Ship Fever: Stories, by Andrea Barrett One of my favorite National Book Awards selections in…
Lauren Alwan
Lauren Alwan, Sharon Browning
Lauren Alwan’s fiction has appeared in the O. Henry Prize Stories, the Southern Review, the Alaska Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, in the Bellevue Literary Review. She is the recipient of a First Pages Prize, the Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, and.a citation of Notable in Best American Essays. Her essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Catapult, World Literature Today, The Rumpus, The Millions, Writer's Digest, and others. She is a prose editor at the museum of americana, an online literary review. Follow her on Twitter at @lauren_alwan and learn more at www.laurenalwan.com
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Litstack NowLitStack Recs
A Powerful Family Saga in “The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThe Dutch House, finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. The question comes from Danny Conroy,…
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Historical FictionLitstack NowLitStack RecsShort Stories
These Charming People: Stories & The Stargazer’s Sister
These Charming People, stories by Michael Arlen In the period just after World War One,…
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Litstack NowLitStack Reviews
A Big-Hearted “Car Trouble” by Robert Rorke
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanHere is our original review of “Car Trouble” in honor of our dear friend, Robert…
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Litstack NowLitStack Recs
The Fact in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Fictional “The Great Gatsby”
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThe Great Gatsby is in ways an unlikely fixture of canonical literature. The Great Gatsby…
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Creative WritingLitstack NowLitStack ToolkitPodcasts
8 Essential Podcasts for Writers
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanEssential podcasts for writers to get you started with fascinating conversations, writing advice, sources of…
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LitStack Recs
All Stories are Ghost Stories – Revisiting “Life Drawing” by Robin Black
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanNobody outside a marriage can understand it. Life Drawing, by Robin Black “Nobody outside a…
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LitStack Recs
Reading—and Watching—Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanJane Austen’s 1813 novel “Pride and Prejudice” is a classic of literature with fans across…
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LitStack Recsnovella
3 Outstanding Titles From Alcove Chapbooks – Is Short The New Long?
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThe Alcove Chapbook Series Prize released its first chapbooks from WTAW Press The Rise Of…
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LitStack Recs
The Language of a Painter’s Vocabulary in “Pictures,” by David Hockney
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanPictures by David Hockney, published in 1979, was intended as a catalog of Hockney’s work…
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Brisk, witty, and always surprising. Expect the unexpected. In their Substack columns, these acclaimed authors…
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Litstack NowLitStack Recs
3 Great Books to Kick Off Your Summer Reading
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanFind The Perfect Summer Reading! Cozy Up To Your Summer Reading Summer is a great…
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LitStack Recs
Chasing the Power to Save in “Telephone” by Percival Everett
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanUnusually progressive. That was how Dr. Gurewich characterized my daughter’s condition. from Telephone by Percival…
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AudiobooksLitStack Recs
LitStack Rec – 6 Great Audiobooks for #Audiobook Month
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThere’s a distinct pleasure (and utility) in reading a book in audio form. This past…
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LitStack RecsMemoir
A Testament to Darkness and Light: And There Was Evening And There Was Morning, a memoir by Mike Smith
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanFor this week’s Litstack Rec, we’re revisiting And There Was Evening And There Was Morning,…
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LitStack Recs
Unpacking the Hidden Parts – “Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative”
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanFor this LitStack Rec of “Body Work,” we unpack the hidden parts of memoir. Lauren…
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LitStack RecsShort Stories
5 Outstanding Linked Story Collections Perfect for Short Story Month
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanFor this LitStack Rec, we are celebrating Short Story Month by singing the praises of…
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LitStack RecsMemoir
Hiding a Perilous Truth in James Tate Hill’s “Blind Man’s Bluff”
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanFor this LitStack Rec, we’re revisiting James Tate Hill’s engaging and unique memoir, Blind Man’s…
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LitStack ListLitStack Recs
Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with 7 Great Books
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThese novels, story collections, and works of nonfiction by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors…
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LitStack Recs
A Poem Opens Between Two Languages in “O” by Zeina Hashem Beck
