We lost civil rights hero and U.S. Representative John Lewis this week, who died on July 17 at the age of 80. You should go and read everything he’s ever written, but in the meantime, read this Brain Pickings feature and ten of his best quotes on getting into “good trouble.”
Here at Catalyst, we celebrated the South African release of Max Annas’ thriller The Farm (translated by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds) with a virtual book launch with Boekemakranka featuring Izak DeVries of LAPA Uitgewers, our South African distributor. The Farm is out now in South Africa, and comes to North American readers in September (you can pre-order it here).
Calling all His Dark Materials fans: Phillip Pullman just announced a new novella based on the bestselling series, to be released in October. And in comic news: the original 2003 Walking Dead comic book is being re-released in full color, and A-list action star Keanu Reeves is writing a comic book (and casually slipped that he’d like to play the lead character in a movie rendition – so that’s probably happening).
ICYMI: in early June, a bunch of big-name authors (including Atwood, Gladwell, Rowling, Rushdie, and Steinem) penned an open letter about the dangers of cancel culture in Harper’s Magazine. But then a counter letter was released in The Objective, calling out the authors of the Harper’s letter for writing from a place a privilege (among other grievances). Catch up on the drama here. NPR responded with typical Swiss neutrality vibes by getting authors from both letters on a podcast together.
African Arguments released a three-part interview with the 2020 AKO Caine Prize Nominees. Check out Part 1 on joy and writing, Part 2 on reading and the politics of prizes, and Part 3 on what it means to be mainstream.
COVID-19 has hit the book world hard: according to a survey from nonprofit Americans for the Arts, 253 literary organizations reported over $7.2 million total losses to date. But it’s not all bad: with bookstores and festivals shut down, big box retailers like Walmart and Costco have been helping readers get their fix, and three literary nonprofits teamed up with the Mellon Foundation this week to create a Literary Arts Emergency Fund, distributing $5,000 to $50,000 grants to literary organizations across the United States. And one book festival in the United Kingdom came up with an innovative way to bring joy to book lovers at a distance: a drive-in book fair. If Britain is a bit too far for a road trip, Book Riot has a handy list of some upcoming virtual book events. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of July 19”