Literature

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan dissident and author who was giant of global literature, dies at 87

By Hillel Italie, Associated Press

The Kenyan man of letters wrote dozens of fiction and nonfiction books that traced his country's history from British imperialism to home-ruled tyranny and challenged not only the stories told but the language used to tell them.

Novelist Percival Everett, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins among Pulitzer winners in the arts

By Hillel Italie, Associated Press

Everett’s Pulitzer confirmed the million-selling “James” as the most celebrated and popular U.S. literary novel of 2024, and accelerated the 68-year-old author’s remarkable rise after decades of being little known to the general public.

Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and Nobel laureate, dies at 89

By Franklin Briceno, Ciarán Giles, Associated Press

Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for many decades, has died.

10 of the best books of 2024, according to these experts

By Jeffrey Brown

Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, and Gilbert Cruz, editor of The New York Times Book Review, recap their highlights.

WATCH: South Korean author Han Kang wins Nobel Prize for literature

By Daniel Niemann, Jill Lawless, Mike Corder, Associated Press

Nobel committee chairman Anders Olsson praised Han's "physical empathy for the vulnerable, often female lives" of her characters.

Need a summer read? Here are 17 books from our experts

By Jeffrey Brown, Lena I. Jackson

If you’re lucky enough to have a quiet place to retreat from the heat this summer, we’ve got a symphony of suggestions for novels and nonfiction to keep you entertained.

Paul Auster, celebrated and experimental author, dies at 77

By Hillel Italie, Associated Press

Called the “dean of American post-modernists” and “the most meta of American meta-fictional writers,” Auster blended history, politics, genre experiments, existential quests and self-conscious references to writers and writing.

Here's a dozen books from 2023 you should read, critics say

By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport, Alison Thoet

As the year comes to a close, we're sitting down with book critics to discuss some of the best books released in 2023. NPR's Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan and New York Times books editor Gilbert Cruz share their…

WATCH: Norwegian writer Jon Fosse awarded 2023 Nobel Prize in literature

By David Keyton, Mike Corder, Associated Press

One of his country’s most-performed dramatists, Fosse, 64, has written some 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays.