Posts by author
Jake Slovis
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Agents and Editors and Readers! Oh My!
At Electric Literature, Lincoln Michel offers a sharp response to a recent Atlantic article that explores how MFA programs have influenced contemporary literature: The MFA is only two to three years out of a writer’s life. Those years don’t outweigh decades of signaling…
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Learning by Listening
The Millions staff writer Nick Ripatrazone examines literature that “embraces the power of radio” and highlights the sounds of language: Radio is elegiac. Radio is the theater of the mind: our eyes are free to look elsewhere, but the sound bounces in…
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A Weird and Wonderful Reality
Anna Bradley explores how recurring themes and tropes in fantasy fiction can provide “inspiration” and “teach us about our everyday lives”: Fantasy reminds us that weird and wonderful things can and do exist, even in the real world. If you’re…
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The “Wow” Factor
For The Millions, editor Gerald Howard reflects on his search for manuscripts that “wow.” In addition, Howard explains how books like Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain helped to cultivate his interest in publishing, and explores how the subject matter of literature has changed…
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Books vs. Extremism
At Electric Literature, Je Banach explores how literary discourse can “break down barriers” in a time of political extremism: Literary discourse, the active process of carefully considering the words and ideas of others and then speaking thoughtfully and critically about them—let…
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Shaped by the External World
Susan Burton profiles Dana Spiotta for the New York Times. Burton praises Spiotta’s work for its “ambitious” subject matter that explores the way we are “shaped” by the material world. In addition, the article discusses how Spiotta’s work has been gendered,…
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Two Poems to Rule Them All
Two poems written by JRR Tolkien have been discovered in a school magazine from 1936. The school’s headteacher described the poems as “very atmospheric and imbued with an air of mystery.” They have been posted on the Guardian’s website.
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The Benefits of Criticism
Megha Majumdar interviews A. O. Scott for Electric Literature. In addition to discussing Scott’s debut book Better Living Through Criticism, the two explore why criticism matters in a time when American anti-intellectualism “is virtually our civic religion.”
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The Page Is Mightier than the Screen
For Lit Hub, David Denby reflects on the danger of losing young readers because of the influence of cell phone and computer screens: Electronic utopians say, “Calm down, nothing has been lost. If anything, the opportunities for reading have become much…
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Joyce’s Forgotten Rival
For The Millions, Austin Ratner documents the relationship between the “forgotten” Irish writer James Stephens and the famed James Joyce. Despite starting as literary rivals, Joyce wanted Stephens to finish Finnegans Wake if he ever lost his eyesight. In addition, the essay examines…
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A Future of Forbidden Books
At Electric Literature, Lydia Pine examines dystopian and sci-fi works of fiction that offer a glimpse of what bookshelves and libraries might look like in the future: In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Ayn Rand’s Anthem, books-on-bookshelves is actually a forbidden scenario. Even in…
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Making Up for Lost Time
For The Millions, Hannah Gersen recalls past attempts to read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, and explains why she came up short. The essay also serves as an announcement for a new series, in which Gersen will once again attempt to…