Paper Trail

India’s JCB Prize for Literature has announced this year’s longlist; Kaveh Akbar joins The Nation as poetry editor


Kaveh Akbar. Photo: Hieu Minh Nguyen

Kaveh Akbar has been named the poetry editor of The Nation.

At Vanity Fair, an essay by Jesmyn Ward on losing her husband to COVID-19, writing, and bearing witness: “My loss was a tender second skin. I shrugged against it as I wrote, haltingly, about this woman who speaks to spirits and fights her way across rivers. My commitment surprised me. Even in a pandemic, even in grief, I found myself commanded to amplify the voices of the dead that sing to me, from their boat to my boat, on the sea of time.”

Megha Majumdar’s A Burning has been longlisted for India’s 2020 JCB Prize for Literature, among others. This year, the prize encouraged submissions of genre fiction as well as literary fiction.

Nieman Lab profiles Study Hall, the media newsletter, listserv, and website for freelancers. Founded by writers P. E. Moskowitz and Kyle Chayka, Study Hall aims to be a one-stop site for media news, gossip, and job opportunities. As the site continues to grow, it’s purpose is evolving, as Moskowitz notes: “We are here to serve media workers, but it would be irresponsible to do that while the rest of the industry collapses. What would be the point of a newsletter if there was nowhere to write for? We feel like we have to create the future of media, as we advocate for the people who work in it.”

The fall issue of the Paris Review is out, with contributions from Lydia Davis, Rabih Alameddine, Enrique Vila-Matas, and a previously unpublished Shirley Hazzard story.

Simon & Schuster has announced details about Bob Woodward’s reporting for Rage, his forthcoming account of the Trump presidency. Woodward was granted a series of exclusive interviews with the president, and obtained numerous unpublished personal letters and confidential documents. The book comes out on September 15th.

Tonight, Green Apple Books in San Francisco hosts Eula Biss and Aleksander Hemon in a virtual author event. Biss’s new book, Having and Being Had, was published today.