“I feel like for a small press you really need to, not just catch a break, but catch a break every time...” —Adam Levy. Great piece on nonprofit literary press Transit Books' success and the importance of publishing translated literature. @transitbooks.bsky.social www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Forget New York, some of the most ambitious literature in America is happening in California

Free from the traditional New York publishing bubble, Transit Books and Unnamed Press are building creative, distinct — and flourishing — literary houses on the West Coast.

latimes.com

“Awards, with their rare power to grant credibility in a cacophonous world and their equal capacity to provoke conversation, remind us that subjectivity is part of the risk and value of consuming art.” —Radhika Jones www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/o...

Opinion | Please Judge the Books I’m Reading

Literary awards get dismissed for elitism. But more than ever, we need passionate and idiosyncratic champions for the books most worth seeking out.

nytimes.com

"Thanks to Christopher Nolan’s film, sales of Homer’s epic rose 1,400% in the weeks around release – and it’s not alone. Poetry collections are once again sailing up the charts..." www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...

It’s not just Homer: the new generation of poets enjoying epic success

Christopher Nolan’s film has made the Odyssey a bestselling book again, but a slew of new poets are breaking sales records, and have more in common with the ancient Greek than you might expect

theguardian.com

"She had a way of establishing intimacy between herself and the reader: you feel like she's right there, speaking to you, telling you what she sees and knows and wonders about. Much of her work has the tone of a love letter..." —Sigrid Nunez on Virginia Woolf www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Writers Talking Writers: Sigrid Nunez on Virginia Woolf and Keith Ridgway on Samuel Beckett

The National Book Award winner and Rooney Prize recipient discuss the enduring legacy of two boundary-pushing 20th century legends.

publishersweekly.com

If you're in or visiting NYC this summer, here's a walking tour of a few wonderful bookstores and bookish landmarks worth checking out as mapped by The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How to Spend a Bookish Afternoon in Midtown Manhattan

This walking tour through the bustling heart of New York City includes bookstores, great reading spots and literary-themed snacks.

nytimes.com

“It seems to me that literary fiction will shift even further in the direction of the weird, the esoteric, while personalization takes hold of commercial fiction.” —Laura Brooke Robson www.wired.com/story/more-t...

More Typos, Fewer Em Dashes: Writers Are Creating an Anti-AI ‘Literary Counterculture’

Novelists, journalists, and power LinkedIn posters are embracing first-person narratives and idiosyncrasies to avoid being mistaken for chat bots.

wired.com

‘We are confident that our longlist of books has something for everyone’ We are delighted to reveal the Booker Prize 2026 longlist. Huge congratulations to the authors who make up this year's Booker Dozen. ➡️ Discover the full list: thebookerprizes.com/bp2026

"But what...if the present were still swollen with all the forgotten and unrealized potential of the past? What if?" Ismail Muhammad on Colson Whitehead's body of work and new novel. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/m...

How a Novelist of the American Past Recovered His Faith in Its Future (Gift Article)

Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy turns away from the pessimism of his recent novels to offer a more hopeful vision for Black history.

nytimes.com

We readers have more work to do to encourage a ​broader return to literature and reading. There are a myriad of things we can do, including getting involved with & supporting the local library or literary arts nonprofit, & sharing the joy of reading with people in our lives. time.com/article/2026...

In Defense of Reading Books

Reading literature is a force of good for our health and communities, writes Jen Benka.

time.com

Good news for the arts in NYC: "My administration is proud to make a historic, record-level investment in NYC's arts and cultural organizations. Because we believe the people who make this city what it is should be able to build their lives here.” —Mayor Mamdani hyperallergic.com/nyc-mayor-ma...

NYC Mayor Mamdani Approves Record $323M Funding for Culture

The overall city budget also establishes a "Cultural Stability Fund" for struggling arts organizations.

hyperallergic.com

This month saw the launch of The Porter Square Review of Books. The store’s booksellers and writers-in-residence have begun publishing weekly book reviews on its website. www.niemanlab.org/2026/06/book...

Book reviews are an endangered species. So this independent bookstore decided to start publishing its own.

“We’re not just going to complain about it!”

niemanlab.org

"A lesson of this historic season is that one could love basketball all year, not just when the games are being projected on the sides of bodegas...Here’s what to read if you’re almost ready to commit to basketball." —Brittany Allen lithub.com/what-to-read...

What to read next if the Knicks win made you “basketball-curious.”

Today in New York, you can’t get to lower Manhattan because the streets are clogged with Knicks fans. My town is still on fire from their historic championship win last weekend. People who co…

lithub.com

Inspired by the encouragement of this year’s fantastic judging panel - Sarah Moss, Yomi Ṣode, Romalyn Ante, WN Herbert, & Michael Mullen - we’re delighted to be releasing our longlists for the very first time ahead of shortlist announcements in mid-July. Congratulations to all the longlisted poets!

