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The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights – Literary Hub

The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

Gioia Woods Reflects on the Life of a Literary Icon, Via The University of Nevada Press

By Gioia Woods, February 6, 2026

I discovered City Lights Bookstore in 1983. I was a high school sophomore in east Los Angeles on a campus so diverse that you would be just as likely to hear kids speaking Spanish or Vietnamese as you would English. Most of us were the children or grandchildren of immigrants. The school was poorly funded, riven by gang violence, and deeply segregated by race and class. We read Hemingway and Shakespeare in English class, literature that meant little to us. It was the place I fell in love with language.

My drama teacher Mr. Heap surfed every morning just south of the nuclear plant at San Onofre before coming to work. We’d see him in the upper parking lot before class, settling his board in his VW van and balancing stacks of books in his arms to bring into class.

One day among the stacks on his desk I noticed a staple-bound, signed copy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 1979 poem “The Old Italians Dying.” I picked it up and was shocked to see people I recognized. In a poem! There they were, “the old Italians in faded felt hats… the old Italians in their black high button shoes… the old ones with gnarled hands / and wild eyebrows / the ones with the baggy pants with both belt & suspenders… the ones who loved Mussolini / the old fascists.” My own nonno was a fascist, a Mussolini man, a pilot who had been shot from the sky while flying an imperial mission over Ethiopia. As a kid I was perennially embarrassed by him, and by my immigrant mom. Mama said “engine fire” instead of “fire engine” and kept a pot of minestrone on the stove as an afterschool snack.

This singular act of reading the “Old Italians” produced in me what I now understand (thanks to literature scholar Derek Attridge) as an event that moved me “beyond the possibilities pre-programmed by a culture’s norms.”

I asked Mr. Heap about this guy Ferlinghetti. He owns a bookstore in San Francisco, Heap said. And that was it. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I made the first pilgrimage to City Lights Bookstore.

Decades later, in June 2015, I met Lawrence Ferlinghetti in his North Beach walkup. At his kitchen table he recalled a Pier Paolo Pasolini tribute reading in Ostia where the crowd was shouting for minestrone. I read some of his mail out loud to him (his sight was significantly diminished), mostly from journal editors requesting reprint permissions for his paintings. Before I left, I helped him roast a chicken he’d prepped for dinner. He was fretting over his new oven and an NPR interview he’d just recorded. The next day I asked him about the interview and the chicken: “The chicken turned out just right,” he responded, “nice and juicy… The NPR interview was cut to the bone, not much left to it.”

How could a short interview possibly capture Ferlinghetti’s capacious curiosity and commitment to literary activism? As the co-founder of what may be the most famous independent bookstore in the country, how could an interview fully describe the impact of his work and the ongoing, vibrant impact of the institution he helped establish?

City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Ferlinghetti was an orphaned child of immigrants, a self-proclaimed anarchopacifist, and a GI-Bill funded doctoral student at the Sorbonne. From his arrival in San Francisco in 1951 to his death on February 22, 2021, he was a poet, painter, critic, editor, activist, translator, and business owner. He was one of the most important public intellectuals of his day, an uncompromising champion for literature’s power, freedom of expression, and the necessity of both to democracy.

Even as our civic institutions suffer, independent bookstores like City Lights have become stronger. And we need them now, more than ever. Universities are under threat of government interference, book banning has reached unprecedented levels, journalists and artists and media outlets and attorneys are being punished, silenced, and doxed, and dissent everywhere is being criminalized.

How, against all odds, has City Lights managed to remain a vital symbol of literary dissent and free speech? How, after more than seventy years, has City Lights survived economic and industry changes? How, decade after decade, has it managed to respond to the forces that threaten to silence us? How, decade after decade, did it confront the Cold War, the suppression of civil rights, various ecological crises, American intervention in Latin America, the AIDS epidemic, mass incarceration, consumer capitalism, and the global rise in tyranny? These are the questions I take up in my book City Lights: Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Biography of a Bookstore. 

The bookshop was co-founded in 1953 by Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin. Martin was the son of an assassinated Italian labor organizer. He worked part-time as a sociology instructor while editing a little magazine called City Lights. Martin had recently published three poems by a fellow named Lawrence Ferling. Ferlinghetti, who had not yet adopted his immigrant father’s original name, was an aspiring painter, poet, and freelance art critic.

With a handshake and a $1,000 investment, City Lights became the first all-paperback bookstore in the country. Stocking only paperbacks was a radical choice. Bookstores were still, in many communities, elite institutions carrying hardbound books for wealthy customers. “One of the original ideas of the store,” Ferlinghetti explained, “was for it not to be an up-tight place, but a center for the intellectual community, to be non-affiliated… We were open seven days a week till midnight, and we literally could not close our doors at closing time. We seemed to be responding to a deeply felt need.” City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Martin left San Francisco in 1955, and Ferlinghetti launched City Lights Press and its signature Pocket Poets Series. His own Pictures of the Gone World became number one in the series. It was not until 1957 when he published Number Four, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems that Ferlinghetti began making a name for himself as a canny editor, courageous publisher, and fiercely independent advocate of freedom of expression.

The results of the subsequent Howl obscenity trial are well known: San Francisco Ninth Circuit Judge Clayton Horn ruled that the poem, despite its crude language and allusions to homosexuality, possessed “redeeming social importance.” Judge Horn wrote,

The first part of “Howl” presents a picture of a nightmare world; the second part is an indictment of those elements in modern society destructive of the best qualities of human nature; such elements are predominantly identified as materialism, conformity, and mechanization leading toward war.

As a poet, publisher, and public intellectual, Ferlinghetti spent the rest of his career resisting the very torments Judge Horn said haunted the post-war world.

