Allen Toussaint, legendary pianist from New Orleans, passed away this week at the age of 77.

Sofia Quintero gave praise to Walter Dean Myers for teaching her how to write for marginalized groups in her books, or, in her words, “how to stop writing white.”

Barnes and Noble highlighted the twentieth anniversary of the death of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Saro-Wiwa was an outspoken critic of what he saw as internal corruption in the government which was taking advantage of the oil-rich Niger delta. The three suggested books, The Looting Machine, The Bright Continent, and Americanah, address this corruption.

Professor Emerita Barbara Herrnstein Smith asked, “What was ‘close reading‘”? Smith examines the role of close reading in Anglo literature over the course of the past century compared with its current role in the discourses of the digital humanities.
The National Book Award finalists in young people’s literature were released this week!