Nov 18 Patti Smith, Indie-Published Novel are Rock Stars of 2010 National Book Awards Known for her poetry and her rock 'n' roll, music legend Patti Smith has now been honored for her prose with a National Book Award, given out Wednesday night in New York. Continue reading
Jul 08 Dear Ben Greenman, About Your New Book… By Molly Finnegan "What He's Poised To Do" is a new story collection by New Yorker editor Ben Greenman. The stories feature and often take place in the form of letters, and explore our attempts to connect over time. Continue reading
May 21 Conversation: Isabel Allende By Molly Finnegan "Island Beneath the Sea," by author Isabel Allende, is set in the early 19th-century, amid colonial powers and slavery, and a chaotic period in Caribbean history. It also involves two places very much in the news in our own time:… Continue reading
Mar 15 Weekly Poem: ‘July in Washington’ By Tom LeGro "July in Washington" is from Robert Lowell "Collected Poems" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003). Lowell, who died in 1977, is best known for his volume "Life Studies," "but his true greatness as an American poet lies in the astonishing variety… Continue reading
Feb 26 Conversation: Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk By Arts Desk Jeffrey Brown talks to Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel Laureate in Literature and the author of the novel "The Museum of Innocence," which was published late last year. Continue reading
Feb 12 Conversation: Ursula Le Guin By Arts Desk Ursula Le Guin, best for her works of science fiction and fantasy, has been writing and publishing novels, children's books, poetry and drama for over four decades. In December, she withdrew her membership from the Author's Guild because she disagreed… Continue reading
Dec 31 The Decade in Literature By Arts Desk Books in the aughts were not all for naught: there were mega novels (like Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections" and Junot Diaz's "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"), a boom in book clubs, and the birth of the e-reader. Continue reading
Dec 31 A Look at Google Books By Tom LeGro In another in our series about the future of literature and literacy, Spencer Michels looks at internet giant Google's controversial plan to offer millions of books online. Continue reading
Nov 13 Conversation: Writer Barbara Kingsolver By Arts Desk "The Lacuna," a new novel by Barbara Kingsolver is a sweep of history and a mix of the real and the imaginary. Continue reading
Oct 16 Conversation: Nick Hornby By Arts Desk "Juliet, Naked," a new novel by Nick Hornby, explores middle-age relationships, online communities, and the nature of being a fan of popular music. Continue reading