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Literary Center » Michael Cunningham on the question of scale in writing

“It’s just a question of whether you’re looking through a telescope or a microscope.” This first appeared in Lit Hub art of writing Newsletter—Sign up here. Article continues after ad I don’t work on an epic scale, although my ambitions run more to epic proportions than I’d like to admit.​It is a question of focus.

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Literary Center » A Tarot Reader Considers Sylvia Plath’s Connection to the Deck

Lisa Stardust on the influence of tarot and imagination according to smithsonian magazineSylvia Plath used the Tarot de Marseille deck, which her husband Ted Hughes had gifted her on her 24th birthday in 1956. It is believed that he also used the Rider-Waite deck. The original Tarot de Marseille cards were auctioned at Sotheby’s and

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Literary Center » What should you read next? Here are the best reviewed books of the week

Featuring Colson Whitehead, Michael Cunningham, Claire Vaye Watkins and others Colson Whitehead’s great machineMichael Cunningham’s unsayableand Claire Vaye Watkins yellow pine All of these are among the best reviewed books of the week. Article continues after ad Brought to you by book marksLit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Imagination 1. great machine by Colson

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Literary Center » On the complexities and contradictions of diaspora Jewish identity

In the twenty-first century, debates about the formation of an anti-Semitic category of Jews intensified following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and debates about colonialism, indigeneity, and ethnic identity. If one thinks of Jews as a diasporic category, the notions of “rooted” and “rootless” or bound and unmoored also come into

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Literary Center » Writer or actor: who should narrate audiobooks?

Maris Kreizman on the importance of a good reader Who is a better narrator for an audiobook: the book’s author or a professional voice actor? Article continues after ad trick question. The answer is both, and/or, it depends. Let’s leave non-fiction writing out of this discussion because I think almost any personal writing will benefit

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Literary Center »Paradise Pawn

When Dad and I went to Dallas for Mom’s funeral, Dad gave me his own disposable camera with twenty-four photos. I took two pictures from the window of the plane. I remember thinking that it looked as if animals made of diamonds were floating in water and breaking when they collided with each other. I

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Literary Center » Why Americans don’t want to leave Little House on the Prairie.

This month, a fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Beloved little house on the prairie comes on netflix. The timing of the reboot is auspicious. 2026 saw the peak of the tradewife debate. And if walking through the streets of Brooklyn, a certain prairiecore aesthetic refuses to go quietly. Pioneer nostalgia tends to increase

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Literary Center » Molly Crabapple on the Jew Dam

Artist and author Molly Crabapple joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and VV Ganesanthan to talk about the Jewish Labor Bund and its socialist, secular, anti-Semitic principles. Crabapple, whose artist great-grandfather Sam Rothbort was part of the organization, discusses researching and writing about new York Times best selling book, Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story

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The longlist for the 2026 First Novel Prize has been announced by the Center for Fiction

Since 2006, the Center for Fiction has been highlighting the best debut novels of the year through its First Novel Award. This year’s 180 eligible titles were published in the US between January 1 and December 31, and were narrowed down to 19 books by more than 500 authors, librarians, booksellers and others. The shortlist

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Literary Center » Why Writing Feels So Hard (And How to Make It Easier)

Let’s be honest about something: The fact that writing is hard has nothing to do with how talented you are, how many ideas you have, or how much you want to complete your novel. Writing is hard because your human brain, which has been running and updating biological human survival software for about 200,000 years,

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