True to its founding fight over censorship and book banning, the institution remains a bastion dedicated to the transformative power of the book. When she accepted the National Book Critics Circle Toni Morrison for Achievement Award on behalf of City Lights in 2022, executive editor Elaine Katzenberger described a current “atmosphere of intimidation and the attempt to control what we are able to read.” Katzenberger invoked City Lights’ history as well as its ongoing commitment to freedom of expression: “[T]his is not the first time that those who seek power have attempted to gain it by limiting access to knowledge and ideas.”

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights – Literary Hub

The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

Gioia Woods Reflects on the Life of a Literary Icon, Via The University of Nevada Press

By Gioia Woods, February 6, 2026

I discovered City Lights Bookstore in 1983. I was a high school sophomore in east Los Angeles on a campus so diverse that you would be just as likely to hear kids speaking Spanish or Vietnamese as you would English. Most of us were the children or grandchildren of immigrants. The school was poorly funded, riven by gang violence, and deeply segregated by race and class. We read Hemingway and Shakespeare in English class, literature that meant little to us. It was the place I fell in love with language.

My drama teacher Mr. Heap surfed every morning just south of the nuclear plant at San Onofre before coming to work. We’d see him in the upper parking lot before class, settling his board in his VW van and balancing stacks of books in his arms to bring into class.

One day among the stacks on his desk I noticed a staple-bound, signed copy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 1979 poem “The Old Italians Dying.” I picked it up and was shocked to see people I recognized. In a poem! There they were, “the old Italians in faded felt hats… the old Italians in their black high button shoes… the old ones with gnarled hands / and wild eyebrows / the ones with the baggy pants with both belt & suspenders… the ones who loved Mussolini / the old fascists.” My own nonno was a fascist, a Mussolini man, a pilot who had been shot from the sky while flying an imperial mission over Ethiopia. As a kid I was perennially embarrassed by him, and by my immigrant mom. Mama said “engine fire” instead of “fire engine” and kept a pot of minestrone on the stove as an afterschool snack.

This singular act of reading the “Old Italians” produced in me what I now understand (thanks to literature scholar Derek Attridge) as an event that moved me “beyond the possibilities pre-programmed by a culture’s norms.”

I asked Mr. Heap about this guy Ferlinghetti. He owns a bookstore in San Francisco, Heap said. And that was it. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I made the first pilgrimage to City Lights Bookstore.

Decades later, in June 2015, I met Lawrence Ferlinghetti in his North Beach walkup. At his kitchen table he recalled a Pier Paolo Pasolini tribute reading in Ostia where the crowd was shouting for minestrone. I read some of his mail out loud to him (his sight was significantly diminished), mostly from journal editors requesting reprint permissions for his paintings. Before I left, I helped him roast a chicken he’d prepped for dinner. He was fretting over his new oven and an NPR interview he’d just recorded. The next day I asked him about the interview and the chicken: “The chicken turned out just right,” he responded, “nice and juicy… The NPR interview was cut to the bone, not much left to it.”

How could a short interview possibly capture Ferlinghetti’s capacious curiosity and commitment to literary activism? As the co-founder of what may be the most famous independent bookstore in the country, how could an interview fully describe the impact of his work and the ongoing, vibrant impact of the institution he helped establish?

City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Ferlinghetti was an orphaned child of immigrants, a self-proclaimed anarchopacifist, and a GI-Bill funded doctoral student at the Sorbonne. From his arrival in San Francisco in 1951 to his death on February 22, 2021, he was a poet, painter, critic, editor, activist, translator, and business owner. He was one of the most important public intellectuals of his day, an uncompromising champion for literature’s power, freedom of expression, and the necessity of both to democracy.

Even as our civic institutions suffer, independent bookstores like City Lights have become stronger. And we need them now, more than ever. Universities are under threat of government interference, book banning has reached unprecedented levels, journalists and artists and media outlets and attorneys are being punished, silenced, and doxed, and dissent everywhere is being criminalized.

How, against all odds, has City Lights managed to remain a vital symbol of literary dissent and free speech? How, after more than seventy years, has City Lights survived economic and industry changes? How, decade after decade, has it managed to respond to the forces that threaten to silence us? How, decade after decade, did it confront the Cold War, the suppression of civil rights, various ecological crises, American intervention in Latin America, the AIDS epidemic, mass incarceration, consumer capitalism, and the global rise in tyranny? These are the questions I take up in my book City Lights: Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Biography of a Bookstore. 

The bookshop was co-founded in 1953 by Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin. Martin was the son of an assassinated Italian labor organizer. He worked part-time as a sociology instructor while editing a little magazine called City Lights. Martin had recently published three poems by a fellow named Lawrence Ferling. Ferlinghetti, who had not yet adopted his immigrant father’s original name, was an aspiring painter, poet, and freelance art critic.

With a handshake and a $1,000 investment, City Lights became the first all-paperback bookstore in the country. Stocking only paperbacks was a radical choice. Bookstores were still, in many communities, elite institutions carrying hardbound books for wealthy customers. “One of the original ideas of the store,” Ferlinghetti explained, “was for it not to be an up-tight place, but a center for the intellectual community, to be non-affiliated… We were open seven days a week till midnight, and we literally could not close our doors at closing time. We seemed to be responding to a deeply felt need.” City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Martin left San Francisco in 1955, and Ferlinghetti launched City Lights Press and its signature Pocket Poets Series. His own Pictures of the Gone World became number one in the series. It was not until 1957 when he published Number Four, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems that Ferlinghetti began making a name for himself as a canny editor, courageous publisher, and fiercely independent advocate of freedom of expression.

The results of the subsequent Howl obscenity trial are well known: San Francisco Ninth Circuit Judge Clayton Horn ruled that the poem, despite its crude language and allusions to homosexuality, possessed “redeeming social importance.” Judge Horn wrote,

The first part of “Howl” presents a picture of a nightmare world; the second part is an indictment of those elements in modern society destructive of the best qualities of human nature; such elements are predominantly identified as materialism, conformity, and mechanization leading toward war.

As a poet, publisher, and public intellectual, Ferlinghetti spent the rest of his career resisting the very torments Judge Horn said haunted the post-war world.

