Helen Phillips. Photo: Andy Vernon-Jones. The Chicago Defender, the legendary African American newspaper, will cease its print publication after tomorrow’s edition. The paper will become online only, a move that Hiram E. Jackson, the CEO of the Defender’s parent company, said will “make us more nimble.” Ethan Michaeli, the author of The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (2016), gave a sense of the paper’s monumental importance, telling the Chicago Sun Times, “It was an essential force in American history for the whole of the 20th century.” At Vulture, Hillary Kelly profiles Helen Phillips, author of The

Dani Shapiro In a rumored six-figure deal, Scribner has bought two books by deputy op-ed editor Clay Risen: Red Scare, an analysis of hysteria over Communism in the US, and The Whiskey Barons, which is, according to the publisher, about “the epic clash of personalities in the Gilded Age between two business titans who battled for control of the whiskey industry.” Dani Shapiro’s memoir Inheritance—about the crisis the author experienced after her assumptions about her family were destroyed by a DNA test—is being turned into a movie by Killer Films studio. Art historian, critic, editor, and curator Douglas Crimp

John Edgar Wideman Robert Wideman, the subject of John Edgar Wideman’s 1984 memoir Brothers and Keepers, has been serving a sentence of life without parole, but now that Governor Tom Wolf has commuted his sentence, he will soon be free. Robert was convicted of second-degree murder for being an accomplice in a 1975 robbery that resulted in the shooting and death of a car salesman named Nichola Morena. Brothers and Keepers explored the different paths that the author and his sibling had taken: “However numerous and comforting the similarities, we were different,” the author wrote. “The world had seized

Aleksandar Hemon. Photo: Velibor Božović The Columbia Journalism Review reports on the dismal prospects for people working in media. Between January and May of this year, roughly 3,000 journalists were laid off or offered a buyout. According to Gerry Smith, writing in Bloomberg, 2019 is on track to be the worst year for the industry since 2009. Andrew Challenger, part of the firm that compiled the data, told Smith: “In most industries, employers can’t find enough people to fill the jobs they have open. . . . In news, it has been the opposite story. And it seems to

Emilie Pine The Guardian lists the best book prequels. Emilie Pine talks to the New York Times about privacy, personal writing, and her new book, Notes to Self. “Because I’m an academic, I assumed it would be much more a polemic about the state of the world. It might start with me, but then it would generalize to talk about addiction issues or sexual violence against women, with statistics and so on,” she said. “I kept being irritated with myself for not being able to write the polemic I wanted. But it kept feeling really fake. I wanted to

Carmen Maria Machado, the author of story collection Her Body and Other Parties and the memoir In the Dream House, is writing a horror comic (a “Pennsylvania Gothic”) titled The Low Low Woods, which will be published by DC comics. The summer issue of Aperture magazine is devoted to “Orlando,” a new exhibition curated by Tilda Swinton, which explores the themes of Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel. The magazine issue, which was edited by Swinton, features work by Eileen Myles, Lynne Tillman, Maggie Nelson, and other authors. John Williams profiles Judith Gurewich, publisher of Other Press. Gurewich, who was born

Bustle Digital Group has bought Nylon, its seventh acquisition in two years. CEO Bryan Goldberg said that they are planning to bring the magazine back into print with occasional special issues “tied to ‘flagship cultural moments’ like Coachella.” “We view print as an extension product,” he explained. “It’s impossible to think about Nylon without thinking about the magazine covers. Print is part of who Nylon is.”

Chavisa Woods. Photo: Itziar Barrio Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill has sold a book to Algonquin. Off the Edge: Flat Earth, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything will be “a deeply reported narrative” about the Flat Earth movement “that is part internet anthropology and part intervention.” Hmm Daily will stop publishing new articles next month. Editor Tom Scocca, who is joining Slate as the website’s politics editor, will continue writing the Hmm Weekly newsletter. “If $4 a word makes you a queen, does that make the rest of us serfs? And why are the serfs mostly, like,

Alix Ohlin. Photo: Emily Cooper Texas Monthly has been sold to Randa Duncan Williams. The daughter of oil tycoon Dan Duncan, Williams is the “ninth wealthiest person in Texas,” according to Forbes. “My family is delighted to provide the resources to support this iconic Texas institution, which is nationally recognized for its editorial flair,” she said in a statement. “The journalistic integrity and quality for which Texas Monthly is known will remain unchanged as we build upon what Genesis Park has done over the past two years.” The Cut’s Amanda Arnold has compiled a guide to just “what the

Eimear McBride. Photo: Jemma Mickleburgh A Girl is a Half-formed Thing author Eimear McBride has sold a new novel to Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Strange Hotel, which tells the story of “a woman who occupies a series of hotel rooms around the world—each of which reflects back some aspect of herself,” will be published in early 2020. Universal Pictures has bought the rights to Rachel Khong’s 2017 novel, Goodbye, Vitamin. Variety reports that Constance Wu will star in the adaptation, which is being written by Jennifer Yee McDevitt. Editor Ben Barna has left Gawker and returned to Interview magazine.

