Exile, assassins, and a probable answer behind the death of Pablo Neruda
Just as it turns out that Yasser Arafat may have been killed by radioactive poison, new evidence indicates that celebrated Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda may not have… Read more »
98 UK publishers have gone bust over the last 12 months
You’d think that by now the damage to the publishing industry inflicted by the rise of the internet might be bottoming out. Not so. Ninety-eight publishers declared insolvency over the… Read more »
Ireland to consider ending censorship of books
Ireland’s Republican party, Fianna Fáil, has introduced a motion to disband the Irish Censorship of Publications Board which, if successful, would end just under a century of literary censorship. The… Read more »
Drone delivery service would really like you to consider paying for your next textbook
In a last-ditch attempt to compete with online piracy, a new textbook rental service in Australia is planning to roll out delivery drones bring textbooks to students in as little… Read more »
Daily Mail’s manufactured outrage prompts retailers to jettison self-published erotica
If there’s one thing the UK hasn’t seen enough of recently, it’s wide-ranging censorship based on the outrage of its pearl-clutching minority. A major victory was won in the war… Read more »
Ten highlights from David Bowie’s reading list (set to David Bowie’s music)
David Bowie’s 100-book list is already getting extensive praise for its breadth, but in case you don’t have time to read them all here are a few select pairings for… Read more »
Apple patents technology that will allow authors to sign ebooks
Digital reading is poised to get a little more personal with the news that Apple is planning a system to allow authors to sign ebooks. A patent was filed on… Read more »
Ladies, looks are everything
Dear authoresses, In case you missed The New Yorker’s gentle reminder last Friday, it would behoove you to keep in mind that, beyond your ability to weave a delicate sentence… Read more »
North Carolina School District bans Invisible Man
This week in irony: A school board in North Carolina has decided to erase Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man from its reading lists and library shelves following a parental complaint which… Read more »
Sushmita Banerjee, Indian writer who defied the Taliban, killed in Afghanistan
Sushmita Banerjee, an Indian writer living in Afghanistan, was killed last week by suspected Taliban militants who took her from her home in Paktika Province, and shot her more than… Read more »