True to its founding fight over censorship and book banning, the institution remains a bastion dedicated to the transformative power of the book. When she accepted the National Book Critics Circle Toni Morrison for Achievement Award on behalf of City Lights in 2022, executive editor Elaine Katzenberger described a current “atmosphere of intimidation and the attempt to control what we are able to read.” Katzenberger invoked City Lights’ history as well as its ongoing commitment to freedom of expression: “[T]his is not the first time that those who seek power have attempted to gain it by limiting access to knowledge and ideas.”

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights – Literary Hub

The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

Gioia Woods Reflects on the Life of a Literary Icon, Via The University of Nevada Press

By Gioia Woods, February 6, 2026

I discovered City Lights Bookstore in 1983. I was a high school sophomore in east Los Angeles on a campus so diverse that you would be just as likely to hear kids speaking Spanish or Vietnamese as you would English. Most of us were the children or grandchildren of immigrants. The school was poorly funded, riven by gang violence, and deeply segregated by race and class. We read Hemingway and Shakespeare in English class, literature that meant little to us. It was the place I fell in love with language.

My drama teacher Mr. Heap surfed every morning just south of the nuclear plant at San Onofre before coming to work. We’d see him in the upper parking lot before class, settling his board in his VW van and balancing stacks of books in his arms to bring into class.

One day among the stacks on his desk I noticed a staple-bound, signed copy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 1979 poem “The Old Italians Dying.” I picked it up and was shocked to see people I recognized. In a poem! There they were, “the old Italians in faded felt hats… the old Italians in their black high button shoes… the old ones with gnarled hands / and wild eyebrows / the ones with the baggy pants with both belt & suspenders… the ones who loved Mussolini / the old fascists.” My own nonno was a fascist, a Mussolini man, a pilot who had been shot from the sky while flying an imperial mission over Ethiopia. As a kid I was perennially embarrassed by him, and by my immigrant mom. Mama said “engine fire” instead of “fire engine” and kept a pot of minestrone on the stove as an afterschool snack.

This singular act of reading the “Old Italians” produced in me what I now understand (thanks to literature scholar Derek Attridge) as an event that moved me “beyond the possibilities pre-programmed by a culture’s norms.”

I asked Mr. Heap about this guy Ferlinghetti. He owns a bookstore in San Francisco, Heap said. And that was it. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I made the first pilgrimage to City Lights Bookstore.

Decades later, in June 2015, I met Lawrence Ferlinghetti in his North Beach walkup. At his kitchen table he recalled a Pier Paolo Pasolini tribute reading in Ostia where the crowd was shouting for minestrone. I read some of his mail out loud to him (his sight was significantly diminished), mostly from journal editors requesting reprint permissions for his paintings. Before I left, I helped him roast a chicken he’d prepped for dinner. He was fretting over his new oven and an NPR interview he’d just recorded. The next day I asked him about the interview and the chicken: “The chicken turned out just right,” he responded, “nice and juicy… The NPR interview was cut to the bone, not much left to it.”

How could a short interview possibly capture Ferlinghetti’s capacious curiosity and commitment to literary activism? As the co-founder of what may be the most famous independent bookstore in the country, how could an interview fully describe the impact of his work and the ongoing, vibrant impact of the institution he helped establish?

City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Ferlinghetti was an orphaned child of immigrants, a self-proclaimed anarchopacifist, and a GI-Bill funded doctoral student at the Sorbonne. From his arrival in San Francisco in 1951 to his death on February 22, 2021, he was a poet, painter, critic, editor, activist, translator, and business owner. He was one of the most important public intellectuals of his day, an uncompromising champion for literature’s power, freedom of expression, and the necessity of both to democracy.

Even as our civic institutions suffer, independent bookstores like City Lights have become stronger. And we need them now, more than ever. Universities are under threat of government interference, book banning has reached unprecedented levels, journalists and artists and media outlets and attorneys are being punished, silenced, and doxed, and dissent everywhere is being criminalized.

How, against all odds, has City Lights managed to remain a vital symbol of literary dissent and free speech? How, after more than seventy years, has City Lights survived economic and industry changes? How, decade after decade, has it managed to respond to the forces that threaten to silence us? How, decade after decade, did it confront the Cold War, the suppression of civil rights, various ecological crises, American intervention in Latin America, the AIDS epidemic, mass incarceration, consumer capitalism, and the global rise in tyranny? These are the questions I take up in my book City Lights: Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Biography of a Bookstore. 

The bookshop was co-founded in 1953 by Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin. Martin was the son of an assassinated Italian labor organizer. He worked part-time as a sociology instructor while editing a little magazine called City Lights. Martin had recently published three poems by a fellow named Lawrence Ferling. Ferlinghetti, who had not yet adopted his immigrant father’s original name, was an aspiring painter, poet, and freelance art critic.

With a handshake and a $1,000 investment, City Lights became the first all-paperback bookstore in the country. Stocking only paperbacks was a radical choice. Bookstores were still, in many communities, elite institutions carrying hardbound books for wealthy customers. “One of the original ideas of the store,” Ferlinghetti explained, “was for it not to be an up-tight place, but a center for the intellectual community, to be non-affiliated… We were open seven days a week till midnight, and we literally could not close our doors at closing time. We seemed to be responding to a deeply felt need.” City Lights helped democratize reading; it promoted what Attridge describes as an “accumulation of individual acts of reading and responding” which causes “large cultural shifts.”

Martin left San Francisco in 1955, and Ferlinghetti launched City Lights Press and its signature Pocket Poets Series. His own Pictures of the Gone World became number one in the series. It was not until 1957 when he published Number Four, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems that Ferlinghetti began making a name for himself as a canny editor, courageous publisher, and fiercely independent advocate of freedom of expression.

