In our morning reading: thoughts on books by Megan Giddings and Fernanda Melchor, an interview with Alexandra Chang, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Ottessa Moshfegh, Tara Isabella Burton Nonfiction, Hilary Leichter, Megan Giddings Interviewed, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on Ottessa Moshfegh’s forthcoming novel, an interview with Hilary Leichter, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Megan Giddings, Kevin Nguyen’s Playlist, Hilary Leftwich, Revisiting “Severance,” and More
In our afternoon reading: talking books with Megan Giddings, a playlist from Kevin Nguyen, and more.
Literary Events Go Virtual in the Time of COVID-19
To be a part of the literary community over the last few weeks has involved seeing months’ worth of events rescheduled, canceled, or shifted online. In some cases, this has been due to precautions taken to prevent coronavirus infection; in others, it’s due to writers canceling book tours. The Loft’s Wordplay Festival is shifting from an in-person event to one that will take place in a host of online spaces, for instance. As writers, publishers, and event planners look out at this shifting landscape, a host of questions come to mind. If events aren’t feasible right now, are there alternatives? Are live-streamed readings and discussions the new normal when it comes to literary events? Is there a way to capture that same sense of community that the best literary events held in a physical space can accomplish?
Bodies, Costumes, and Dreams: An Interview With Megan Giddings
The stories in Megan Giddings’s chapbook Arcade Seventeen blend elements that might seem dissonant, including dream logic, body horror, the Michael Keaton/Andie MacDowell film Multiplicity. But instead, the quotidian, the obscure, and the sinister all converge, creating a memorable collection that takes the reader to a host of unexpected places. I talked with Giddings via email about the chapbook’s origins, the themes she explores in it, and what’s next for her.