"It occurred to me that in Iowa you don’t need a permit to carry a gun — open or concealed. A current of people was funneling into the library, and I joined them. I sensed, eerily, that some who were entering alongside me were protesters." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
A book is different from a pair of shoes or a scented candle—but is it that different? The kinds of excess we permit—even exalt—for books is unheard of for other categories of possessions. - The Walrus
"Not every workplace features a guillotine. … Fearsome machines are part of daily life at the lab, which serves as a hospital where ailing books from every department of the museum are restored to health." - The New York Times
"Amid growing criticism over its response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, freedom of expression nonprofit PEN America is facing questions over whether its Literary Awards ceremony, World Voices Festival, and Literary Gala, all scheduled to be held within the next month, can proceed as planned." - Publishers Weekly
Instead of standing up for the robust exchange of ideas, lawmakers in state after state are pushing bills that would criminalize librarians for putting certain books on the shelves. Nuisance lawsuits and fights over book bans are draining librarians' time, energy, and resources. - Newsweek
The full multiday festival – which last year saw 175 authors appearing in more than 120 events across 10 days – will still not go ahead. However, Wee Write, a festival for children and young people, will now go ahead in autumn on a smaller scale. - The Guardian
"The rules are always the same: 30 minutes before the meeting’s official start time, people can come, share what they are reading and find a place to sit. Then someone rings a bell or makes an announcement, and it’s reading time. For an hour, that’s it." - The Washington Post (MSN)
Small presses play a crucial role in the American literary landscape, publishing books that have artistic merit but little commercial potential. Without S.P.D., it could be far more difficult for small presses to get their books to readers, or for those books to exist at all. - The New York Times
"Several authors have turned down awards and awards nominations from PEN America, citing unhappiness with the literary and free expression organization’s stance on the war in Gaza." - AP
"The new report, Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis, reports 4,349 book bans recorded across 23 states and 52 public school districts from July to December 2023. ... More book bans were recorded during the first half of the current school year than in the entire 2022-2023 year." - Publishers Weekly
Income from commercial translation work has fallen significantly since the beginning of 2023. The loss of non-literary streams of income for literary translators will mean the “raising of the bar to entry into the industry, with only those with wealth able to translate literature for publication”. - The Guardian
"Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks announced that they have joined the initial plaintiffs, which included PRH, the Iowa State Education Association, four renowned authors (Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Malinda Lo, and Jodi Picoult), and a group of teachers and students." - Publishers Weekly
The generative-AI boom, despite promises to bridge languages and cultures, may only further entrench the dominance of English in life on and off the web. - The Atlantic
“The goal of Smut, says Scollard, is to 'champion work that might find it difficult to get published elsewhere – maybe a bit risqué or provocative. But the main basis is that we want to work with queer artists.'" - Irish Times
Library workers aren’t happy. "The City is denying Seattleites 1,500 hours of learning, checking out books, applying for jobs, talking with neighbors, sheltering from bad weather, and, though librarians should not be de facto social workers, perhaps overdose prevention, workers said." - The Stranger (Seattle)
