ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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The True Purpose Of Book Bans Isn’t Exactly Hidden

And, concludes a huge new PEN America study, it’s clear that “the current deluge of book bans we’ve been seeing these past few years is based around white supremacist ideology.” Intertwined with that is an effort to disappear any mention of LGBTQIA+ folks - and also people with disabilities. - Book Riot

This Year’s Oscar Nominee Characters Might Be Reading These Books

For instance, “Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan is the best read of the crew—she’s using her position in the Empire to get a ton of advance galleys, even the ones that seem impossible to get a hold of.” - LitHub

What Writers Owe To Historical Fiction

Andrea Barrett: Some writers will change facts. “But that makes me queasy. I think my own sketchy, early education made me realize that for some of us, what we read in a historical novel might be all we’ll ever know about a particular period.” - Los Angeles Review of Books

Don’t Should A Reader

In stressful times, “the shoulds creep up. ... I should be reading more! I should be reading better books! I am making terrible choices with my limited time on earth!” - Reactor Magazine

Reading Books As A Bulwark Against Grief

“I wanted to gather my physical books into a wall – or better yet, a cave – around me that would both protect me from this new reality and let me cry in peace within it. Failing that, I took mental refuge in them instead.” - The Guardian (UK)

Doubleday Launches New Imprint Of Literary Trade Paperbacks

“Outsider Editions plans to reissue underappreciated literary works of all genres — including novels, story collections, memoirs, and essay collections — in an effort to ‘take our understanding of the contemporary canon and make it more expansive, more complicated, and more just.’” - Publishers Weekly

The Limits Of Language: Is There Really A Word For That?

Exploring this material—the work of philosophers, poets, and theoreticians who grappled with what it means to speak and to understand speech—can help us understand more deeply what exactly is at stake. - Boston Review

My Childhood Correspondence With Edward Gorey

“Like his stories and the little books he sent, they were florid and funny and full of deliberate effects. … But any letter from Mr. G was instructive, because he was never, ever lazy with language. Always reaching for the mot juste, he cherished terms like ‘habituated’, ‘diverting’ and ‘gelatinous’.”  - The Comics Journal

Nine UK Book Festivals Band Together

 “In light of the common funding challenges that arts organisations face and an ever-evolving media landscape, the Edinburgh International Book Festival has united with eight of its peers to create a new platform for discussion and collaboration. - The Book Seller

L.A. Times Has Lost One-Fourth Of Its Print Subscribers In The Past Year Alone

And that figure was measured before LAT owner Patrick Soon-Shiong squashed the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. The daily with the largest print circulation, The Wall Street Journal, saw that figure fall by 14.7%, leaving no US newspaper with a print circulation of 500,000 or more. - Press Gazette (UK)

What’s More Staggering Than “A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius”? Its Afterlife

“AHWOSG, as everyone called it, launched Dave Eggers’s career, one that’s seen him publish dozens of books, write screenplays, oversee a literary magazine and publishing company, and launch a nonprofit that’s helped hundreds of thousands of children become better writers. All those things happened because the book was a phenomenon.” - Slate (Yahoo!)

Transformative Year For Publishing Giant Hachette

Earlier this month, Lagardère reported that 2024 HBG sales were up 7% over 2023—the biggest jump posted by any of the groups in Lagardère’s publishing business, which posted €2.87 billion in revenue last year (or just over $3 billion at the current exchange rate). - Publishers Weekly

A Renaissance For Print News In London?

Mind you, we didn’t say newspapers. “Two upmarket London news start-ups are finding a growing (albeit small so far) market for paid online news about the UK capital. Meanwhile a third, more ambitious, title – London Daily Digital – has launched with 18 staff based on Fleet Street.” - Press Gazette (UK)

Self-Publishing Is Having A Moment

"They want to do things in a time frame that suits them, rather than hope that they will find an agent, and that the agent finds a publisher, and at some point, in the future, that book is published. New writers are saying: ‘I can do something relatively quickly and learn how to be an entrepreneurial, self-starting author.’”  -...

Remembering The CIA’s Elaborate World War II Book Smuggling Operation

What some in the east suspected, but very few knew for sure, was that the uncensored literature flooding the country wasn’t reaching Poles by chance. It was sent as part of a decades-long US intelligence operation, known in Washington as the “CIA book program.” - The Guardian

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