Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

"[T]hat epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny" wrote the Nobel Prize committee, describing novelist and memoir writer Doris Lessing.

What does that mean? Tell your stories even if the culture at large doesn't want to hear them. Someday, your work will find the respect and the readers it deserves. 

I've barely cracked The Golden Notebook, I'm sorry to admit, but the Elegant Variation has a reading list for us to catch up with the brand new winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Check it out:

"If you're new to Lessing, here's her British Council writers page ... an archive of New York Times book reviews of her work ... a recent Boston Globe Q&A ... a 1988 Fresh Air interview ... and an excerpt from The Golden Notebook."

In gloomier news, a writers' strike looms in Hollywood. USA Today reflects on how this kind of event will hurt television and movies. Turns out the nightly comedy shows would be one of the first to be hit.

Finally, Galleycat reflects on a winning ad campaign for Jeff Somers' The Electric Church. It's a fascinating look at some pioneering ways to find new readers in these vast Internets.