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It is common to say “I was heartbroken to hear” that so-and-so died, but I really do feel heartbroken having learned about Alice Munro, who died on Monday.As a writer,...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVcIhnvSx8 When it came to giv­ing advice to writ­ers, Kurt Von­negut was nev­er dull. He once tried to warn peo­ple away from using semi­colons by char­ac­ter­iz­ing them as “trans­ves­tite her­maph­ro­dites...

A Reading List from Rebecca Schiff There’s something embarrassing about writing short stories. First there’s the word “short,” a word I’ve always associated with my height, with having to stand in...

Great short stories are sometimes said to be as rich as novels. Mavis Gallant’s are like encyclopedias—of her characters’ psyches and lives.Photograph by Ian Barrett / The Canadian Press /...

In the before times, I loitered in museums. The last show I saw in person before the pandemic was work by David Wojnarowicz, film and photography he made as the...

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsAs a writer preparing to...

Believe it or not, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie—acclaimed novelist, famous feminist, certified genius—turns 40 today. In recent years, Adichie has become an international authority on feminism, and her TEDx talk “We...

Audible If you've been on social media at all this week, you've probably heard about Britney Spears' new memoir. The book, titled "The Woman in Me," has taken the internet...

Irish author Kevin Barry has been on a roll. His debut novel, City of Bohane, won the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Now, Dark Lies the Island, Barry’s second...

The following is adapted from the introduction to 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories.Article continues below A story is a noise in the night. You may be lying there quietly...