Literature & Essays · Zola

Literature & Essays

Fiction, criticism, literary journalism

Lit Hub Weekly: May 18 – 22, 2026

“I never imagined reading books and turning them into movies was a job.” It is, and if you can read a book every two days (and write a book report about it), it could be yours… | Lit Hub Film

Lit Hub Daily·May 23, 2026

The Novel as Instrument: Sinan Antoon and Michael Allan

Our partner podcast Novel Dialogue invites a novelist and a literary critic to talk about novels from every angle: how we read them, write them, publish them, and remember them. This season’s signature question is: Who was your favorite teacher and why? “I am haunted by history: the history of dictatorship, the history of empire, […] The post The Novel as Instrument: Sinan Antoon and Michael Allan appeared first on Public Books.

Megan Cummins·May 22, 2026

The Conversation

John of John: weaving an island tale of secrets that lie beneath repression and shame

The high drama of Douglas Stuart’s new novel sometimes feels like a soap opera – but his lyrical prose and atmospheric narrative elevate the genre.

Stevie Marsden, Lecturer in Publishing, Edinburgh Napier University·May 22, 2026

The Paris Review

Barthelme, the Houstonian

“Barthelme died in 1989, at the age of fifty-eight. I was at college and heard the news from a friend who worked at a Kinko’s to which one of the Barthelme brothers had brought Don Jr.’s will.”

Susan Choi·May 22, 2026

Reconsidering Mary McCarthy’s Iconic Friendship Novel The Group

Just after my novel, Talking to the Wolf, was accepted for publication, I picked up Mary McCarthy’s novel, The Group for the first time. In my own novel, a friend breakup and untimely death changes everything for four women. These

Rebecca Chace·May 22, 2026

On Homecoming (and Leaving), Jakarta to New York

Scenario 1 I land in Jakarta just in time for Chinese New Year. I can smell the cigarette smoke and rain before the plane even touches the tarmac; my body retrieves memories faster than my mind can process them. I

May Teng·May 22, 2026

Manil Suri on Visualizing Your Book’s Narrative Structure

This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. Here’s a nifty tool I’ve devised which authors might want to try out for themselves. It’s free, easy to use, and reveals the underlying narrative structure of a book, much

Manil Suri·May 22, 2026

“I Hope to Die Laughing.” On Tom Drury’s The End of Vandalism

Roughly a decade ago, shortly after I moved from Seattle to a nearby suburb, I slid into a bipolar mixed episode for a period of a month or so before it descended into straight depression. During mixed episodes, a person

Ross McMeekin·May 22, 2026

What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Ali Smith’s Glyph, Ayelet Waldman’s A Perfect Hand, and Emily LaBarge’s Dog Days all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Fiction 1. Glyph by Ali

Book Marks·May 22, 2026

Villains Are Just More Interesting Than Heroes (and More F*ckable, If We’re Being Frank)

The first character I ever became obsessed with was Captain Hook. I couldn’t have been more than three or four, though I was already weird; I saw the 1953 Disney version of Peter Pan and immediately fell in love in

Natalie Zina Walschots·May 22, 2026

Is Alien Life Hiding in Plain Sight, Right Here in Our Solar System?

The grandeur of Saturn is stunning to behold when viewed through a telescope. Possibly the most iconic and easily identifiable member of our solar system, this “ringed planet” has a volume equivalent to 760 Earths and such astonishingly low density

Sarah Alam Malik·May 22, 2026

Does Xi Jinping Really Think China is Athens and the US is Sparta? And is Trump Getting Any of This?

At his recent meeting with the US President Donald Trump, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping asked: “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?” While it might come as

Andrew Bayliss·May 22, 2026

Lit Hub Daily: May 22, 2026

Everyone is an AI cop now, even if they don’t know it: a past Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner weighs in on the recent scandal. | Lit Hub Criticism Does Xi Jinping really think China is Athens and the US

Lit Hub Daily·May 22, 2026

Everyone is an AI Cop Now: What Happens When an AI-Generated Story Wins a Prestigious Prize

In the early hours of Sunday, May 17th 2026, I stumbled on a tweet by Nigerian literary critic and essayist, Chimezie Chike, accusing Jamir Nazir, the newly minted 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Winner (Caribbean Region), of winning the coveted

Innocent Chizaram Ilo·May 22, 2026

The Conversation

What do the Commonwealth Writers Prize AI allegations mean for prizes – and short stories?

Advances in AI platforms have been oddly benchmarked through their engagements with the short story form. What does the latest literary AI scandal tell us?

Julian Novitz, Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology·May 22, 2026

The Burning Side

June 10, 2022 The night their house goes up in flames, April stumbles out the front door with her baby in one arm and a book in the other. Otto points his little finger over her shoulder at the house,

Lit Hub Excerpts·May 22, 2026

Solo el pueblo: Migrant Justice Against Fascism in the Americas

Thanks to the politics of sanctuary and abolition, the multiracial city is, perhaps, challenging authoritarian power, even as liberal democratic institutions have faltered utterly against the rise of right wing, white ethnonationalism. The post Solo el pueblo: Migrant Justice Against Fascism in the Americas appeared first on Public Books.

Morgan Barry·May 21, 2026

The Paris Review

Building an AI Data Center in Pine Island, Minnesota

“A tech company worth trillions is fighting, hard, to transform Pine Island, a town whose Wikipedia page claims just two notable people: Ralph Samuelson, the inventor of waterskiing, and Lucas Helder, a.k.a. the Midwest Pipe Bomber.”

Thomas John Weber·May 21, 2026

Lit Hub Daily: May 21, 2026

Katherine Packert Burke considers eight different attempts at explaining the purpose of trans literature. | Lit Hub Criticism Why you shouldn’t feel guilty about the books you haven’t read. | Lit Hub Craft On the new podcast Passages: On Morrison

Lit Hub Daily·May 21, 2026

Aloha ʻāina

It’s marketed as a holiday destination, but the true meaning of Hawai’i lies in the connections between land and people- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

Aeon Video·May 21, 2026

The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Nonfiction

Here are this week’s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers for nonfiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association. Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus. * 1. The Gales

Literary Hub·May 21, 2026

The Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers: Fiction

Here are this week’s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers for fiction, based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide, generously provided by the American Booksellers Association. Compiled, designed, and distributed by The Independent Publishers Caucus. * 1. The Calamity

Literary Hub·May 21, 2026

5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week

Our favorite criticism of the week includes Anand Giridharadas on Theo Baker’s How to Rule the World, Hamilton Cain on Ali Smith’s Glyph, Thomas Mallon on Lois Romano’s An Inconvenient Widow, Kate Preziosi on Paige Lewis’s Canon, and Alex Tan on

Book Marks·May 21, 2026

My Writing Group Forgot My Birthday: Are They the Assholes?

Howdy! We meet again! Welcome back to the most exciting corner of the internet. That’s right, it’s once again time for Am I the Literary Asshole?, an advice column about drama that sometimes boils down to a misused comma and

Kristen Arnett·May 21, 2026