“For me, writing longhand is an utterly personal task where the outer world is closed off, just my thoughts and the movement of my hand across the page to keep…
In an article at NewStatesman about sexist abuse online, nine bloggers reveal their experience with abusive, mysoginist comments, as well as rape and death threats. Blogger digby added an interesting…
“Strangely, as I stared at the back of my left hand, scorched and black after a tear gas canister fired by police hit me in the stomach and exploded, I…
“When even cheese cannot be free of politics, how can literature?” So asks Ruth Franklin in this New Republic piece, which ponders whether novels and politics should mix, finding insight…
Working on your novel for National Novel Writing Month? Here’s a mixtape “to drive you on, to inspire you, to sustain you, to help you break through writer’s block, and…
“For Nabokov, another reading was always constructive. But for Spacks, rereading—though satisfying for pure literary analysis—can reveal unwelcome truths about our past selves, and cause disenchantment—in the most literal sense—with…
This “Dos and Don’ts of Time Travel” manual is chock-full of advice for the imminent time-traveler. The guide explains which direction in time to go first, what precautions to take,…
Douglas Coupland’s new book, Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People, is comprised of seven contemporary fairytales illustrated by Graham Roumieu. The Guardian gives us a sneak peek with a slide-show…
New York folks: Don’t miss The Language of Objects tomorrow evening at MoMA. “Rob Walker, contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and co-organizer (with Joshua Glenn) of the…
“In your own life, you’re pretty powerless. And then there’s this alternate zone where there’s an external enemy you can fight. It would be easy if there were just a…
A new social networking site allows you to share snippets from longer pieces (so long as the source is electronic). With the help of a bookmarklet installed in your browser,…
At the Atlantic, Marshall Poe discusses his attempt to write a “big-idea book” about Wikipedia, and how he ended up with a “book of ideas” instead. “Years of academic research…