Literature Literature

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Literature

Monday March 5, 2018

NPR

Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalists 'Capture The Messiness Of Reality'

March 5, 2018 • The award, which focuses on pressing social issues, has revealed its inaugural shortlist — including fiction by Jesmyn Ward, Zinzi Clemmons, Mohsin Hamid, Samrat Upadhyay and Lesley Nneka Arimah.

Tuesday February 13, 2018

Liberal Pakistanis Reclaim 'Shrinking Space' For Expression At Karachi Lit Fest

Attendees peruse the books available at last weekend's Karachi Literary Festival. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption

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Diaa Hadid/NPR

Liberal Pakistanis Reclaim 'Shrinking Space' For Expression At Karachi Lit Fest

February 13, 2018 • The annual, Oxford University Press-produced literature festival showcases books, music and open debate of Pakistan's problems.

Friday December 1, 2017

'Bad Sex In Fiction' Award Goes To Novelist Who Compared Skin To Stained Bathtub

Ah yes, the erotic color variation of an aged bathtub. Robert Easton/Flickr hide caption

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Robert Easton/Flickr

'Bad Sex In Fiction' Award Goes To Novelist Who Compared Skin To Stained Bathtub

December 1, 2017 • American writer Christopher Bollen received the, uh, honor, which was announced on Thursday. His novel The Destroyers featured a memorable pair of less-than-appealing analogies.

Thursday November 30, 2017

Svitlana Unuchko/Getty Images/iStockphoto

First-Ever Aspen Words Literary Prize Unveils Its List Of Nominees

November 30, 2017 • The annual prize, in its inaugural year, will be awarded to one work of fiction. For the next few months, 20 books remain in contention — including works by Jesmyn Ward, Roxane Gay and Lisa Ko.

Wednesday November 15, 2017

Chris Ryan/Getty Images/Caiaimage

Jesmyn Ward, Frank Bidart, Masha Gessen And Robin Benway Win National Book Awards

November 15, 2017 • For Ward, who won the fiction prize for Sing, Unburied, Sing, it was her second National Book Award. For Bidart, whose poetry collection spanned 51 years, it was akin to a lifetime achievement honor.

Wednesday October 4, 2017

Abhi Sharma/Flickr

Here Are The Finalists For The 2017 National Book Awards

October 4, 2017 • The National Book Foundation winnowed the list of contenders for its literary prize to just 20 — or five finalists each in four categories. Among them are Jesmyn Ward, Min Jin Lee and Frank Bidart.

Friday September 15, 2017

Christopher/Flickr

40 Nominees Unveiled For The 2017 National Book Awards

September 15, 2017 • Of the names announced by the National Book Foundation, four will take home the literary prize in November. Jesmyn Ward, Jennifer Egan and Frank Bidart number among the longlists' familiar faces.

Monday April 10, 2017

Here Are The Winners Of The 2017 Pulitzer Prizes

Tavon Tanner tears up before his surgery at Lurie Children's Hospital in October 2016. This photograph is part of the Chicago Tribune series that earned E. Jason Wambsgans the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Courtesy of Columbia University hide caption

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E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Courtesy of Columbia University

The Two-Way

Here Are The Winners Of The 2017 Pulitzer Prizes

April 10, 2017 • Among the winners were Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad for fiction, The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold for national reporting and The East Bay Times for breaking news reporting.

Thursday March 30, 2017

#ThanksForTyping Spotlights Unnamed Women In Literary Acknowledgments

#ThanksForTyping began a conversation on the uncredited female labor in academia. askmenow/Getty Images hide caption

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askmenow/Getty Images

History

#ThanksForTyping Spotlights Unnamed Women In Literary Acknowledgments

March 30, 2017 • A professor shared book acknowledgment pages, where men thanked their wives for typing their manuscripts. #ThanksForTyping soon sparked a conversation on women and their uncredited roles in academia.

Friday March 17, 2017

Louise Erdrich, Matthew Desmond Lead National Book Critics Circle Winners

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The Two-Way

Louise Erdrich, Matthew Desmond Lead National Book Critics Circle Winners

March 17, 2017 • The authors — who won awards in the fiction and nonfiction categories, respectively — were just two of the writers who emerged Thursday with one of the literary world's most renowned prizes.

Wednesday March 1, 2017

Unemployed, Living In A Caravan — And Now, Winner Of A $165,000 Literary Prize

Ali Cobby Eckermann. Woodford Folk Festival/Flickr hide caption

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Woodford Folk Festival/Flickr

The Two-Way

Unemployed, Living In A Caravan — And Now, Winner Of A $165,000 Literary Prize

March 1, 2017 • Ali Cobby Eckermann, an Australian indigenous poet forcibly taken from her family as a child, discovered without warning last week she had just won one of the richest literary prizes in the world.

Thursday February 16, 2017

WATCH: Is This Proust? Scholars Say They've Finally Found Author On Film

Could this dapper gentleman be Marcel Proust? If it is, as a Canadian professor believes, it would mark the first time the great French author was found in film footage. Le Point/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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Le Point/Screenshot by NPR

The Two-Way

WATCH: Is This Proust? Scholars Say They've Finally Found Author On Film

February 16, 2017 • The French novelist Marcel Proust is regularly listed among the greatest writers of the 20th century. But how did the man move? A professor says the answer is on a wedding film over 110 years old.

Saturday August 20, 2016

Author Interviews

In The Midst Of Future Calamity, A Different Kind Of Ark: The London Zoo

August 20, 2016 • In Bill Broun's dystopian Night of the Animals, zoo-bound creatures ask the main character to let them out. "It's a kind of fulcrum between the old world and a kind of liberating cataclysm," he says.

In The Midst Of Future Calamity, A Different Kind Of Ark: The London Zoo

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Sunday August 7, 2016

Author Interviews

'Imperial Wife' Trains Its Spotlight On Powerful Women, Past And Present

August 7, 2016 • Irina Reyn's new novel focuses on two women in difficult marriages. Though they're centuries apart, both relationships are tied to the strong woman's struggle to fulfill gender expectations.

'Imperial Wife' Trains Its Spotlight On Powerful Women, Past And Present

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Sunday July 17, 2016

Why Does Cynthia Ozick Write? 'I Simply Must,' She Says

Author Cynthia Ozick in her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. in 2008. Kathy Willens/AP hide caption

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Kathy Willens/AP

Author Interviews

Why Does Cynthia Ozick Write? 'I Simply Must,' She Says

July 17, 2016 • The versatile author says that, like queens, writers are born into their profession. In her new book, Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays, she examines current and past literature.

Why Does Cynthia Ozick Write? 'I Simply Must,' She Says

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