The results of the subsequent Howl obscenity trial are well known: San Francisco Ninth Circuit Judge Clayton Horn ruled that the poem, despite its crude language and allusions to homosexuality, possessed “redeeming social importance.” Judge Horn wrote,

The first part of “Howl” presents a picture of a nightmare world; the second part is an indictment of those elements in modern society destructive of the best qualities of human nature; such elements are predominantly identified as materialism, conformity, and mechanization leading toward war.

As a poet, publisher, and public intellectual, Ferlinghetti spent the rest of his career resisting the very torments Judge Horn said haunted the post-war world.

True to its founding fight over censorship and book banning, the institution remains a bastion dedicated to the transformative power of the book. When she accepted the National Book Critics Circle Toni Morrison for Achievement Award on behalf of City Lights in 2022, executive editor Elaine Katzenberger described a current “atmosphere of intimidation and the attempt to control what we are able to read.” Katzenberger invoked City Lights’ history as well as its ongoing commitment to freedom of expression: “[T]his is not the first time that those who seek power have attempted to gain it by limiting access to knowledge and ideas.”

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Radical Power of a Bookstore: On Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage – Literary Hub

The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

By Brittany Allen, February 4, 2026

Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.”

As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic reset.” Citing flagging subscriptions and grim growth, Murray announced that the Post would be laying off a third of its workforce, and sundowning several popular sections—including the sports desk, the daily news podcast, most of the “international reporting operation,” some local coverage, and the books desk.

Going forward, the paper will pivot to prioritizing news concerning “national security,” and topics like science, health, medicine, technology, climate and business.

The Post’s book coverage—chiefly via the beloved Book World section—has long been a gold standard in the industry. Critics like John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Jacob Brogan, Michael Dirda, and Ron Charles have shaped the literary landscape. For decades, in some cases.

Book World originated in the aftermath of Watergate. In a fond 2022 reflection, editor Dirda described the section’s early days, during which he nurtured and commissioned many literary greats—like the polymath Guy Davenport, the novelist Angela Carter, and David Remnick, who’d go on to edit The New Yorker.

It’s critical voices like these who will be first affected by the section’s sunsetting. But authors and publishers should also worry about what the end of Book World means for national press.

At least Charles, who learned of his firing while eating “eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that the Post sent to celebrate [his] 20th anniversary at the paper,” is determined not to go gentle. He is starting a Substack.

In his first missive to readers, the unleashed critic quipped: “Honestly, the worst aspect of this impoverishing, family-wrecking, confidence-crushing ordeal is that it will inspire David Brooks to write an essay about the hubris of American media.”

Meanwhile, the paper’s long term strategy remains unclear. As the Times reported, the Post is “far from alone” in the battle to stay relevant in a downward-trending media ecosystem whose traffic is increasingly threatened by AI summaries. But it is possibly the only outlet where the bottom line is meaningless, given the owner is richer than Satan.

Bezos, whose personal wealth is estimated at $261 billion, could not be reached for comment about any of the cuts his team architected.

Post employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through mid-April, though “they will not be required to work.” Health insurance coverage will continue for six months.

A union-led protest to denounce the cuts is scheduled for tomorrow.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » The Washington Post is gutting its books coverage.

Literary Hub – Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

E. Bok Lee on the Courage the of Alex Pretti and His Fellow Minnesotans

By Ed Bok Lee, January 29, 2026

So far this year, in Minneapolis, there have been three homicides, two of them by ICE.

Eat Street in the Whittier neighborhood, where Alex Pretti was gunned down Saturday morning, is historically the closest thing to a “Chinatown” in the city, though really, it’s much more diverse. Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican, Greek, German, Irish, East African, Mediterranean, Malaysian, Tibetan, etc. restaurants, grocers, and other businesses reflect some of the best aspects of Minneapolis, on many levels of community—the rawness of its arts, music, and culture; the diversity and hungry American bustle; the high number of transitional housing units, shelters, churches, non-profit agencies.

As one the most diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis, Whittier is home to some 25 languages from 30 countries. For a good decade, I lived, worked, and had a writing office all right on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue).

If one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence.

You could say the future lives in Whittier. Literally, aside from being one of the most racially and economically diverse, it’s a Midwestern neighborhood with one of the highest populations of folks 18 to 34 in the city. On the night after Alex Pretti’s brutal and brutalizing killing, long into night, amid -9 F cold (with a -20 F windchill), many hundreds of folks (coming and going), mostly zillennials, kept vigil late into the night, setting up tables for hot soup and coffee, chanting, holding space for Mr. Pretti’s and one another’s spirits, and keeping shops open. Resale, a women-owned, LGBTQ-friendly curated secondhand clothing boutique, stayed open so the vigil keepers could sit and thaw, or get a free, extra pair of tube socks, or hand warmers, or bottles of water. Meanwhile, next door at Glam Doll Donuts, right across the street from the scene of the killing, mourners warmed up with free coffee and hot chocolate.

For the hour I could lay a flower down and pay my respects at the memorial site on the sidewalk in front of New American Development Center before my toes in my heavy boots went numb, our call and response never ceased:

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”/“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”

Near the memorial site of hundreds of flower bouquets and candles, a few controlled fires raged, warming fingers, noses, and lips. The mood was somber, glowing, and peaceful. But if one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence. Reverence for Mr. Pretti’s intentions and actions. Reverence for all the others in recent—and distant—memory gunned down by the law, or, in one recent murder of the state’s DFL Speaker of the House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman and her husband, gunned down in their pajamas this past summer by someone impersonating the law.

Amid the call and response on Eat Street last night, many names began to mix in my head.

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”
“Say her name!”/“Renee Good!”
“Say her name!”/“Melissa Hortman!”
“Say his name!”/“George Floyd!”
“Say his name!”/“Amir Locke!”
“Say his name!”/“Daunte Wright!”
“Say his name!”/“Philando Castile!”
“Say his name!”/“Jamar Clark!”
“Say his name!”/“Fong Lee!”

And the list goes on.

