Month: May 2021

It’s Friday and I’m swamped with other work (which is why no posts yesterday), but I’m trying to not leave you in the lurch for your goofing off on the last day of the week. See, unlike your bosses, I know you’re screwing around there at your desk with a spreadsheet open in the background, ready to be foregrounded at a moment’s notice if someone walks by. I’m just thankful you’re choosing to read bookish things instead of playing Minesweeper. Listen, it’s 2021 — we have to take the little victories.

• League of Canadian Poets announces award winners;
• ‘Ninja pal and former student Michelle Good is an “emerging writer” at 65… and just got three major award nominations in one day;
• SFU launches award for Indigenous publishing students;
• British book industry types vs. transphobia in the industry;
• London announces three week schedule for fair;
• Not sure why everyone hates Meghan Markle so much, but even the author she’s accused by haters of plagiarizing says she didn’t;
• Lucille Clifton’s house is “hers” again;
• A wee primer for understanding my hometown of Belfast;
• On getting around censorship — via library built in Minecraft (video games… is there anything they CAN’T do? I mean, besides giving me back the thousands of hours I’ve spent on them?);
• What is Kamala reading?;
• Poet Hoa Nguyen recommends consulting the cards;
• On those behind the blue pencils;
• Why are so many crime novels set in the Pacific Northwest? (Pacific Southwest for Canadians);

• Tundra to publish Meghan Markle’s first kids book;
• RIP: Katherine Barber, Canadian Oxford EiC, dead at 61;
• Are you keeping up with SWB’s Short Story Month posts? Don’t get behind, it’s harder to catch up;
• Have you had a drop in productivity during the plague year? How the common check mark can turn things around;
• Interview with Tracy K Smith on creating new vocabularies;
• Irish women are reinventing the thriller;
• Aged 92, debut by Scottish poppy of poetry is selling well in the UK;
• Julian Barnes wins Jerusalem Prize;
• Edna O’Brien sits down with Duchess of Cornball;
• How well do you know Goodnight Moon‘s Margaret Wise Brown? Well enough to know she was an anti-Semite?;
• Stacey Abrams’ romance novels being rereleased;
• Habermas improves the public sphere, declining problematic award;

• BookNet’s State of Bookselling survey will benefit everyone;
• From flight attendant to thriller novelist… sounds familiar… Oh, wait, I married the other one;
• Hay announces second year of digital programming;
• Adding some diversity into the Mother’s/Father’s Day retail cycle;
• Punctuation marks and the writers who hate them;
• The situation in India is beyond words… Authors try to help;
• Ever wanted to read Judith Butler on Franz Kafka? Now’s your chance;
• Visit cummings.ee, your ee. cummings superstore;
• Today in perennial questions: are comics for kids or aren’t they?;
• Wee bit of fun: creative book ends for impulse buying;

Splitting out the awards news today so I can brag a little extra about some friends and students and students who are friends.

• The Governor General’s Award finalists include two students from my Walk the Line Poetry courses (Michelle Good and Donna Kane) as well as Canisia Lubrin who you all know I follow like an apostle;
• But wait, there’s more… Michelle Good’s Five Little Indians has been on a crash course for the stars, with a Giller longlisting, the GG, an Indigenous Voices Award shortlisting and …;
• The Amazon First Novel Award shortlist… What a year for this brave and unflinching work, and what a year for Michelle, who deserves all good things;
• Stephen Leacock Medal shortlist includes Thomas King’s hilarious Indians On Vacation;
• More translate award news (ganked from The Lit Saloon);
• The Locus Awards for my spec readers;

I’m going to be blunt: the people behind FOLD are the smartest people working in books in this country. Have you seen their virtual fair? Holy shit, it looks amazing. It should be used a model for every virtual, multi-day event to come after. So clean, so intuitive, so clearly and accessible laid out. Plus, look at that line-up. Every time I receive or see something from FOLD, I think, “Damn, this is an arts organization that knows how to a) make it happen, and b) spend money the right way.” Here’s to many more years of this fantastic event. (Even if you can’t attend events live, they’ll be available for viewing after, if you sign up.)

The Festival of Literary Diversity was founded in 2014 by author Jael Richardson. In May 2016, the first festival devoted to underrepresented authors and storytellers was presented in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Since then, the festival continues to provide an important space for writers from marginalized communities to discuss their craft and the challenges involved in creating stories that ask difficult questions, expose hard truths and push literary boundaries. Register today for an individual pass, a bundle of passes, or as a school group.

• Indigenous spec fic in the limelight;
• Ontario gets poet laureate, just needs a government now;
• Our yearly short story hero Steven W. Beattie is back at it this May;
• Stephen Marche looks at advances in AI writing in the NYer;
• Depressing: the literary worth of titles topping the Amazon all-time bestseller list; Encouraging: most of them are women?;
• Oddball genius Alan Moore is ready to drop more fiction on us;
• And yet he persisted: William Faulkner rejection edition;
• Wolff translation prize shortlist;
• Penguin takes over Marvel comics distribution, reinvents packaging;
• Some writing advice from reclusive The Simpsons genius John Swartzwelder;
• Speaking of PRH: I missed this back in March… they’re being nice;
• Top seven mistakes authors make when writing fight scenes;
• John Steinbeck wasn’t the most gracious award-winner;
• On the rise of “adjunct lit”;
• What’s the best thing you ever found in a used book? For me it was a $50 bill, y’all;