Margo’s Got Money Troubles Is One of the Best Literary Adaptations in a Long While
Apple TV+ has launched a series adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s 2024 novel *Margo’s Got Money Troubles*, produced by David E. Kelley. The show preserves the book’s bright, feminist‑leaning tone while delivering vivid production design and a cast led by Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman. Notably, Kelley omitted a romance subplot, shifting the focus to family and chosen‑family dynamics, a move praised by critics. The series has already been renewed for a second season, underscoring its early traction with subscribers.
Namwali Serpell and Tracy K. Smith Discuss Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
Namwali Serpell opened her new book tour, *On Morrison*, with poet Tracy K. Smith at Cambridge’s First Parish Church, reading the opening of Toni Morrison’s debut, *The Bluest Eye*. The conversation unpacked how the novel’s experimental form is often eclipsed...
Lit Hub Daily: May 19, 2026
Lit Hub’s May 19 2026 Daily roundup bundles more than a dozen literary pieces, ranging from memoirs and craft essays to curated reading lists. Highlights include a retrospective on Oscar Wilde’s 1897 release, new titles by acclaimed authors such as Ali Smith and...
Chet’la Sebree on How Chronic Illness Forever Altered Her Literary Life
Chet’la Sebree, author of *Turn (W)here*, describes how a herniated neck disc and a subsequent lupus diagnosis forced her to abandon her long‑standing habit of drafting by hand. She adopted standing desks, exercise balls, and a pomodoro schedule, mixing digital...
A New Language: On Primo Levi’s Translation of Kafka
Primo Levi, the Auschwitz survivor and chemist, began translating Kafka’s *The Trial* in 1982, confronting the German he first learned under camp guards. The hybrid language of scientific terms and Nazi commands became the backbone of his translation, turning a...
What Close Reading Can Reveal About an Author’s Intentions
Margaret Atwood’s short story “Death by Landscape” opens with an elderly widow surrounded by unsettling Canadian art, hinting at a hidden trauma that drives her collection. The narrative invites readers to trace the source of her unease back to a...
This Week in Literary History: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway Is Published.
Virginia Woolf began outlining her novel that would become Mrs. Dalloway in a 1922 notebook, initially titling it "The Hours" and planning six to seven interlinked chapters. By 1923 she was deeply engaged in drafting, describing the work as both...
Mysterious, Isolated and Seductive: The Map of Literary Islands That Inspired My Novel
Christiana Spens’ debut novel *The Colony* follows narrator Lena to a remote Scottish island retreat, seeking to flee and heal her past. The story reveals that the island’s seemingly idyllic community harbors a toxic undercurrent, mirroring the contagion she witnessed...
Marianne Boruch Has Won the $100,000 Jackson Poetry Prize.
Chicago-born poet Marianne Boruch has been awarded the 2026 Jackson Poetry Prize, a $100,000 award presented by Poets & Writers. The prize, judged by Major Jackson, Cole Swensen, and Afaa Michael Weaver, honors an American poet of exceptional talent. Judges...
Lit Hub Daily: May 8, 2026
Lit Hub Daily May 8 2026 offers a curated sweep of literary commentary, from Irene Zabytko’s reimagining of *The Canterbury Tales* in post‑Soviet Ukraine to a data‑driven piece on what Google searches reveal about grief. The roundup highlights practical craft advice—such as why...
Why Writing Stories For Children Is So Much Harder Than Writing Stories For Adults
The author, a dual‑genre writer, explains why crafting stories for children is tougher than for adults, citing harsh kid judges, the need for a distinct narrative voice, and the pressure to shape young minds. After a rejected middle‑grade pitch, the...
“Yah, Boo, Sucks.” On the Time Angela Carter Absolutely Flamed Joan Didion in an Interview.
In a 1986 BOMB magazine interview, feminist novelist Angela Carter launched a scathing attack on fellow writer Joan Didion, dismissing her work with the blunt phrase “Yah, boo, sucks.” Carter went further, describing graphic fantasies of violence against Didion’s female characters,...
Unions Are Having a Moment in Publishing. Here’s Why.
Workers at the University of Chicago Press announced a plan to unionize, creating the first union in the nonprofit publisher’s 130‑year history. The move follows similar union drives at Hachette Book Group, Catapult Books and the American Library Association, all...
Lit Hub Daily: May 6, 2026
Lit Hub’s Daily roundup for May 6, 2026 curates a dozen cultural pieces ranging from a reminder of John Steinbeck’s 1940 Pulitzer for *The Grapes of Wrath* to deep‑dive essays on free speech under Brazil’s military regime, climate‑crisis optimism, and the creative...
Happiness Is Within Reach! And Other Fragments of Ancient Greek Wisdom
The article spotlights Stobaeus, a 5th‑century compiler who rescued fragments from lost plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, preserving ancient Greek wisdom on suffering, happiness and the human condition. It showcases a selection of poetic quotes that illustrate timeless reflections...