On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Ursula K. Le Guin—author of dozens of books including The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea series, and a literary hero in her own right—died at her home in Portland, Oregon at the age of 88. Her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin confirmed her passing, noting that her health…
Like so many journalists before him, Sean Penn is writing a novel.
Is snapping a selfie an act of radical self-empowerment? I don’t know. What about this one: typing up an angry manifesto, pouring an unnamed “red liquid” on books you despise, and defacing them so badly that police referred to the act as a “massacre”? Mm. Think there’s a more convincing case to be made there.
Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin, perhaps unnerved by the similarities between Donald Trump and the barbaric King Joffrey, made an appearance on the campaign trail to support Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Natalie Babbitt, whose young adult classic Tuck Everlasting explored the concept of immortality, leading many young readers to reflect (perhaps for the first time) on the nature of death and their place in a cyclical universe, died on Monday at the age of 84 at her home in Hamden, Connecticut.
Our chill, astronomically famous BFF Jennifer Lawrence has been cast to star in Zelda, a film about tragic writer and socialite Zelda Fitzgerald. The film is Ron Howard’s latest development project, one he may helm as director.
Recently, in Ways Men Pass Time: Macon, North Carolina resident Dave Hemingway won the annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest in Key West, Florida. Hemingway is not related to the author.
In a demonstration of optimism, a group of over 450 writers, including Junot Diaz, Stephen King and Cheryl Strayed, released a petition on Tuesday to decry Donald Trump’s candidacy. I guess we can all go home!
Ever since so-called Ferrante fever struck, there’s been a cottage industry dedicated to unraveling the true identity of the pseudonymous Italian novelist. “Who is Elena Ferrante?” is a question that understandably haunts fans of the novelist and her complex rendering of her female protagonists. And yet, Ferrante…
Internet-famous author Zola has dreams of flipping her Twitter story into a lucrative career in Hollywood. It could happen because the world is make-believe so nothing’s real anyway.
Saint Mazie, the wonderful new novel released this week by Jami Attenberg, tells the story of Mazie Phillips—a nearly forgotten New York City legend who, in the early 20th century, improved the lives of the city’s homeless when no one else seemed to care.
Earlier today, Grub Street offered a look into the culinary world of author (and famed entertainer) Joan Didion. "Joan Didion's Crème Caramel Recipe Is As Charming As She Is," touts the headline. Does that mean that her crème caramel is notably hostile? Because Joan Didion—and I mean this in the most adoring and…
After nearly two decades as a highly successful published author, Jodi Picoult is out on yet another book tour (this time for her novel Leaving Time) and not holding back on kickass soundbites about how shitty the lit world tends to be for women writers. And she even has a special "go fuck yourself" saved for King…
Lindsay Lohan is working on her memoir. It will reportedly be a trilogy. Lohan is 28 years old.
Brilliant badass Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel Committee announced today. The 82-year-old Canadian short story virtuoso was incredibly Canadian about the honor, remarking that she hopes her win will draw attention to other talented Canadian writers. Classier than Lena Horne serving…
She joins Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Fry as the third non-royal to appear on British currency. She's replacing Charles Darwin on the £10 note, and she'll make her debut in 2017.
My favorite thing about The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons wasn't the stories, but how author Dan Brown's physical description of his protagonist Robert Langdon exactly matched the way Dan Brown looked in his author photo (down to the outfit), which makes me think that both novels were actually just extensive works…
After recently opting to read part of Paradise Lost instead of her own (relatively) brand-new novel, See Now Then, at PEN’s World Voices Festival of International Literature, Jamaica Kincaid talked to The American Reader about her career, as in, how it has been so awesome that she can get up onstage and read a little…
Well, this is depressing: female authors are still using male pseudonyms — or ambiguous initials in hopes that prospective buyers won't realize they're ladies — because studies show more people read books written by dudes. Can you blame them?
