ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

WORDS

The Many Ways AI Will Upend Publishing

In publishing, too, the technology has the potential to reshape nearly every aspect of the work that goes into producing a book — even the act of writing itself. - The New York Times

The Republicans’ War On Libraries

Attempted book bans in libraries and public schools have proliferated in Republican states, complaints made on grounds of history, race, gender, LGBTQ+ rights and more. Attempts to ban titles by high-profile authors (Maya Angelou, Amanda Gorman, Art Spiegelman) have attracted national headlines. - The Guardian

Global Investment Firm KKR May Buy Simon And Schuster From Paramount

"The possibility that a private equity firm could buy Simon & Schuster has made some publishing executives nervous over the past three years, concerned it could lead to staff cuts and fewer book titles." - The New York Times

Asian American Writers Have A Conference Despite The Smithsonian’s Weaseling Out At The Last Minute

The Asian American Literary Collective got their "Ghosted World" conference together quickly after the Smithsonian canceled its huge and popular event. One organizer: "This is a healing. It is bittersweet. It is empowering." - NPR

What Joyce Carol Oates Owes To Oprah

We can't really say "feminism," but if it's feminist to start thinking of your mom as a person when she's 84 years old, then that's what Oprah did for JCO. - LitHub

The Existential Crisis Of Being A Writer And Parent To Kids Who Don’t Love Reading

A writer parent, tasked with teaching her kids in the early days of the pandemic, realizes it's not just that they don't love it - they're dyslexic. And so: "To try and salvage their enjoyment of literature, I divorced the notion of story from the printed word." - LitHub

When An NHL Player And His Wife Asked Readers To Stop Sexually Harassing Him

Hockey romance fans "gravitate to players who remind them of their favorite book boyfriends, and one popular choice is Seattle Kraken center Alex Wennberg. His team initially courted BookTok with posts and hashtags ... and flew out a popular creator for a playoff game." Then things went way wrong. - Washington Post

The Unspoken, But Specific, Language Of Crosswords

"The rules of crosswords ... are intimately related to the grammar of language in general. Just as toddlers develop a deep knowledge of different classes of words without being taught what a noun or a verb is, crossword solvers develop strong intuitions about what entries are possible." - The Atlantic

Crime Fiction Is Perfect For Adding In Social Commentary, Author Says

Laura Lippman: "The through line in almost every book that I write is that no one is more capable of bad acts than someone absolutely convinced of their own goodness. People who identify as 'good' scare the pants off me." - Irish Times

Honoring The Handwritten Word, By The Thousands, On The Champs-Elysees

Traffic was blocked and 1,700 desks set up by the Arc de Triomphe, for "a public dictée. Anyone who's studied French knows the importance of the ritual. A teacher reads out a passage, usually from French literature, and students have to write it out" - battling the complications of French. - NPR

What Michael Chabon Did During The Early Days Of COVID

In those quiet, terrifying times, lo these long three years ago, Chabon did what any nerd might do: He built a replica of the science fiction and fantasy section of his long-gone childhood bookstore. - LitHub

Who Invented Public Libraries? Roman Emperors

"If Asinius Pollio was the one who 'first by founding a library made works of genius the property of the public', it was Augustus and his successors who instilled an ideology of the public ownership of knowledge. And it didn't matter if the masses couldn't read any of it." - Aeon

Friends, Romans, Gives Us Your Numbers! (Why Roman Numerals Are Better Than Arabic)

I could probably come up with another DCCCLXXXIX reasons why Arabic numerals eat Neptune’s you-know-what's for breakfast, but you get the idea. - The New Yorker

The Brooklyn Public Library’s Intellectual Freedom Teen Council Fights Against Book Bans All Over The US

"The unique program connects kids from the most populous U.S. city with teens from states where book bans are roiling communities. … Teen councilmembers say they've learned a surprising lesson from out-of-state students: Books on the required reading list in many New York City schools are being banned elsewhere." - Gothamist

The Final Bidders To Buy Simon & Schuster

he remaining bidders included KKR, one of the world’s largest private-equity firms, and News Corp, the owner of HarperCollins, a competing publishing house. - The New York Times

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