TODAY: In 1873, Ellen Glasgow, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, is born.
- Nick Ripatrazone remembers Pope Francis, one of the most literary leaders in the Vatican’s modern history. | Lit Hub Religion
- “I did not yet know the difference between English and Arabic, or how some words might become—borders, weapons, traps.” Sarah Aziza on what it means to be a Palestinian writer today. | Lit Hub Craft
- Ana Hebra Flaster confronts the origin myths of Cuban refugee families. | Lit Hub Politics
- Sophy Roberts recommends what to pack while visiting the Congo, now and in the 19th century. | Lit Hub Travel
- Drew Harvell explores human fascination with the otherwordly octopus. | Lit Hub Nature
- Books by Marie-Helene Bertino, Nasser Rabah, Lydia Millet, and more are among the 25 new titles out now. | Lit Hub Reading Lists
- Lydia Millet on the suffix “-ist” and writing in the present: “I just follow the threads of the sentences and the made-up personalities and see where the doors and windows appear.” | Lit Hub In Conversation
- “In the midst of life’s challenges, his lines are lifelines.” Haleh Liza Gafori on the enduring power of Rumi. | Lit Hub Biography
- “When I still lived in the city, I worked as a film critic for a poorly distributed, religiously read magazine and had gained a reputation for being overly critical.” Read from Marie-Helene Bertino’s new story collection, Exit Zero. | Lit Hub Fiction
- Phil Klay on the late Pope Francis, and his belief that “the Church could be a place for harmonious growth.” | Vanity Fair
- “Like most narratives of violence, rape stories tend to clot in the fissure between the aberrant and the banal.” Jamie Hood considers Gisèle Pelicot, Virginie Despentes, and the narratives of a post #MeToo world. | Bookforum
- Zach Rabiroff interviews Rebecca Burke, the 28-year-old cartoonist from Wales who was detained by ICE while visiting the United States on a tourist visa. | The Comics Journal
- “James’s observations can read like the mutterings of an insensitive middle-class man who doesn’t like seeing new neighbors move in down the block.” Scott Bradfield on Henry James’ strained relationship with his home country. | The New Republic
- Samuel Franklin uncovers the surprisingly short history of the concept of “creativity.” | MIT Technology Review
- Sayaka Murata on the struggle of being an “ordinary earthling.” | The Guardian
