Jen Benka

The Weight of the Self: On James Merrill’s A Different Person A number of the people I first shared my love of James Merrill’s writing with are gone now, so I write this for them as much as for you. Some of the gone people perished from AIDS, the same disease…

“It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” —Hilton Als

lithub.com/the-weight-o...

Manager-Operations - Morningside, New York, United States Position Summary Reporting to the Administrator, Pulitzer Prize, the Manager, Operations independently supervises and coordinates procedural and operational aspects of the internationally renowned awa...

Literary arts friends, the Pulitzer Prizes are seeking a Manager of Operations. opportunities.columbia.edu/jobs/manager...

Hungry for Affirmation, Vulnerable to Scams: As a Writer, I Know the Feeling

Writers, beware— "the current swirl of swindles has created 'the worst environment for writing and publishing scams that I’ve ever seen.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/b...

Five great episodes of Michael Silverblatt’s Bookworm, in honor of the late host. Michael Silverblatt, the dedicated host of KCRW’s Bookworm, died last Friday at 73. Bookworm ran from 1989-2022, and was nationally syndicated. Over his thirty years on the airwaves, Silverbl…

"If you can hear us, Mr. Silverblatt—your rigorous reading will be missed." —Brittany K. Allen @britt-kathryn.bsky.social
lithub.com/five-great-e...

When newspapers cut book coverage, communities lose more than reviews - Poynter Authors, critics and booksellers say shrinking coverage weakens local arts, literary culture and the bond between readers and newsrooms

"What we’ve seen in the last decade is diminishing coverage for books across the entire country, and it is really devastating for writers." —Cleyvis Natera @poynterinstitute.bsky.social www.poynter.org/business-wor...

Namwali Serpell celebrates Toni Morrison's literary genius in 'On Morrison' In her new book, award-winning novelist Namwali Serpell takes on Toni Morrison, one of the towering figures in American literature. Serpell guides readers through Morrison’s extraordinary body of work...

"I think (Toni) Morrison wanted to go back to what she described as village literature, which is a notion that literature is a social form, it's a community form... It has to open up questions so that we can talk about it as a community." —Namwali Serpell www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Cristina Rivera Garza on Writing a Genre-Blending Excavation of Family History I have long admired the work of Cristina Rivera Garza, the much lauded writer of novels, short stories, poetry, essays and criticism, translator, University of Houston Distinguished Professor, foun…

"Change me, drastically if possible. Transform me. Make me other. That’s what I ask of books—both when I read them and when I write them." —Cristina Rivera Garza lithub.com/cristina-riv...

"We believe that everyone in our country deserves meaningful access to the veracity, beauty, imagination, and continual revelation that the arts and humanities provide." —Elizabeth Alexander, President of @mellon.org, a co-founder of the Literary Arts Fund

One of the First Big Anti-AI Campaigns From Hollywood Is Launching Now Writers, actors and other musicians have come out in support of the Human Artistry Campaign’s “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” push for licensing and opt-out mechanisms for human-created works.

Writers George Saunders, Roxane Gay, and Jodi Picoult, among others, have joined the Human Artistry Campaign's "Stealing Isn't Innovation" effort to protest tech companies using copyrighted creative work without permission to build AI language models. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Poem: ‘E = mc²’ Science in meter and verse

then let us believe
the product of our lives
is greater than the sum of us

—Elaine Mintzer

www.scientificamerican.com/article/poem...

The pain, and joy, of Rachel Eliza Griffiths' writing journey Rachel Eliza Griffiths is releasing her memoir, “The Flower Bearers,” after enduring profound personal tragedies.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths is releasing her memoir, "The Flower Bearers," after enduring profound personal tragedies.

Writing Toward the Void: Larissa Pham on Facing Your Fears in Fiction What’s the scariest scenario you can imagine? Mine goes something like this: Imagine a woman wrote a book—no, a revenge fantasy—about a mentor who abused his power. What if that book’s subject enco…

“Writing, which is a kind of paying attention, can be an act of love, an illumination...” —Larissa Pham @literaryhub.bsky.social
lithub.com/writing-towa...

Somali Author Shugri Salh on the Power of Words Shugri Salh, author of the memoir ‘The Last Nomad,’ reflects on her picture book debut, ‘Suuban’s First Day,’ current events, and how words have the capacity both to heal and to harm.

"Words can empower or break a person, a community, a nation. But when we share stories with one another, we are reminded of our shared humanity." —Shugri Salh

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Literary Arts Fund created to rekindle a love for reading According to a recent study, reading for pleasure has fallen by 40% in the last 20 years, continuing a long-running downward trend. By many measures, reading skills for both students and adults contin...

"We don't survive if we don't figure out how to hear, respect and see each other. And I think that literature has superpowers to do that." —Elizabeth Alexander, poet and President of the
@mellon.org Foundation on the new @literaryartsfund.bsky.social

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

The Benefits of Reading Two Books at Once Pairing a book for focus with one for escape makes reading richer.

"The benefit of reading more than one book at a time is that no matter how different the two books are, they always end up speaking to each other in ways I couldn’t have imagined." —Laura Dave time.com/7344842/read...

