Well, folks.
The world seemed to respond to the issues presented in last week’s installment, and now climate politics and sexual politics have seemed to come to a totally-weird form of a head. In an absolutely wild turn of events, Greta Thunberg addressed the U.N., stared down Donald Trump on every screen in the world, and, to my imagination, single-handedly sparked impeachment proceedings with a fucking gaze. How does this pertain to literature? Well, as it happens, Thunberg now has a two-book deal with Penguin Press, reported by LitHub. While the book deal preceded the incident at the UN, it still goes to show that staring down Trump (and trying to save the world) could be lucrative for aspiring writers. And, as a further point of contrast, one of Elizabeth Warren’s campaign strategists is up for a National Book Award. That’s right, it’s Steve Bannon.
Also, just a friendly reminder that the government sneakily released the federally-mandated (and incredibly bleak) Fourth National Climate Assessment on Black Friday of 2018. It would have received hardly any attention were it not for the fact that Melville House decided to publish it. Yet again, the literary world saves the real world. Go check out the story over at ElectricLit. It’s wild. Also, Amazon, one of the biggest distributors of books worldwide, is facing a climate strike of their own. Rebecca Renner has a story over at LitHub about employees striking at the corporate giant’s headquarters in Seattle.
Anyways, here’s a little how-to from McSweeney’s about talking to your parents about colluding with foreign governments. And, if you’re aesthetically inclined, here are the best book covers of September.
See you next week!