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThis LitStack Rec celebrates April’s National Poetry Month and Arab American Heritage Month by recommending…
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LitStack Recs
Blurring Fiction And Actual Events In “The Hero Of This Book,” By Elizabeth McCracken
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanOur Litstack Rec Of The Hero Of This Book “Your family is the first novel…
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Literary FictionLitStack RecsMemoirPoetry
An Inspiring Read for National Poetry Month | “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanA Story Deepened by a Poetic Sensibility Ocean Vuong’s 2019 novel, On Earth We’re Briefly…
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LitStack RecsLitStack Trends
Give Your Soul and Grit to Daisy Jones & The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThe right song, at the right time, with the right person. The Essence of Daisy…
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Taste: My Life Through Food, a memoir “Cook. Smell. Taste. Eat. Drink. Share. Repeat as…
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Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin Toibin’s 2009 novel, recipient of the Costa Award, is an affecting…
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For #WomensHistoryMonth, here are three memoirs that portray a range of women’s lives, from mid-century…
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LitStack RecsShort Stories
Litstack Recs | Three Great Short Story Collections for Women’s History Month & Monarca
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThree Great Short Story Collections for Women’s History Month For #WomensHistoryMonth, here are three classic…
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The Candy House: a novel, by Jennifer Egan This intricate novel of futurism, connection, love…
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Nights, by Joan Didion Blue Nights is a counterpart to Didion’s 2005 memoir, The Year…
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We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo NoViolet Bulawayo’s powerful novel of the life of…
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Whereabouts, a novel, by Jhumpa Lahiri This melancholy and stylish novel, Jhumpa Lahiri’s third, marks…
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The Clothing of Books, by Jhumpa Lahiri “How do you clothe a book?” is how…
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Spare, by Prince Harry The phenomenon known as Spare is barely a week old, but…
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Titles both recent and vintage I’m looking foward to reading this year. First up, a…
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The Dead Fish Museum: Stories, by Charles D’Ambrosio Of Charles D’Ambrosio and his 2006 story…
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I’ve always admired, though never achieved, the ideal creative input as defined by François Truffaut:…
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Tinkers, by Paul Harding Paul Harding’s Tinkers, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010, tells…
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A Few Favorite Reads of 2022 A brief wrap-up of some of the books I…
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LitStack Recs
Litstack Recs | As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride & The Snow Child
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride—by Cary Elwes with…
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The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides “Heartbreak is funny to everyone but the heartbroken.” That…
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LitStack Recs
Litstack Recs | Jerusalem: A Cookbook and All Our Wrong Todays
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanJerusalem: A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Some cookbooks are defined by a…
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UncategorizedLitStack Recs
Litstack Recs | Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays & Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays, by Zadie Smith As an essay reader, and writer, I…
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LitStack Recs
Litstack recs | Joseph Anton, by Salman Rushdie and The Burning Light, by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanSalman Rushdie’s account of his life and the fatwa brought against him on Valentine’s Day 1989 touches on issues that have become central to our time.
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The sensibility of this singular actor may have its push and pull, but among the pleasures of reading his diaries is being inside Rickman’s head.
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In this collection, published in 2006, Prose offers close readings on developing the art of reading in order to improve one’s writing craft.
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Horror is a kind of hybrid form that depends on shock, fear, and sometimes repulsion, while literary fiction is driven by character and language, and as flash with its concision and intensity, the scary story takes on a fresh shape.
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InspirationHorror and SuspenseOf Interest
Vote for your favorite 2022 Haunting Hook!
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanIn their latest writing contest, Dictionary.com spotlights some haunting prose We love Dictionary.com for the…
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LitStack RecsUncategorized
Litstack Recs | The Films in My Life & Six-Gun Snow White
by Lauren Alwanby Lauren AlwanThe Films in My Life, by Francois Truffaut We are lucky that Francois Truffaut was…
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For lovers of the fairy-tale tradition, from Mental Floss, a collection of fairy tales beyond…