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To reduce a poem to a purely autobiographical, experiential reading feels limiting to me. To reduce a poem to an “aboutness” seems limiting to me. The poet Allen Grossman said, “A poem is about a thing the way a cat is about a house.”
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Appearance aside, my boss took his work seriously.
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There’s a collective guilt. So, our parents buy us friends.
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Cameron Awkward-Rich discusses his new collection, DISPATCH.
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“Loneliness is a way of life, man… like punk!”
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Jeannie Vanasco discusses her new memoir, THINGS WE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT WHEN I WAS A GIRL.
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Amanda Goldblatt discusses her debut novel, HARD MOUTH.
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Cats are creatures of habit. Once they learn a trick, they will perform it perfectly every time.
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Blair Hurley discusses her debut novel, THE DEVOTED.
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Ruth Baumann discusses her debut poetry collection, PARSE.
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This book is a map, Dear Reader. And you are here.
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Indie bookstore news from across the country and around the world!
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My devotion to the cats was not an imitation of human motherhood. To confuse the two, I thought, was an insult to both.
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Were they all just kittens, really, the comfort of their warm blood the only defense between life and a dump in the river?
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My own cat Moorka, with whom I have long and fruitful but complicated relationship, inspired this comic strip.
...moreA weekly roundup of indie bookstore news from across the country and around the world!
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The boy is looking for something specific. I can tell. It shows on his face when he scans the shelves and doesn’t find it.
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Samantha Irby discusses her new essay collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, all that comes along with writing about your life, and reading great horror books.
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It paralyzes me to think about the sacrifices my family made before I was in my mother’s womb. When they came here they knew they would lose a part of their language, their memories, their sanctity of self.
...moreStocking backlist titles helps some bookstores differentiate themselves. Harvard Book Store has set up a section commemorating the Bowling Green Massacre. A Florida bookstore has become a source of food for those in need, serving as a Little Free Pantry.
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Wendy C. Ortiz discusses her new book Bruja, what a “dreamoire” is, the magic all around us, and why she loves indices—and cats.
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Married authors Anne Raeff and Lori Ostlund, both winners of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, discuss their craft, their process, and the way they negotiate the give and take involved in sharing a vocation.
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“I’m a shock absorber for tragedy,” I say, not really knowing what I mean. “Maybe I should just move to Hawaii. I hear that’s a happy place to live.”
...moreSome find it strange that a person known for her novels and poetry would take to writing comic books called Angel Catbird. But I myself don’t find it very strange. Read an excerpt from the talented Margaret Atwood’s first graphic novel, Angel Catbird, due out in September, over at The Walrus.
...moreWouldn’t it be great if your local library had an animal friend to liven things up? A small town in Texas certainly thought so, prizing their tabby Browser as a member of their community. Unfortunately, the popular library cat is getting evicted, and people aren’t happy about it.
...moreOne of the missing Hong Kong booksellers has been returned, and gave a speech warning about the power of China’s central government and the waning independence of Hong Kong. Tiny, the cat that lives in Brooklyn’s Community Bookstore, had a big adventure in the city—he disappeared, causing panic among the store’s employees, before deciding to […]
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This is a story about memory. About neurons misfiring, about the strange space between dream and awake, that feeling, when I’m falling asleep, of falling backwards, swinging my arms up to catch myself.
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You don’t need to know him personally, you say. You get the best of Prince through his music. Maybe that’s the truth, and maybe it isn’t.
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