ASU Professor Emeritus Laura Tohe named poet laureate of Arizona | ASU News Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced on Wednesday the appointment of Arizona State University Professor Emeritus Laura Tohe as poet laureate for the state of Arizona.

"Poetry is alive; it celebrates our human experience with language, voice and reflection." —Laura Tohe, newly appointed Poet Laureate of Arizona news.asu.edu/20260114-uni...

Independent Publishers Caucus Launches Bestseller List with ABA The Independent Press Top 40 is a new weekly bestseller list that ranks the most popular fiction and nonfiction titles from indie publishers, as sold by American Booksellers Association member stores.

What indy titles are indy bookstore shoppers reading? Launching today: a new and alternative best-sellers book list from the Independent Publishers Caucus and @americanbookseller.bsky.social... www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Alyse Knorr and Kate Partridge Remember Mel Nichols When she describes, in this poem, the letters “taking flight down the river of quaking aspens,” and then opens the next stanza by rendering how “the world is moon milk spilled on dark grass / among th...

Today's Feature:

Alyse Knorr and Kate Partridge Remember Mel Nichols

Read here:
poems.com/features/wha...

Community Poetry | Victoria Chang, Velislava Kuzmenko In her poem “The Swan, No. 20 (Hilma af Klint)” from the Review’s October 23, 2025, issue, Victoria Chang delineates the line of beauty (a word that

“I’m interested in writing my way through, around, above, and below my life, as a way to navigate life’s joys, beauties, and sadnesses all at once.” —@victoriachang.bsky.social
www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Benjamin Wood on the Creative Life Force First Draft: A Dialogue of Writing is a weekly show featuring in-depth interviews with fiction, nonfiction, essay writers, and poets, highlighting the voices of writers as they discuss their work, …

"It feels like, to me, creativity is...this sort of vast collective consciousness, and I am, you know, a guy with a radio, turning the dial, tuning into it and trying to tune into it day after day." —Benjamin Wood lithub.com/benjamin-woo...

Tayari Jones’s Healing Words Before finishing her latest novel, the bestselling author had to overcome serious illness and self-doubt.

"I hope with every book I write that it heals something in someone." —Tayari Jones @tayari.bsky.social on her new book, "Kin."

#LiteraryArts

In 2025, most Americans read fewer than four books. According to a YouGov poll released at year’s end, American reading habits stay in the toilet. Four in ten Americans didn’t read a single book during our last spin around the sun. And o…

"If you’re still looking for a New Year’s resolution, 'read more books' could well be good for national morale." —Brittany Allen, @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/in-2025-most...

INAUGURATION HIGHLIGHT: Cornelius Eady Delivers Chilling Poem at Zohran Mamdani’s Inauguration |AC14 YouTube video by DWS News

“A joy that wears down the rock of no." —Cornelius Eady
m.youtube.com/watch?v=cjYQ...

‘This Is Our Time’: Acclaimed Poet to Honor Mamdani With Inaugural Poem

"“Poets and artists can speak in a language that is different from the language of politicians. They can say things that politicians can’t say. They are there to capture an essence.” —Elizabeth Alexander www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...

Why I Stopped Reading and Embraced Audiobooks

"I love the way an audiobook brings me one step closer to a story, removing the middleman of paper or a screen. I’m not just hovering over the action, I’m in it. Channeling it. Bonus: No trees are harmed in the recording." —Elisabeth Egan www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

Are we falling out of love with nonfiction? In the early 2020s, readers flocked to books to explain political turbulence. But is the world now too grim to read about – and are podcasters taking the place of authors?

"I hold passionately to the importance of long-form nonfiction in helping us understand the world." —Caroline Sanderson, associate editor, The Bookseller @thebookseller.com www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

Application window closing soon Literary arts nonprofits directly supporting creative writers can apply for 2026 general operating grants by December 19, 2025 literaryartsfund.org

Tomorrow, December 19 at 11:59 p.m. ET, is the deadline for the Literary Arts Fund’s 2026 general operating grants.

U.S.-based literary arts nonprofits that directly support creative writers are invited to review the fund’s eligibility requirements and apply: literaryartsfund.org/grants/

What rhymes with la la la, la la la la la? Kevin Killian, the poet obsessed with Kylie Minogue He wrote poems named after Kylie songs and named his collection of erotic fiction after her indie album. He even loved the B-sides. So what did the avant garde writer find so inspiring about the mini ...

"Kevin engaged the Bay Area poetry scene like Warhol did his Factory – but unlike Warhol, it wasn’t centered around him or his work.” —Evan Kennedy www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...

Application window closing soon Literary Arts nonprofits directly supporting creative writers can apply for 2026 general operating grants by December 19, 2025 literaryartsfund.org

There’s one week left to apply for the Literary Arts Fund’s 2026 general operating grants.

U.S.-based literary arts nonprofits directly serving creative writers are invited to review the eligibility requirements and apply by December 19 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Learn more: literaryartsfund.org/grants.

Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.

"In American high schools, the age of the book may be fading." —Dana Goldstein www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...