ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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For Independent Bookstores, The Long 2020 Nightmare Is Not Nearly Over

The legendary Powell's still sits empty of customers, no matter how many people may be buying online or via curbside pickup. The hope for 2021 is just to survive, says its CEO. But for some smaller bookstores, nimble moves were easier. Take Maggie Mae's, a children's bookstore. "The takeway for Maggie Mae’s ... is to 'embrace the pivot' by...

The Writer Who Wants Readers To Feel Like Voyeurs

After all, why should we have access to the characters' sex lives? Raven Leilani, author of Luster, says "I try to portray it in the way that moves me when I see it, when it is awkward and silly, which it often is. To depict it that way is to make it tender; what it looks like when two...

The Writer Inspired By The Surrealist

Maria Dahvana Headley, whose Mere Wife and new translation of Beowulf have electrified readers (and listeners) on a teenage inspiration: "I happened upon The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington, who was a surrealist painter and writer. ... I didn’t really know anything about surrealists then. The novel is full of wild characters that are very elderly women. It’s also...

The Law Professor Who Did More Than Dream Of Being A Novelist Later In Life

Pam Jenoff - you may know her from The Diplomat's Wife, The Lost Girls of Paris, and many other novels - started taking writing classes just as soon as she began practicing law. "She has learned to be a tireless reviser — a skill acquired in the legal world, where 'people are always marking up your work.' She says,...

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