free. Tuesday 9/8: Margaret Eby launches South Toward Home, a travelogue through the South. BookCourt,…
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Not All Books Are Right for All People
The Captain Underpants series has topped banned book lists around the world. Dav Pilkey, the author of the popular children’s books, explains what it feels like to have written a famous banned book: People often ask me how I’d want to respond…
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British Library Rejects Taliban Archive
Fear of terrorism has frightened the British Library into rejecting a cache of digital archives and other documents relating to the Taliban, reports the Guardian. The archive includes more than 2 million translated words, but accepting the documents might violate…
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Another Gryffindor Is Sorted
Harry Potter’s son James has been sorted into Gryffindor, J.K. Rowling revealed on Tuesday afternoon. Rowling also took to Twitter to wish the Potter child a happy first day at Hogwarts, the school for wizards featured prominently in her novels.
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Humans Dream of an Electric Philip K. Dick
Creepy robots were often at the heart of Philip K. Dick stories. The future is now: a company is building a realistic looking robot to haunt your dreams and it looks strikingly similar to the science fiction author. Electric Literature…
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Reading Prevents Insomnia
Picking up a book before heading to bed may stave off insomnia. Van Winkle’s reports that researchers have shown just six minutes of reading reduces stress by 68%, clearing the mind in preparation for sleep.
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Tiny Press Grows Big
Graywolf Press has evolved from a tiny, small press into a powerhouse with critically acclaimed as well as best selling titles. Vulture takes a look at Graywolf’s evolution, exploring how publisher Fiona McCrae spent the last two decades growing the business.