How is it already peak holiday shopping season? The New York Times has got you covered with a gift guide full of Consortium titles. For adults, they recommend The Last Days of Ellis Island by Gaëlle Josse, trans. Natasha Lehrer (World Editions), The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne by Michael Martone (BOA Editions), Heartbeat of Iran by Tara Kangarlou (Ig Publishing), and In Love with George Eliot by Kathy O’Shaughnessy (Scribe). For kids, check out Telephone Tales by Gianni Rodari, illus. Valerio Vidali, trans. Anthony Shugaar (Enchanted Lion Books) and Respect by Otis Redding, illus. Rachel Moss (Akashic Books).
Marc Lamont Hill’s We Still Here is snatching up headlines. Hill was interviewed by Shondaland on November 23, and appeared on WHYY NPR Philadelphia on November 10 and Democracy Now on November 28. Hill also chatted with The Root on November 5 and November 10.
Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed was recommended in the New York Times Book Review on November 18: “The book has the feeling of live performance. . . . Its strength is in its abundance, its desire for language to stir body as well as mind.” The “plaintive new collection” The Marble Bed was also in the NYTBR on November 24. Finally, the “exhilarating” The Adventures of China Iron was an Editor’s Choice on November 26 and praised for its “lush prose and sharp wit.”
A lengthy feature on Matthew O’Brien’s Dark Days, Bright Nights appeared in USA Today on November 20.
Astra Taylor, member of the Debt Collective and one of the authors of Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay, wrote an op-ed in the New Yorker on November 23 about the student debt crisis. Taylor was interviewed in Democracy Now on November 20 and in Market Watch on November 9.
Shame Pudding by Danny Noble (Street Noise Books) was included in a Kirkus Reviews feature, “Graphic Novels: Real Book for Real Readers,” on November 18.
An excerpt from One Night Two Souls Went Walking by Ellen Cooney (Coffee House Press) appeared in Literary Hub on November 20.
Jill Orr’s How Not to Be Old (Even if You Are) (Prospect Park Books) was featured in gift guides from Vox and People.
Against Amazon by Jorge Carrión trans. Peter Bush (Biblioasis) was featured in the Paris Review on November 25.
Love and Other Poems by Alex Dimitrov and The Essential June Jordan edit. Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller (both Copper Canyon Press) were included in a round-up of the best LGBTQ books of 2021 from O, the Oprah Magazine on December 1.
The Torture Machine by Flint Taylor (Haymarket Books) was featured in Rolling Stone on November 19.
Staying Human by Neil Astley (Bloodaxe Books) was recommended by Small VOICE Podcast.
We Want it All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics by Andrea Abi-Karam and Kay Gabriel (Nightboat Books) was featured in Themon November 25. The book was also featured on Literary Hub, which shared the introduction and two of the poems.
Seven Samurai Swept Away in a River by Jung Young Moon, trans. Yewon Jung (Deep Vellum Press) was recommended in Literary Hub on December 1.