Granta stops publishing short story award winners over AI controversy

Granta stops publishing short story award winners over AI controversy

Literary magazine will no longer engage in ‘external publishing partnerships’ after Commonwealth prize furore The prominent literary magazine Granta will no longer publish the winning entries of the annual Commonwealth short story prize after one of this year’s winners drew widespread accusations of AI use. The magazine said it would no longer be involved in “external publishing partnerships” in which it had no editorial control. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Here's a new stat that's makes plain the economic challenges authors face: they earn $10,000 annually on average. This amount has "declined about 42% since 2009" though "books are available in more formats..." More from the Authors Guild and Codex Group: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Authors Guild Looks at Why Author Incomes Are in Decline

A survey commissioned by the Guild found that only 25% of print books and e-books read in the past month were bought new or through a paid subscription, with readers increasingly turning to low- or no...

publishersweekly.com

The Literary Arts Fund has launched a new grant opportunity to support innovation, the first of its kind for nonprofits supporting literature and writers. A total of $1 million will be awarded in what is anticipated to be a highly competitive process. The deadline is August 17, 2026. More info here:

Literary Arts Fund@literaryartsfund.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Applications are open for the Literary Arts Fund’s 2026 innovation project grants. Grants will range from $25K to $100K and provide funding to literary arts nonprofits for new, one-time, and forward-thinking projects that would strengthen literary arts nonprofits’ ability to serve creative writers.

Marjane Satrapi captured profound human emotions – and paved the way for a generation

Marjane Satrapi captured profound human emotions – and paved the way for a generation

The graphic novelist had a remarkable gift for visual storytelling, in the phenomenon that was Persepolis and beyond. Many of us owe our careers to the space she created, says Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani

theguardian.com

I'm honored to help share this news and shine a light on the important work being done by literary arts nonprofits to champion writers and reading.

Literary Arts Fund@literaryartsfund.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Literary Arts Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of its inaugural general operating grants, 40 nonprofit literary arts organizations and publishers spanning 19 states—from Alaska to Florida—that will receive a combined total of $7.7 million in unrestricted funds.

✨We’re delighted to announce 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 (@aaknopf.bsky.social) by Kevin Young as the 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize winner. ✨Young received C$130,000 in prize money, and the other finalists were each awarded C$10,000.

There's a surge in the number of independent bookstores, which Kelley Hartnett of Double Dog Bookshop in Wentzville, Missouri attributes to people "craving connection, especially in-person connection." apnews.com/article/inde...

Independent bookstores are multiplying, although many people still think they're dying out

Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, often hears people express sympathy for her role, assuming bookstores are disappearing.

apnews.com

It’s an important time to back books— especially those published by the dedicated staff at nonprofit literary presses, where adventurous literature lives.

Literary Arts Fund@literaryartsfund.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Nonprofit literary publishers provide critical support to creative writers and offer readers a great breadth of literature.

‘It’s a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel’ We're delighted to announce the winner of the #InternationalBooker2026, supported by Bukhman Philanthropies, is Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King. Discover the book: thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

An impossible assignment: name only 15 books "most vital" to American literature. Here's Publishers Weekly's take. What's missing? www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

15 Essential Works of American Literature

In honor of America’s 250th birthday, we polled PW’s staffers and freelance reviewers, as well as members of the National Book Critics Circle, on the most essential books published in the U.S. since 1...

publishersweekly.com

One of humanity’s great art forms, literature is a lot to lose. For too long, literature and writers, and the literary arts nonprofits that champion them both, have not been supported by philanthropy. There’s a huge opportunity to make a difference. May this be a moment of change.

Literary Arts Fund@literaryartsfund.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Literature is the least-supported artistic discipline in the U.S., receiving only 1.9% of the $5 billion in arts grants from foundations. This underfunding, which is persistent, underscores the urgent need for increased support for the nonprofit literary arts field. #LiteraryArts

"...There is value in banding with the poets, and fighting for the value of being curious and trying to articulate the world with whatever tools are available to us." —Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, physicist www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/s...

A Physicist Who Thinks in Poetry From the Cosmic Edge

nytimes.com

"I think of characters as ways for me to ask questions and explore ideas. I see them as instruments. At the same time, they gain lives of their own and gain, hopefully, a certain vitality on the page which exceeds what I’m able to consciously construct." —Megha Majumdar therumpus.net/2026/05/04/w...

Who Deserves Your Compassion? A Conversation with Megha Majumdar - The Rumpus

“Kolkata is one of the cities in the world which is most severely affected by climate change. It has grown hotter. It is predicted to endure more storms, and more severe storms. How does it feel to re...

therumpus.net

The nonprofit literary arts field supports creative writers and contributes to literary culture in uniquely impactful ways.

The winners and nominated finalists of the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today by administrator Marjorie Miller. buff.ly/BD6yBad

Here are the 2026 Pulitzer Prize winners.

The winners and nominated finalists of the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today by administrator Marjorie Miller via remote video stream. The winners each take home $15,000 dollars and serious…

lithub.com

For poets and writers wondering what to do with your archives and how... The WashU Libraries’, with support from the Mellon Foundation, have created an incredibly helpful guide for you on digital preservation practices. library.washu.edu/research-sup...

Born-Digital Poetry - WashU Libraries

The WashU Libraries' Born-Digital Poetry project explores the discoverability, preservation, and use of born-digital poetry collections.

library.washu.edu

On Thursday, May 7 at 2 p.m. ET, join the Literary Arts Fund for an info session covering budget best practices. Free and online. Tips shared during this session may be useful to literary arts nonprofits interested in applying for a Literary Arts Fund grant. Register here: zoom.us/webinar/regi...