What Does It Mean For Writing To Be “Great”?

Never regret a day in your life.

Good days give you happiness.

Bad days give you experience.

The worst days give lessons.

The best days give you memories.

You cannot have the good without bad,

Remember that …

King Charles and Queen Camilla land in Sydney for royal visit  

Could it be that the story of money is the story of humanity itself, from 18,000 BC to the present? Not exactly... more »

What Does It Mean For Writing To Be “Great”?

The Swedish Academy is not here to tell you what writers you might like. Greatness is not the same as popularity. It may even be the opposite of popularity... Great writers are the ones who matter whether you read them or not. - The New York Times

Houellebecq’s tips for writers: Develop in yourself a profound resentment; ruin your life, but not by much; alcohol will help... more »

Weird nonfiction has roots in the work of Welles and Borges. But its natural home is the internet, amid disinformation and pissant humor... more »

Nobel Literature Win Demonstrates Importance Of Small Presses

South Korean writer Han Kang's win as the 2024 Nobel Literature laureate is a triumph not only for Korean literature but also a reminder of the huge reach and influence of small press publishing, which takes on so much of the heavy work of introducing literature in translation to a wider audience. - The Guardian

How The Nobel Literature Prize Keeps Getting It Right

The fact that the Academy has alighted on a deserving, interesting winner of the prize continues to be strange and miraculous, even if the twenty-first century has had far more hits than misses, many more recipients in the Doris Lessing zone—i.e., timeless—rather than the Rudyard Kipling zone—i.e., timeful (pejorative). - The New Republic

Ideology has been likened to halitosis. It’s “what the other person has.” Fun line, but does it explain ideology?... more »

What constitutes a writer’s space? A desk or office or cafe, sure, but also an inner region of the mind — a sacred aura... more »Remember that …

       Clemens Meyer -- sore, sore loser

       The Q & A at Der Spiegel is paywalled, so I haven't been able to access it, but various German publications have the highlights: Clemens Meyer was apparently ... disappointed that his 1000-page novel, Die Projektoren, shortlisted for the German Book Prize, did not win -- and he was eager to vent some more; see, for example, the report in the Frankfurter Rundschau. (Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir ? by Martina Hefter took the prize; see my recent mention.) 
       Yes, Meyer apparently stormed out of the ceremony when he wasn't announced as the winner, cursing the jurors as: 'you damned wankers' ("ihr verdammten Wichser"). He was particularly upset that he won't enjoy the financial upside of taking the prize:

„Dann hätte ich 100.000 neue Leser und könnte meine Schulden bezahlen“, sagte er und ergänzte: „Ich muss eine Scheidung finanzieren und habe 35.000 Euro Steuerschulden angehäuft.“

["Then I would have 100,000 new readers and could pay off my debts," he said, and added: "I have to finance a divorce and have accumulated 35,000 euros in tax debts."]

       Not a great look. And, hey, maybe Hefter has back taxes or student loans to pay off too, right ?