The Guardian
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The Unfolding of a Hidden Design
Plot has lost its prestige. Fighting against what he perceives as a changing of values in the modern novel, John Mullan writes an ode to plot, from the masterworks of Dickens and le Carré to the serialized TV dramas we…
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Fifty Shades of Sexism
A new academic study published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior has found that young women who read and enjoy Fifty Shades of Gray are more likely to hold sexist attitudes: The researchers found that those who had completed…
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Beyond the Surface
At the Guardian, Alison Flood wonders whether or not genre writing, particularly romance writing, is primarily “rubbish.” In her investigation, she points out how assumptions are often made about the “surface” elements of genre works and cites literary novels that…
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Leduc Revisited
To write is to be liberate oneself. Untrue. To write is to change nothing. Writing for the Guardian, Rafia Zakaria tells us about Violette Leduc: discovered by Simone de Beauvoir and published by Albert Camus, Leduc, the sexually explicit lesbian…
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A Novel Solution
I just wanted to leave this in the world, and see what the world would do with it. Ever wonder what to do with all those extra books around your apartment? Well, Shaheryar Malik came up with an ingenious idea: leave…
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Cardboard Cutouts
For the Guardian, Lynette Lounsbury shares her adolescent experience reading the beat writers and coming to realize that there was little “space” for women in the beatnik world: I read more Kerouac, The Dharma Bums my favourite, and then I read…
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Fact or Fiction?
For the Guardian, Richard Lea investigates the distinction between fiction and nonfiction writing, a distinction that exists most firmly in anglophone cultures and literature. Lea interviews several writers who work with texts in other languages, either as bilingual authors or translators,…
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The Great Gorsky
At the Guardian, Serbian-born novelist Vesna Goldsworthy explains how the “strong plot” and structure of The Great Gatsby influenced her novel about Russian oligarchs: I know—especially for some Americans—I’ve trodden upon holy ground by reworking what is for them the literary equivalent of the stars and…
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The Most Literate Nation
Finland tops the charts for most literate nation, with the United States coming in seventh. A new study looks not just at literacy rates but at literacy behaviors. These behaviors include counting libraries, newspapers, and years of schooling. Ranking nations…
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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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A Prize for Small Presses
Novelist Neil Griffiths wants to celebrate indie publishers with a new literary prize. He plans on fronting £2,000 ($2,820) for prize money to be split between publisher and author in an effort to encourage small press publishing.
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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.