never say never, amirite?

Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel http://t.co/uYiOKZfMnA

— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) February 3, 2015

Dame Commander Jessica (J.B.) Fletcher

Congratulations #MurderSheWrote star Angela Lansbury! Here she is being made a Dame Commander by The Queen today pic.twitter.com/7aZlLbRVM5

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) April 15, 2014

hannah in iowa

i really enjoyed this interview with the director of the iowa writer's workshop that hannah got into during the season finale.

The most shocking twist of Sunday’s season-three finale wasn’t Hannah’s acceptance, after years of artistic floundering, but the notion that Season Four of the world’s Brooklynest show might take place in Iowa, at what Hannah’s friend Marnie calls “like, the best MFA program in the world.” A University of Iowa spokesman says the school denied HBO’s request to film Girls episodes there, but the location could easily be faked, and the presence of an Iowa workshop alum on the writing staff — Sarah Heyward, who wrote “really good short stories about adolescent girls” in Chang’s workshop — ensures at least a modicum of authenticity. Based on conversations with Chang and several Girls-friendly alumni, here’s what we might expect of Hannah’s heartland sojourn. (via)

spoiler alert retroactive.

thomas wilhelm wrote some notez

here's a pretty good collection of things kids wrote.

these two old queens giggle and whisper about being gay in paris

edmund white (who i honestly thought was dead) and dennis cooper in interview magazine

jicyww.

how to cite a tweet in an academic paper.

brooklyn heights history

did you know truman capote wrote in cold blood at this house at 70 willow street? did you know 169 clinton street is haunted or something? today's brooklynbased presents a tour through the literary history of b-heights:

By the 1830s, Brooklyn Heights had already become one of New York’s elite enclaves, studded with lavish townhouses and easily accessible to Manhattan (first by the steam-powered Fulton Ferry, introduced in 1814, then by subway), but cut off from the average New Yorker. Today, the neighborhood remains a world apart, guarding its Victorian sensibility, multimillion-dollar brownstones and serene streets from the rest of the city. In the early 20th century, however, the neighborhood experienced a decline that persisted until after World War II. Back then, Brooklyn Heights had a tawdry air, its derelict grandeur attracting some of the 20th century’s most notable writers to its shores. (via)

gchatz with keekerz

kylie: i just lurve this 'boys from the south' song
me: omg i know
kylie: kandi wishes she could write this song
me: you need to quit your kandi hatin'
im not going to stand for this
kylie: instead she'd be like "just try to take a bottle away from a drunk"
that's what country singers sing about right? bottles? drunks?
i dont hate kandi i like her!
me: then act like it
kylie: i think she's an amazing songwriter
and i wish she wasnt so tentative about her new venture
she's not giving her all for tennessee

more waterworks.

nymag highlights sally jenkins' washington post exclusive on pat summitt's diagnosis:

This story is an awful one, but as told by Sally Jenkins in the Washington Post this morning, it becomes heroic and deeply moving. Jenkins, who classifies Summitt as "her closest friend," pens a heartbreaking, warm, extremely well-constructed column with the tender care of someone who is writing like they were put on earth simply to write this column.
...
It's a riveting read that is very likely to make you cry. In 1993, Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated wrote the definitive piece on Jim Valvano's fight with cancer, one that still stands as one of the more crowning achievements in modern sportswriting. (It also secured — and even whitewashed — Valvano's legacy, assuring that you'll see him on ESPN until the end of time.) Jenkins' piece, we sense, is going to have a similar impact, with a subject who's even more inspiring. Go read it. Now. (via)

crying again.

but we don't.

(c2e.) thx erin!

2Pz famous friends

everyone be sure to check out mondaynightlillynaomiwhitefishsleazyslezak's web piece covering last weekend's PS1 openings. we just couldn't be prouder.

i am number four

this trailer is pretty unremarkable, but i thought it was interesting within the context of this article i read in nymag last week. apparently disgraced memoirist james frey has founded this "fiction factory" with naive and impressionable young writers to churn out young adult fiction to sell like hotcakes and make oodles of money. also, LOOK its quinn from glee!

i wasn't aware...

...that vanity fair (and others) writer christopher hitchens has esophageal cancer. he wrote a first-person piece for the upcoming issue detailing his diagnosis and treatment, and it's quite good. (depression alert, oc.)

The notorious stage theory of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, whereby one progresses from denial to rage through bargaining to depression and the eventual bliss of “acceptance,” hasn’t so far had much application in my case. In one way, I suppose, I have been “in denial” for some time, knowingly burning the candle at both ends and finding that it often gives a lovely light. But for precisely that reason, I can’t see myself smiting my brow with shock or hear myself whining about how it’s all so unfair: I have been taunting the Reaper into taking a free scythe in my direction and have now succumbed to something so predictable and banal that it bores even me. (via)

omg guess what!

we are so excited to tell you about 2Pz good friend and one of our most loyal readers, lilly. i bet a bunch of you even KNOW her. she recently reviewed an exhibit for international publication, art in america. you should definitely check it out. it's right over here! and keep an eye out, because word on the street is that there's another piece in the works!

congrats, lilly! we are just so proud.

american birds

aka lorrie moore starts a blog.

i can credit carlygoogles for introducing me to lorrie moore's witty and poignant short stories. read this one.

edgar allen poe

as joel and i discovered on our great american road trip a couple of months ago, richmond, virginia is a fascinating place with a really great history. if you don't believe me, you can just read its wikipedia.

one thing i didn't know about richmond is that edgar allen poe spent much of his life living there. they have a museum dedicated to him, and are currently hosting a bicentennial anniversary of his birthday party.

"But if you really want to feel the potency of the Poe myth, come to the Poe Museum, whose curator, Chris Semtner, also shaped the show at the Library of Virginia. The museum’s literature says that it has “the world’s finest collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s manuscripts, letters, first editions, memorabilia and personal belongings.” It is here, in the oldest house still standing in Richmond (built around 1750) and with a few of the adjacent homes annexed, that the cult of Poe may be said to have its headquarters. The museum’s ramshackle character creates a quaint aura of antique devotion." (via)

what if...

...someone with half a brain edited sarah palin's speeches (in their written form) into some semblance of compliance with the english language? ever wonder?

vanity fair has done just that with her recent resignation speech. enjoy!

thx jgm.

happy birthday, strunk + white!

the elements of style is 50 years old! can you believe it?!!? (nytimes)