If you’re reading this, chances are you’re Internet-savvy (or at least Internet-literate, which is an appealing almost-rhyme—so you’re a poet, too). And those who use the Internet know what “clickbait” is, or think they do—but it may be time to rethink what that coinage actually means. (Speaking of regrettable words: Time Magazine has a poll asking readers what words/phrases they’d like to ban from the English language—and the word “feminist” is in the list. Seriously?!). While the Internet allows us to look back and cringe at photos, messages, and comments of yesteryear and today, prolific authors are rarely asked to do the same. Here are six authors (including Philip Roth, Asymptote friend Lydia Davis, and Junot Díaz) on some of their earliest work.
Famed French OULIPO member Georges Perec may no longer be living, but a recently discovered manuscript lets readers uncover more of his infuriatingly clever work: A Portrait of a Man was found inside a closet and hits the English-language market this week, thanks to a translation by none other than David Bellos. Yet more literature resurfaces: from famed American writer John Steinbeck, a story read by Orson Welles on radio never reached print—until now. And fans of tragic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (including yours truly), rejoice: nineteen new poems of his have been uncovered. Now you might understand his tragedy! Finally, Holocaust survivor and Polish memoirist Mary Berg’s archival scrapbooks and journals have surfaced, shedding new light on a lifetime marked by trauma.
New in awards this week: Chilean writer Isabel Allende has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Canadian writer Sean Michaels has won the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Us Conductors, and tweeted accordingly ($100,000 is part of the prize, which in “writer dollars” tops a billion, so we can’t blame him for his reaction).
Got nothing good to read? You might want to check out the blog’s column this week, New in Translation (just in case you missed it). The New York Times reviews Chinese-American writer Ha Jin’s latest book, A Map of Betrayal. And speaking of New York, here’s a look at that never-sleeping city through the eyes of Italian literary juggernaut Italo Calvino’s classic Invisible Cities. Paris Review editor Lorin Stein spoke about his translations of French-language author Éduoard Levé in San Francisco last week. The German Grimm’s Fairy Tales have been sugarcoated too long—let’s return to the horror and abjection with a new translation.
Finally, as you tune out: you may be tempted not to, but trust us—it’s worth it to finish that book (according to the Atlantic, that is).