Fear of professional exile has kept me from taking on certain topics. What gets lost when a writer mutes herself?
10 years of the Stella Prize
The Stella Prize is an Australian prize for a book written by a woman that is being awarded for the tenth time this year, and at ABC News Hannah Story has an extensive look at the Stella Prize 10 years on: Australian authors reflect on how the award changed their careers and the literary landscape.
David Bromwich: “The consensus on what constitutes good speech, speech that lends itself to the hygiene of the culture, has become too sure of itself
Ants could be used to sniff out cancer because they can smell disease like dogs, study suggests Daily Mail
How Carnivorous Plants Evolved Smithsonian
A spider as big as the palm of your hand could soon invade the East Coast, scientists say USA Today. On the bright side, they eat stink bugs,
Novelists on Substack
In Esquire Adrienne Westenfeld reports on "My Own Little Fiefdom": Why Some Famous Novelists Are All About Substack.
With quite a few big names already there:Substack has created a compelling case for novelists to come aboard, but the jury is still out on whether it's compelling enough to stay.
And, Westenfeld suggests:The more perfect Internet we all dream of -- one free of misinformation and abuse, one rich in community and meaningful connection -- is a reality on these novelists' Substacks.
(I occasionally check out Substack posts -- at Chartbook, for example -- but haven't really taken a closer look at any of these (or other) authors' substacks .....)
Dottotech: “Google Maps Tips and Tricks Google Maps does far more than just give us turn-by-turn directions. With Google Maps you can measure distance, measure area, look back in time with street view history. Google Maps integrates with Google Calendar and Gmail. You can share your location with family and friends using location services.”
Greater Good Magazine: “Studies are finding that isolation, stress, and uncertainty can cause forgetfulness and disorganization…The emotional costs of the pandemic aren’t helping, either. It’s clear that COVID-19 conditions have affected people’s stress levels, sleep, and mental health—especially those who don’t deal well with uncertainty. This, in turn, has affected our cognitive well-being, leading to poorer performance on tasks that require attention, memory, or decision making.
Though the worst period of the pandemic may have passed—cases and deaths are falling, and there’s no imminent danger of another shelter-in-place order—many of us are still paying that cost in the form of “brain fog.” Researchers have noted that living through the pandemic is negatively influencing people’s cognition—their focus, attention, ability to plan, and more. Though the elderly may be particularly vulnerable, many of us could be suffering some degree of brain fog in the wake of recent events. Here are some steps you can take to clear the fog away.
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BOOKSErika Krouse’s memoir Tell Me Everythingchallenges readers to dig deeper into who the person telling the story really is.
… The Bookshelf: The Joys of Used Bookstores - Public Discourse. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A used bookstore! Browsing the shelves leisurely, one discovers books one never knew one must have. Even the smell is enticing, of old paper and leather and cloth.The author seems to have the opposite experience to what I had when I read Brideshead Revisited. It was on the list of books those of us taking the course in the modern novel that fall had to read beforehand. It was the first on the list that I chose to read because I had just read Decline and Fall, one of the funniest books I had ever read. I remember pausing after reading Brideshead for about 45 minutes and saying aloud to myself: “This is the saddest book I have ever read.”
I finished and loved and still love. That said, the Sword of Honour trilogy is certainly a masterpiece.