Yes, it’s true. Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis—in recent years, the nation’s epicenter of violence—is deeply traumatized. There are layers and layers of trauma here. From the very beginning with the government’s brutal policies toward Indigenous peoples, to Dred Scott, to a bloody history of labor crackdowns, to vigorous redlining, to uncommonly high Korean adoptee and Southeast Asian, Somali, and other refugee populations leading to anti-Asian and anti-African sentiments, to being a sanctuary city, to some of the highest levels of racial, economic, and educational segregation in the US to this day, there is no shortage of collective traumas to reckon with.

Since Covid, the traumas have outpaced many of our personal capacities to productively process this history and our present society. To this day, you see and feel it in the still-shuttered storefronts in the once lively Uptown area, and well beyond; the still-closed, burnt-down Third Precinct Police Station; the ongoing, ever-shifting human encampments; the many struggling restaurants; the long carlines outside at the food shelves; the curtains drawn in conspicuously ICE-monitored neighborhoods; and, yes, the shuttered day cares and other services, some of which are, or were, as is repeated over and over by the right, run by immigrant and refugee business people currently under investigation for wide-scale fraud by the government.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Literary Hub – Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

E. Bok Lee on the Courage the of Alex Pretti and His Fellow Minnesotans

By Ed Bok Lee, January 29, 2026

So far this year, in Minneapolis, there have been three homicides, two of them by ICE.

Eat Street in the Whittier neighborhood, where Alex Pretti was gunned down Saturday morning, is historically the closest thing to a “Chinatown” in the city, though really, it’s much more diverse. Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican, Greek, German, Irish, East African, Mediterranean, Malaysian, Tibetan, etc. restaurants, grocers, and other businesses reflect some of the best aspects of Minneapolis, on many levels of community—the rawness of its arts, music, and culture; the diversity and hungry American bustle; the high number of transitional housing units, shelters, churches, non-profit agencies.

As one the most diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis, Whittier is home to some 25 languages from 30 countries. For a good decade, I lived, worked, and had a writing office all right on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue).

If one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence.

You could say the future lives in Whittier. Literally, aside from being one of the most racially and economically diverse, it’s a Midwestern neighborhood with one of the highest populations of folks 18 to 34 in the city. On the night after Alex Pretti’s brutal and brutalizing killing, long into night, amid -9 F cold (with a -20 F windchill), many hundreds of folks (coming and going), mostly zillennials, kept vigil late into the night, setting up tables for hot soup and coffee, chanting, holding space for Mr. Pretti’s and one another’s spirits, and keeping shops open. Resale, a women-owned, LGBTQ-friendly curated secondhand clothing boutique, stayed open so the vigil keepers could sit and thaw, or get a free, extra pair of tube socks, or hand warmers, or bottles of water. Meanwhile, next door at Glam Doll Donuts, right across the street from the scene of the killing, mourners warmed up with free coffee and hot chocolate.

For the hour I could lay a flower down and pay my respects at the memorial site on the sidewalk in front of New American Development Center before my toes in my heavy boots went numb, our call and response never ceased:

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”/“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”

Near the memorial site of hundreds of flower bouquets and candles, a few controlled fires raged, warming fingers, noses, and lips. The mood was somber, glowing, and peaceful. But if one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence. Reverence for Mr. Pretti’s intentions and actions. Reverence for all the others in recent—and distant—memory gunned down by the law, or, in one recent murder of the state’s DFL Speaker of the House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman and her husband, gunned down in their pajamas this past summer by someone impersonating the law.

Amid the call and response on Eat Street last night, many names began to mix in my head.

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”
“Say her name!”/“Renee Good!”
“Say her name!”/“Melissa Hortman!”
“Say his name!”/“George Floyd!”
“Say his name!”/“Amir Locke!”
“Say his name!”/“Daunte Wright!”
“Say his name!”/“Philando Castile!”
“Say his name!”/“Jamar Clark!”
“Say his name!”/“Fong Lee!”

And the list goes on.

Yes, it’s true. Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis—in recent years, the nation’s epicenter of violence—is deeply traumatized. There are layers and layers of trauma here. From the very beginning with the government’s brutal policies toward Indigenous peoples, to Dred Scott, to a bloody history of labor crackdowns, to vigorous redlining, to uncommonly high Korean adoptee and Southeast Asian, Somali, and other refugee populations leading to anti-Asian and anti-African sentiments, to being a sanctuary city, to some of the highest levels of racial, economic, and educational segregation in the US to this day, there is no shortage of collective traumas to reckon with.

Since Covid, the traumas have outpaced many of our personal capacities to productively process this history and our present society. To this day, you see and feel it in the still-shuttered storefronts in the once lively Uptown area, and well beyond; the still-closed, burnt-down Third Precinct Police Station; the ongoing, ever-shifting human encampments; the many struggling restaurants; the long carlines outside at the food shelves; the curtains drawn in conspicuously ICE-monitored neighborhoods; and, yes, the shuttered day cares and other services, some of which are, or were, as is repeated over and over by the right, run by immigrant and refugee business people currently under investigation for wide-scale fraud by the government.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Literary Hub – Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

E. Bok Lee on the Courage the of Alex Pretti and His Fellow Minnesotans

By Ed Bok Lee, January 29, 2026

So far this year, in Minneapolis, there have been three homicides, two of them by ICE.

Eat Street in the Whittier neighborhood, where Alex Pretti was gunned down Saturday morning, is historically the closest thing to a “Chinatown” in the city, though really, it’s much more diverse. Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican, Greek, German, Irish, East African, Mediterranean, Malaysian, Tibetan, etc. restaurants, grocers, and other businesses reflect some of the best aspects of Minneapolis, on many levels of community—the rawness of its arts, music, and culture; the diversity and hungry American bustle; the high number of transitional housing units, shelters, churches, non-profit agencies.

As one the most diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis, Whittier is home to some 25 languages from 30 countries. For a good decade, I lived, worked, and had a writing office all right on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue).

