ANNAPOLIS, Md. — John Barth, the playfully erudite author whose darkly comic and complicated novels revolved around the art of literature and launched countless debates over the art of fiction, died Tuesday. He was 93. Johns Hopkins University, where Barth was an emeritus professor of English and creative writing, confirmed his death in a statement. … Read more
NEW YORK — Maryse Condé, an acclaimed French-language novelist from Guadeloupe who in novels, stories, plays and memoirs imagined and redefined the personal and historical past from 17th century New England to contemporary Europe, has died at age 90. Condé, winner in 2018 of an “alternate” Nobel Prize, died Monday night at a hospital in … Read more
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Don Winslow, embarking on what he calls his final book tour, had a feeling he might not keep it together “It’s a little bit of a bittersweet evening for me,” he said Monday, speaking before some 40 admirers at The Mysterious Bookshop in downtown Manhattan, one of the … Read more
JERUSALEM — Sami Michael, an award-winning Iraqi-Israeli author who was known for writing poignantly about oppressed minorities and the challenges faced by Jews from Arab countries, died on Monday. He was 97. His characters, who were often Arabic-speaking Jews like himself, opened a window into the particular pains and challenges faced by Mizrahi Jews from … Read more
Ahh, the Final Girl — a point of pride, a point of contention. Too often, the white, virginal, Western ideal. But not this time. “The Black Girl Survives in This One,” a short story anthology edited by Saraciea J. Fennell and Desiree S. Evans, is changing the literary horror canon. As self-proclaimed fans of “Scary … Read more
LONDON — Books about the dizzying impact of the internet and artificial intelligence are among finalists for a new book prize that aims to help fix the gender imbalance in nonfiction publishing. The shortlisted six books for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction, announced on Wednesday, include Canadian author-activist Naomi Klein’s “Doppleganger,” a plunge into … Read more
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — “Babar” author Laurent de Brunhoff, who revived his father’s popular picture book series about an elephant-king and presided over its rise to a global, multimedia franchise, has died. He was 98. De Brunhoff, a Paris native who moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, died Friday at his … Read more
NEW YORK — Lorrie Moore won the prize for fiction on Thursday, while Judy Blume and her longtime ally in the fight against book bans, the American Library Association were given honorary prizes by the National Book Critics Circle. Moore, best known as a short-story writer, won the fiction prize for her novel, “I Am … Read more
NEW YORK — The romantic tearjerker “The Notebook” lands on Broadway in awkward musical theater form this spring having previously conquered books and movies. It is intent now on making a live audience openly weep by employing massive doses of schlocky sentimentality without the aid of Ryan Gosling. The bombastic musical that opened Thursday at … Read more
NEW YORK — Bannings and attempted bannings of books soared again in the U.S. last year, continuing to set record highs, according to a new report from the American Library Association. On Thursday, the ALA announced that 4,240 works in school and public libraries had been targeted in 2023, a substantial hike from the then-record … Read more
