LeVar Burton Named Inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion By John Maher |
LeVar Burton, the actor and longtime host of
Reading Rainbow, has been named the inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion, a new annual commendation that will recognize devoted literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation said in a release. Burton will be honored in a virtual celebration on May 10, when this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award winner its 40th will be announced.
“I come from a family for whom service to others is the highest possible calling,” Burton said. “Whatever efforts I have made toward advancing the cause of literacy, give honor to my mother, Erma Gene Christian, my first teacher and from whom I have inherited my love for books and reading. As we move forward out of a time when alternative facts and mendacious propaganda shaped public opinion, the work you do through the PEN/Faulkner Award, a
The other books to make the list:
“Bestiary” by K-Ming Chang
“Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear” by Matthew Salesses
“The Knockout Queen” by Rufi Thorpe
“Mother Daughter Widow Wife” by Robin Wasserman
“Nine Shiny Objects” by Brian Castleberry
“The Office of Historical Corrections” by Danielle Evans
“Scattered Lights” by Steve Wiegenstein
“Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi
“These extraordinary times have called forth extraordinary art,” said Louis Bayard, PEN/Faulkner’s Awards committee chair, “and the 10 titles chosen for our longlist are a powerful reminder that fiction is as essential as ever.”
This year’s judges Charles Finch, Bernice L. McFadden, and Alexi Zentner considered more than 400 novels and short story collections published in 2020. The judges will choose five finalists from the longlist in March, with the winner announced in April.
Bestiary by K-Ming Chang (One World), and
The prize “honors the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year.” This year’s judges are Charles Finch, Bernice L. McFadden, and Alexi Zentner.
Five finalists will be selected in March and the winner will be announced in April. The winner will receive $15,000 and finalists will each receive $5,000.
For more information, including the complete longlist, see the PEN/Faulkner website.
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Courtney Maum and Matthew Salesses Have Some Craft Advice for You By Rachel Krantz | Jan 07, 2021
Every so often, a book comes along that feels like an act of charity directed straight at the heart. As a debut author awaiting the publication of my first book,
Anything But Monogamy (Harmony), for me, there were two recent books about the craft of writing that felt that way, and both were published by Catapult: Courtney Maum’s funny and honest guide
(January 2021).
Maum’s guide offers debut and aspiring authors the kind of blunt truths that even an agent or editor might be hesitant to disclose. To achieve this level of candor, Maum interviewed many insiders anonymously while employing a funny and practical tone. Salesses’s book, like Maum’s, should be considered required reading for any writer or editor. Its first part is an extremely helpful dissection of implicit biases in traditional Western “rules” of craft and structure; its second half i