If one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence.

You could say the future lives in Whittier. Literally, aside from being one of the most racially and economically diverse, it’s a Midwestern neighborhood with one of the highest populations of folks 18 to 34 in the city. On the night after Alex Pretti’s brutal and brutalizing killing, long into night, amid -9 F cold (with a -20 F windchill), many hundreds of folks (coming and going), mostly zillennials, kept vigil late into the night, setting up tables for hot soup and coffee, chanting, holding space for Mr. Pretti’s and one another’s spirits, and keeping shops open. Resale, a women-owned, LGBTQ-friendly curated secondhand clothing boutique, stayed open so the vigil keepers could sit and thaw, or get a free, extra pair of tube socks, or hand warmers, or bottles of water. Meanwhile, next door at Glam Doll Donuts, right across the street from the scene of the killing, mourners warmed up with free coffee and hot chocolate.

For the hour I could lay a flower down and pay my respects at the memorial site on the sidewalk in front of New American Development Center before my toes in my heavy boots went numb, our call and response never ceased:

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”/“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”

Near the memorial site of hundreds of flower bouquets and candles, a few controlled fires raged, warming fingers, noses, and lips. The mood was somber, glowing, and peaceful. But if one word had to describe the feeling on this first night of the new year’s second killing by ICE in South Minneapolis, it would be this: Reverence. Reverence for Mr. Pretti’s intentions and actions. Reverence for all the others in recent—and distant—memory gunned down by the law, or, in one recent murder of the state’s DFL Speaker of the House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman and her husband, gunned down in their pajamas this past summer by someone impersonating the law.

Amid the call and response on Eat Street last night, many names began to mix in my head.

“Say his name!”/“Alex Pretti!”
“Say her name!”/“Renee Good!”
“Say her name!”/“Melissa Hortman!”
“Say his name!”/“George Floyd!”
“Say his name!”/“Amir Locke!”
“Say his name!”/“Daunte Wright!”
“Say his name!”/“Philando Castile!”
“Say his name!”/“Jamar Clark!”
“Say his name!”/“Fong Lee!”

And the list goes on.

Yes, it’s true. Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis—in recent years, the nation’s epicenter of violence—is deeply traumatized. There are layers and layers of trauma here. From the very beginning with the government’s brutal policies toward Indigenous peoples, to Dred Scott, to a bloody history of labor crackdowns, to vigorous redlining, to uncommonly high Korean adoptee and Southeast Asian, Somali, and other refugee populations leading to anti-Asian and anti-African sentiments, to being a sanctuary city, to some of the highest levels of racial, economic, and educational segregation in the US to this day, there is no shortage of collective traumas to reckon with.

Since Covid, the traumas have outpaced many of our personal capacities to productively process this history and our present society. To this day, you see and feel it in the still-shuttered storefronts in the once lively Uptown area, and well beyond; the still-closed, burnt-down Third Precinct Police Station; the ongoing, ever-shifting human encampments; the many struggling restaurants; the long carlines outside at the food shelves; the curtains drawn in conspicuously ICE-monitored neighborhoods; and, yes, the shuttered day cares and other services, some of which are, or were, as is repeated over and over by the right, run by immigrant and refugee business people currently under investigation for wide-scale fraud by the government.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » Letter From Minnesota: Finding Reverence in the Face of Brutality

Hubo un tiempo en que se creyó que #internet podía ser una plataforma para la #literatura. Pero esa #idea parece haber caído en desgracia. ¿Qué sucedió?
Escribí del asunto (y otros aledaños) en #LiteralMagazine.
https://literalmagazine.com/autopsias-de-la-escritura-en-linea/

#EscrituraCreativa #Twitter #X #tuiteratura #LiteraturaMexicana #LiteraryHub #polémica #PolémicasLiterarias #LaTempestad

🎩Literary Hub attempts to resuscitate Robert Louis Stevenson with a "critique" that's less about his life and more about selling hats. 🤦‍♂️Imagine thinking you can unlock the secrets to life and death through endless podcast prattle and style advice! 📚🔄
https://lithub.com/robert-louis-stevensons-art-of-living-and-dying/ #LiteraryHub #RobertLouisStevenson #PodcastCritique #StyleAdvice #Resuscitation #HackerNews #ngated

In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times – Literary Hub

– The Keynote address at the American Librarian’s Association annual convention, June 28th, 2025

Sarah Weinman

Sarah Weinman is the author of three nonfiction books: The Real Lolita, Scoundrel, and Without Consent (Ecco, November 2025). She is also the editor of several anthologies, most recently Evidence of Things Seen: True Crime in an Era of Reckoning. Weinman writes the Crime & Mystery column for the New York Times Book Review and lives in New York City.

Sarah Weinman on the Awesome Responsibility of the Seekers and Keepers of Truth

By Sarah Weinman, November 3, 2025

Librarians are on the front lines of history and current events, when news and change arrive at a furious clip that only quickens every day.

And without libraries, my work would simply not exist.

I was a child who read books. There’s a picture of me, not quite a year old, in a blue sailor suit and a red ribbon tied around my neck, staring avidly at a picture book. I couldn’t have been reading yet—that wouldn’t happen until I was close to three, still plenty precocious—but the devotion was already there, the calling always present. I would always prefer reading to pretty much anything, whether it was practicing piano, doing homework, playing sports, and chores.

Books were everywhere as I grew up, and I know how fortunate I was. All around the house, because my parents and older brother were avid readers, too. In the sprawling home of my great-uncle, who spent many years as a sales representative for Harper & Row—before it was absorbed into HarperCollins, now my own publisher—and the duplex townhouses of my grandparents.

