Amulet, a new magazine “offering a fresh perspective on spirituality, religion, and mysticism for seekers and skeptics alike” has launched; Samuel Rutter is editor in chief. The first issue is online now, with essays, poetry, and fiction by Brittany Newell, K-Ming Chang, Fady Joudah, Simon Critchley, Yasmine Seale, and more. In her essay, Sheila Heti wonders: “How to write about the ineffable for magazines—for readers who want to encounter a story?”
The Australian writer Helen Garner’s diaries will be published by Pantheon later this month. At the Paris Review, read Leslie Jamison’s introduction to the How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998: “One senses Garner doesn’t really believe in the bottom of the bag; instead, she believes in the generative understanding that she can’t ever fully understand herself. ‘What is the point of this diary?’ she asks. ‘There is always something deeper, that I don’t write, even when I think I’m saying everything.’” For more on Garner, read Audrey Wollen’s review of The Children’s Bach for Bookforum.
A. S. Hamrah’s write-up of Oscars-nominated movies is here, with assessments of Anora “(I don’t know any Brooklyn girl who would’ve got on that plane”), The Apprentice (“a failed exposé”), No Other Land (“The more of this documentation, the better”), Sing Sing (“It surprised me that Sing Sing is the same story as Conclave”), and more. Hamrah also pays tribute to David Lynch and reflects on the outpouring of appreciation from cinephiles and fans in the wake of the director’s death: “This spontaneous, worldwide homage to Lynch and his work gave the lie to Hollywood’s refusal to back his films and TV series, proving once again that they only make what they want to make. Does anyone actually think that unfilmed Lynch screenplays like One Saliva Bubble or Ronnie Rocket would have done less well than such unnecessary garbage as last year’s Madame Web, AfrAId, or Borderlands? And every Lynch film has grown in stature with time.”
Percival Everett’s James, Garth Greenwell’s Small Rain, Danzy Senna’s Colored Television, Susan Muaddi Darraj’s Behind You Is the Sea, and ’Pemi Aguda’s Ghostroots are the finalists for this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.