Deesha Philyaw Wins 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, has won the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award. Philyaw’s book selected from among 419 eligible novels and story collections written by American authors in 2020 and submitted by 170 publishing houses. Pen/Faulkner Award judge and author Alexi Zentner said in a prepared statement that The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is “a book that combines the curious agility of the best short fiction with the deep emotional coherence of a great novel.”
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer is Being Adapted into a TV Series Directed by Park Chan-wook
Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, director of Oldboy and The Handmaiden, will now be offering up his talents to adapt Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel The Sympathizer into a television series. The author announced on Twitter Tuesday that A24 has optioned his novel for television, and that he was delighted by the choice of director: “His Oldboy was a big influence on The Sympathizer, and I can’t imagine a better person to direct this TV adaptation with @rhombusmedia!”
Decatur Book Festival Announces Return of Popular Virtual Author Series
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented By Emory University and Georgia Center for the Book has announced that this year the festival will see the return of the popular virtual author series Joshilyn Jackson Reads. The virtual series of nine panel discussions will kick off on May 4 with Birmingham-based author Gin Phillips, who will be joining Jackson to discuss Phillips’ novel, Family Law. For a full list of events and to register for the virtual author series, visit www.decaturbookfestival.com.
Lil Nas X, Unapologetic Queerness, and the Books I Wish Upon My Past Self
The outcry against Lil Nas X’s unapologetic queerness prompts Book Riot contributor Mikkaka Overstreet to write to her teen self about the books that might have helped.