Going to the library was special, though. The elementary and high school ones, staffed by people who understood what books meant to kids because they’d never lost sight of what books meant to them. The local branch, a few minutes’ drive from my home, where I borrowed countless books at every age and had my first formative experience with microfilm—and no matter how many times I have used it, I still need to ask a librarian for help. The flagship location in my hometown, with its brutalist architecture, piles of newspapers threatening to burst out of the shelves, and the abundance of books in every genre—particularly crime fiction, my first and still greatest love.

The university one, where not only could I request any book I needed for research—for class, and also my own—but I discovered the almighty power of the Lexis-Nexis database. And, when I moved to New York more than two decades ago, the magisterial 42nd Street Public Library, those twin lions beckoning visitors to climb up the stairs and partake of its treasures.

The wonder and thrill of the library hasn’t gone away for me, not at all, but it has certainly evolved in adulthood. I have come to know so many archive repositories, sifting through collections of authors, editors, and other luminaries as part of my research for three nonfiction books, several anthologies, and other journalism projects. Some of the institutions whose work I have benefited from enormously, visiting in person or requesting digital reproductions, include the Sterling Library at Yale University; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the New-York Historical; city and state archives in New Jersey, Oregon, Maryland, New York, and right here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library.

The wonder and thrill of the library hasn’t gone away for me, not at all, but it has certainly evolved in adulthood.

And it was at Columbia University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library in early 2016 that I experienced one of the most transcendent experiences of my working life. I’d arrived to look at a selection of letters by the book editor and translator Sophie Wilkins, and what I thought would be anodyne correspondence between an editor and her author—the convicted murderer Edgar Smith—turned out to be anything but, altering the scope and trajectory of the project that would become my second book, Scoundrel. The excitement I felt at reading what perhaps three others—Sophie, Edgar, and the librarian cataloging the material—that I could not express in public, but could convey in book form, was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

Libraries and archives hold so much knowledge within their sacred confines. I will never lose sight of the awesome responsibility for those tasked with curating, maintaining, and presenting the information so that researchers and authors like me can make meaning of these documents. The librarian is a seeker and keeper of truth, and that makes her a dangerous figure in the eyes of those who fear the fullest, most comprehensive, and most uncomfortable truths emerging.

The librarian is a seeker and keeper of truth, and that makes her a dangerous figure in the eyes of those who fear the fullest, most comprehensive, and most uncomfortable truths emerging.

This is as precarious a moment as I’ve experienced in my own lifetime. Book bans accelerating at a pace that beggars belief. The unjust firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. The onrush to embrace generative AI without considering the consequences. And just yesterday, a terrible Supreme Court ruling that threatens to upend what books are taught in schools and available in their libraries.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times

#Books #CarlaHayden #ChildrenReading #CurrentEvents #DangerousTimes #History #Librarian #LibrarianOfCongress #Librarians #LiteraryHub #News #TaughtInSchools

In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times – Literary Hub

In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times

Sarah Weinman on the Awesome Responsibility of the Seekers and Keepers of Truth

By Sarah Weinman,November 3, 2025

Librarians are on the front lines of history and current events, when news and change arrive at a furious clip that only quickens every day.

And without libraries, my work would simply not exist.

I was a child who read books. There’s a picture of me, not quite a year old, in a blue sailor suit and a red ribbon tied around my neck, staring avidly at a picture book. I couldn’t have been reading yet—that wouldn’t happen until I was close to three, still plenty precocious—but the devotion was already there, the calling always present. I would always prefer reading to pretty much anything, whether it was practicing piano, doing homework, playing sports, and chores.

Books were everywhere as I grew up, and I know how fortunate I was. All around the house, because my parents and older brother were avid readers, too. In the sprawling home of my great-uncle, who spent many years as a sales representative for Harper & Row—before it was absorbed into HarperCollins, now my own publisher—and the duplex townhouses of my grandparents.

Going to the library was special, though. The elementary and high school ones, staffed by people who understood what books meant to kids because they’d never lost sight of what books meant to them. The local branch, a few minutes’ drive from my home, where I borrowed countless books at every age and had my first formative experience with microfilm—and no matter how many times I have used it, I still need to ask a librarian for help. The flagship location in my hometown, with its brutalist architecture, piles of newspapers threatening to burst out of the shelves, and the abundance of books in every genre—particularly crime fiction, my first and still greatest love.

The university one, where not only could I request any book I needed for research—for class, and also my own—but I discovered the almighty power of the Lexis-Nexis database. And, when I moved to New York more than two decades ago, the magisterial 42nd Street Public Library, those twin lions beckoning visitors to climb up the stairs and partake of its treasures.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub – In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times

#History #Librarians #Libraries #LiteraryHub #Memories #News #PublicLibraries #UniversityLibraries #WorkingAsLibrarian

I have never understood why so many apps exist for websites but Cory Doctorow explains that the reason is to avoid regulation:

https://lithub.com/how-american-tech-cartels-use-apps-to-break-the-law/

#lithub #literaryhub #corydoctorow #tech #technology #regulation #monopoly #trust #antitrust #smartphones #cartels #oligarchy #scams

Literary Hub – How a 1977 Czech Writers’ Manifesto Applies to the Stark Realities of America in 2025

How a 1977 Czech Writers’ Manifesto Applies to the Stark Realities of America in 2025

What We Can All Learn From the Courage of Charter 77

By Jonny Diamond, October 10, 2025

The wonderful Czech writer Ivan Klima died this past weekend at the age of 94. Klima lived a remarkable, principled life, having survived both the Nazi occupation of Prague (he spent three years in the concentration camp at Terezin as a boy), and the post-1968 repression of the Soviet regime.

Unlike his more famous literary compatriots, Milan Kundera and Josef Skvorecky, Klima stuck around in Czechoslovakia, despite being forbidden from publishing for 20 years. For two decades Klima was consigned primarily to menial work, as a street sweeper, bricklayer, orderly… But he kept writing. And he kept resisting, through the publication of literary samizdat (his own and others), organizing clandestine salons, and helping to disseminate Charter 77, an artists’ manifesto named for the year it was written.