Reza Aslan In a forthcoming memoir, E. Jean Carroll, the former advice columnist for Elle magazine, claims that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. The book, What Do We Need Men For?, will be released by St. Martin’s Press next month, and an excerpt with her account of the rape is currently on New York Magazine’s website. Trump has responded: “I’ve never met this woman in my life.” A photograph of Trump and Carroll at a party suggests otherwise. In another statement, Trump states: “Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to

Sharon Marcus At The Millions, Nick Ripatrazone talks to Sharon Marcus about the creation of stars, Sarah Bernhardt, and her new book, The Drama of Celebrity. “In an era when celebrities can exercise a lot of influence, it’s important to understand how celebrity works; to recognize that celebrities are not simply good or bad, deserving or undeserving; and to be aware that celebrity culture is much older than the internet, People magazine, or Hollywood,” she said. “As I like to say, if you don’t like celebrity culture, don’t blame the internet: blame everyone.” Aaron Gell remembers working for Jared

Robert Macfarlane. Photo: Bryan David Stevens The lineup for this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival has been announced. One hundred and fifty authors will participate in the event this September, including Rebecca Traister, Meg Wolitzer, and N. K. Jemisin, and children’s book author Mo Willems will receive the “Best of Brooklyn” award. Elvia Wilk talks to Otherppl about architecture, Berlin, and her new novel, Oval. Literary Hub collects rejection letters received by famous writers—”some kind, some weird, some unbelievably harsh.” The Guardian lists the best books about cults. At Longreads, Tobias Carroll talks to Robert Macfarlane about darkness, claustrophobia, and

Joy Harjo. Photo: Shawn Miller Joy Harjo has been chosen as poet laureate by the Library of Congress. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo is the first Native American to take on the role. The New York Review of Books has posted a previously unpublished Elizabeth Hardwick essay about abortion rights. Chef and food writer Molly O’Neill has died at age 66. At the New Yorker, Daniel Gross remembers his experience as part of a secret literary fellowship funded by the owner of Barnes and Noble. At Vulture, Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Tom Perrotta discuss dating apps, Philip

Mona Awad. Photo: George Baier IV BuzzFeed editorial employees in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and DC walked out on Monday afternoon “in the hopes of getting the online-media company to voluntarily recognize their union,” Bloomberg reports. The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins is working on a prequel to her bestselling series. Mona Awad talks to the So Many Damn Books podcast about university towns, cliques, and her new novel, Bunny. “I feel like the clique is very dangerous because you never know where you stand. You are not yourself, you are in a group,” she said. “So

Novelist, poet, biographer, and playwright Kevin Killian died this weekend, his spouse, the writer Dodie Bellamy, has announced. A key member of the New Narrative movement, Killian was the author of Bedrooms Have Windows (recently reissued by Semiotext(e)), the poetry collections Argento Series (which dwelled on the horror director Dario Argento and the AIDS crisis) and Action Kylie (an ode of sorts to Kylie Minogue), the story collection Impossible Princess, and (with Lewis Ellingham) the biography Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance. Killian was incredibly generous to other arrtists and writers. He wrote 2,639

Anna Merlan The New York Times offers a reading list to accompany When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s new Netflix series about the Central Park Five. Bustle Digital Group is working on relaunching Mic, the politics website they bought after the majority of its staff was laid off. At The Conversation, Nicholas Diakopoulos looks at the ways that AI technology might change the journalism industry. Anna Merlan talks to Maris Kreizman about conspiracy theories, fake news, and her new book, Republic of Lies. “I would say we are all conspiracy theorists in some way or another,” she said. “We’re

Emily Ruskovich Moderators for the first Democratic presidential primary debate have been announced. Besides Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, and José Díaz-Balart, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow will also moderate, a choice the New York Times calls “a wild card of sorts.” “Opinion journalists are rarely chosen to interrogate candidates in the formal setting of a debate stage,” the Times notes. “And network partisanship has proved a thorny issue early in the campaign, after Democratic leaders barred Fox News from hosting any of the party’s debates.” The Guardian talks to Idaho author Emily Ruskovich, who recently won the International Dublin

Colson Whitehead. Photo: Chris Close Literary Hub offers “the ultimate summer books preview.” Picks include Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and Kristen Arnett’s Mostly Dead Things. Author Natasha Tynes is suing Rare Bird Books for defamation and emotional distress. After Tynes received backlash on social media for a tweet about a black DC metro employee eating on the train, the publisher canceled her book distribution deal. Columbia Journalism Review is creating a team of unofficial public editors for major newspapers and television networks in the US. “Public editors and ombudsmen have historically

Literary Hub rounds up last week’s book deals. Brontez Purnell has sold “a collection of vignettes exploring gay male desire, loneliness, sex, and self-sabotage” to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, which will be published in 2021. At Longreads, Jacqueline Alnes talks to Amber Scorah about religion, fear, and her new memoir, Leaving the Witness. “There’s a lot of fear around being open about the experience of being a Jehovah’s Witness, and also the difficulty of trying to do something with your life after spending a life in something that is essentially a different world,” she said. “You exist in this