"According to the newly launched Prison Newspaper Directory by the Prison Journalism Project, there are 24 prison-based newspapers in 12 states. At least four of the papers were launched in the last year." - Nieman Lab
Sensitivity readers can become the implied “baddy” or “goody” (depending on where you stand) in such cases, their service seen as the reason that changes have been made. However, this view assumes that sensitivity readers have more power than they actually do. - The Guardian
"Danmei is romantic fiction about men or male beings – ghosts, foxes, even a mushroom – falling in love, written almost exclusively by and for straight women." Most danmei authors use pseudonyms – for example, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu ("fragrance of ink, odour of money") – because of the Communist Party's disapproval. - The Guardian
"Seed and garden catalogues sell a magical, boozy, Jack-and-the-beanstalk promise: the coming of spring, the rapture of bloom, the fleshy, wet, watermelon-and-lemon tang of summer. ... They make strangely compelling reading, like a village mystery or the back of a cereal box." - The New Yorker
As I puttered around the conference, I thought about the fact that although books don’t have feelings, the librarians forced to remove them from the shelves definitely do. America’s librarians are under enormous pressure, and they need to blow off some steam. - The Atlantic
Many established poets published lockdown poems offering their own perspective on the power of poetry to make sense of the catastrophe. Slowly but surely whole collections inspired by the pandemic began to appear. - The Conversation
Tech companies including Apple and Google have been working on AI audiobook narration for a while now. In 2022, Google rolled out its services to publishers in six countries, including the US and Canada. Google's AI narrators have names like Archie, who sounds British, and Santiago, who speaks Spanish. - CNET
In court papers, former Simon & Schuster staffer Filippo Bernardini is quoted as saying, "I never leaked these manuscripts. I wanted to keep them closely to my chest and be one of the fewest to cherish them before anyone else, before they ended up in bookshops." - The Bookseller (UK)
"I read her 'Cathedral' while she rested her head in my lap. It was 'really something' as you had said. Your story, I mean, and this life too. There were times when I wasn’t sure I’d be able to say that and mean it, but I felt it that day, and I feel it now." - The Smart Set
"With the pandemic seemingly in the rearview mirror but the city still seeking its new normal, New York’s recovery depends on fortifying, not diminishing, tent-poles like parks, streets and libraries." - The New York Times
It's real: "The Eurovision book contest will culminate in an event at this year’s literary festival in June, where a panel will discuss the books selected to represent the 37 countries that take part in the music competition each year." - The Guardian (UK)
The anxiety about what kids are reading inevitably bleeds into fear about what else they’re doing—the trope of the sexy librarian, ever about to loosen her hair and initiate you into forbidden knowledge, exists for a reason. But books are obscene in another way. - The New Yorker
Roughly a French Louisiana equivalent of Gullah, the African-English hybrid of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands, Kouri-Vini developed among the region's Black and mixed-race Creoles in the early 1700s. It faded away during the 20th century, but some present-day Creoles are working to bring it back to life. - BBC
Think of it as an ongoing planetary spam event, but unlike spam—for which we have more or less effective safeguards—there may prove to be no reliable way of flagging and filtering the next generation of machine-made text. “Don’t believe everything you read” may become “Don’t believe anything you read” when it’s online. - The Atlantic