Editor’s Note: Charter 77 appended below.

The main authors behind Charter 77—Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, and Pavel Kohout, who were responding to the Communist government’s crackdown on free expression—generated its moral (and to some extent legal) authority by citing two UN human rights covenants signed by the Czechoslovak government in 1968, in the lead up to the so-called Prague Spring. [Spoiler: the Russians didn’t approve, sent tanks into Prague, and crushed any hope of a freer society].

The Communist regime quickly made it a crime to distribute copies of Charter 77, calling it “an anti-state, anti-socialist, and demagogic, abusive piece of writing,” and deeming its signatories to be “traitors and renegades” and “agents of imperialism.” As for how they saw themselves, the organizers behind Charter 77 were very clear about being nothing more than an ad hoc confederation of likeminded people, and certainly not an opposition party. In their own words, they were a “loose, informal, and open association of people . . . united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world.” (So, more of a shared set of beliefs than a formal organization, like, you know, antifa.)

Why is a 50-year-old writers’ manifesto worth thinking about now? First of all, the aforementioned human rights covenants, cited at length in the charter, map neatly over what we still like to think of as western democratic ideals of free expression and individual liberty. And just as Charter 77 decries the state crack-down on those ideals in 1970s Czechoslovakia, we too can cite many and obvious authoritarian crimes from the Trump administration circa 2025.

From government officials menacing late-night comedians to masked thugs landing helicopters on apartment buildings, from Democratic officials threatened with jail time by the president to the brazen flouting of the rule of law, America’s decades-long drift into authoritarianism has sped up dramatically in the last nine months. We are in the middle of an anti-democratic sea-change, and as each week passes the likes of Stephen Miller grow bolder in flouting their fascist inclinations.

But it’s never too late to fight for basic human freedoms, for the right to be who you are and to say what you want, the right to not go hungry or get shot at school or lose everything because you get sick. Luckily, Charter 77—which is but one of countless historical examples of courage in the face of tyranny—offers a clear blueprint for how we might respond to the Trump administration’s attacks on free expression and the rule of law:

With regard to the targeting of pro-Palestinian ideas on college campuses:

The right to freedom of expression, for example, guaranteed by Article 19 of the first-mentioned covenant, is in our case purely illusory. Tens of thousands of our citizens are prevented from working in their own fields for the sole reason that they hold views differing from official ones, and are discriminated against and harassed in all kinds of ways by the authorities and public organizations.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Literary Hub » How a 1977 Czech Writers’ Manifesto Applies to the Stark Realities of America in 2025

#Authoritarianism #Charter77 #Communism #Czechoslovakia #DonaldTrump #Facism #GOP #Ice #Injustice #IvanKlima #LiteraryHub #PalestinianRights #Republicans #StephenMiller

📚🥋 In a gripping saga of martial arts #mythology, Literary Hub serves up a deep dive into the riveting tale of Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's legendary #training sessions. Because if there's anything the world needed, it's another overanalyzed piece about two famous guys doing stuff together, right? 😏
https://lithub.com/when-bruce-lee-trained-with-kareem-abdul-jabbar/ #martialarts #BruceLee #KareemAbdulJabbar #LiteraryHub #HackerNews #ngated

Buon Appetito: A Reading List on Italian Food

I came to this topic as an eater first. My partner and I fell in love through food. We…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Italianfood #AdamLeithGollner #CAW #eater #FinancialTimes #GrubStreet #Italia #Italian #italiancuisine #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #JayaSaxena #JohnLast #LiteraryHub #longreads #MariannaGiusti #Noema #RachelHandler #saveur #traditionalitalianfood
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2235737/buon-appetito-a-reading-list-on-italian-food/

Buon Appetito: A Reading List on Italian Food

I came to this topic as an eater first. My partner and I fell in love through food. We…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Italianfood #AdamLeithGollner #CAW #eater #FinancialTimes #GrubStreet #Italia #Italian #italiancuisine #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #JayaSaxena #JohnLast #LiteraryHub #longreads #MariannaGiusti #Noema #RachelHandler #saveur #traditionalitalianfood
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2235737/buon-appetito-a-reading-list-on-italian-food/

Buon Appetito: A Reading List on Italian Food https://www.diningandcooking.com/2235737/buon-appetito-a-reading-list-on-italian-food/ #AdamLeithGollner #CAW #eater #FinancialTimes #GrubStreet #Italia #Italian #ItalianCuisine #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #JayaSaxena #JohnLast #LiteraryHub #longreads #MariannaGiusti #Noema #RachelHandler #saveur #TraditionalItalianFood

Buon Appetito: A Reading List on Italian Food https://www.diningandcooking.com/2235737/buon-appetito-a-reading-list-on-italian-food/ #AdamLeithGollner #CAW #eater #FinancialTimes #GrubStreet #Italia #Italian #ItalianCuisine #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #JayaSaxena #JohnLast #LiteraryHub #longreads #MariannaGiusti #Noema #RachelHandler #saveur #TraditionalItalianFood

Buon Appetito: A Reading List on Italian Food https://www.diningandcooking.com/2235737/buon-appetito-a-reading-list-on-italian-food/ #AdamLeithGollner #CAW #eater #FinancialTimes #GrubStreet #Italia #Italian #ItalianCuisine #ItalianFood #italiano #italy #JayaSaxena #JohnLast #LiteraryHub #longreads #MariannaGiusti #Noema #RachelHandler #saveur #TraditionalItalianFood

https://lithub.com/you-are-being-lied-to-about-gaza-solidarity-camps-by-university-presidents-mainstream-media-and-politicians/

#LiteraryHub

You Are Being Lied to About #GazaSolidarityCamps by University presidents, #MainstreamMedia, and Politicians

What Steven W.Thrasher saw on College Campuses

by #StevenWThrasher 10 may 2024

#FreePalestineNOW 🇵🇸 #SupportStudentsAndFacultyforPalestine
#ProtestIsNOTACrime