Phase 1, in most states, has already begun. People are rushing to beaches and stores. Some have already hurried to bars and restaurants, foregoing restrictions and protesting to challenge what some see is a premature lessening of social distancing. Many others, however, are content to keep within the confines of […]
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando is a fantastic park to visit for any fan of the series or films, but if I had my druthers, I’d take the “real” Hogwarts over the Muggle version of Harry’s world. But until that’s a viable option, I’ll stick to dreaming […]
We’ve all heard it before: “Books are always better than the films they’re based on.” The book vs film debate is likely never to be resolved. From the British Vivien Leigh taking on the role of the very southern Scarlett O’Hara to Will Smith portraying a completely different version of […]
When you put yourself out ‘there’ as a writer, when you lasso the title of ‘writer,’ inevitably you are asked your opinion. You are also confronted by a litany of folks who make excuses. Now, I’m not adverse to the excuse bit. I hear and speak them daily. But what […]
There are many axioms that get tossed around writing advice columns and beginning writer’s workshops. Show, don’t tell is a big one, as is Avoid -ly adverbs. While these are good and useful, they’re really only pertinent to the actual process of writing. Just as there is more to being […]
In the past, we’ve shown you LitStackers a brief glimpse of some of classic Hollywood’s most eager bookish celebrities. Now, here’s a few shots of some of the “younger” generation’s biggest book nerds. Some of these may surprise you. Some, not so much. Feel free to tell us all about […]
A few years back I was asked by a dear friend if I teach the classics and I answered with an emphatic “No!” He scrunched up his face, tilted his head to the side and replied “Why not?” I sighed and then prepared myself for explaining why I feel like […]
The Hugo Award is one of the major awards for sci-fi and speculative fiction novels, shorter stories, magazines, editors, dramatic presentations (movies and TV shows) and other works; having “Hugo Award Winner” splashed across the top of a book or on an author’s bio is a really helpful thing when […]
The National Book Critics Circle has announced the winners of their 2016 awards, with Louis Erdrich winning the Fiction award for her novel, LaRose. This is the second time Ms. Erdrich has won the award; she won for her celebrated novel, Love Medicine, in 1984. Here is the complete list […]
PEN/Faulkner is a nonprofit literary organization that promotes a lifelong love of reading and a connection to writing through public events, in-school education and public promotion of exceptional literary achievement. They annually administer the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, one of the highest honors available to American fiction writers; on Tuesday, […]
On this day, December 3, in 1857, Joseph Conrad was born in Berdichev, Imperial Russia (modern
Ukraine, then a part of Poland). While he settled in England and wrote in English, he always considered himself a Pole. Heart of Darkness, one of the most famous of his 20 novels (which explores colonialism and the attitudes regarding what constitutes a barbarian versus civilized society) is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century, as is his novel Lord Jim, which chronicles a crew’s abandonment of its disabled ship. Conrad died in England in 1924 at age 66.