In our morning reading: reviews of books by Vigdis Hjorth and Helen Garner, a look back at a landmark documentary, and more.
Morning Bites: Vigdis Hjorth’s Fiction, Judy Blume’s Biography, Revisiting “Burden of Dreams,” and More
A Very Particular Nightmare: On Aoife Josie Clements’s “Persona”
The more horror I read, the more I’m convinced of an inalienable truth: for a horror story to work, it has to reflect something that terrifies the author. That might be something as simple as an evil clown holding a machete, or it could be something abstract and idiosyncratic. Aoife Josie Clements’s Persona is firmly in the latter category, I suspect, but it isn’t entirely clear just how far its author is willing to go until its conclusion.
The Uncanny Histories of Vernon Lee
A little context can go a long way, especially when it’s from knowledgeable guides. My first encounter with Vernon Lee’s uncanny fiction came when I read the collection The Virgin of the Seven Daggers. I will confess that I don’t remember much else about it, the fact that I was reading it in 2020 goes a long way towards explaining that. I enjoyed Lee’s work enough that I was excited to see a new version of her 1890 collection Hauntings published with a conversation on the book (and Lee’s work) by Gretchen Felker-Martin and Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya.
“The Mystery Found Him”: Ruyan Meng on “The Morgue Keeper”
My introduction to Ruyan Meng’s work came via her novel The Morgue Keeper, which follows a man named Qing Yuan — the titular morgue keeper — who becomes fixated on one of the bodies that he encounters. (Literary Hub recently published an excerpt.) Soon enough, his interest in this case (which reminded me a bit of Derek Raymond’s harrowing I Was Dora Suarez) takes him to increasingly unsettling places. I spoke with Meng about this novel’s origins and the moments in history that she seeks to chronicle.
Weekend Bites: Sarah Moss on Books, Richard Matheson Revisited, Tom Verlaine’s Archive, and More
In our weekend reading: an interview with Sarah Moss, great science fiction novels, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Cheon Seon-Ran’s Fiction, Great Graphic Novels, Kristen Arnett on Residencies, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on Cheon Seon-Ran’s novel, making a residency at home, and more.
Yuki Tejima on Translating Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s “Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel”
What does translating the follow-up to an internationally beloved book involve? That was the question that translator Yuki Tejima faced when working on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s book Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel. We spoke with Tejima about her process and the legacy of the first volume, along with an excerpt from the book in advance of an event this weekend in New York City.
Karen Schoemer Debuts the Video for “August 24” — and Discusses Her New Album
There’s a lot going on in Karen Schoemer’s new album August, which blends her wide-ranging approach to writing lyrics with musical contributions from the likes of Mike Watt and Amy Rigby. We spoke with Schoemer about the making of this album, her work with Bernadette Mayer, and how August differs from her earlier musical and literary ventures.