Dear Writer,
Remember that time you were in the throes of winter doldrums and someone surprised you with a trove of good news? We don’t, either, but that’s the secret mission of this e-news. We’ve got moods to lift, good fortune to share, and nothing but enthusiasm to spread. This is part one of a two-part celebration, focused on faculty this time and the next one (in two weeks) focused on members.
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Vauhini Vara has also had a deluge of good news lately, beginning with her gorgeous essay, "Ghosts," being featured a couple weeks ago on This American Life. Her novel, The Immortal King Rao, comes out in May and has been featured on "must read' lists near and far. For a chance to congratulate her and purchase the book, save the date May 27, when she'll be in conversation with Sheila Heti. (Details to come.)
Meanwhile, for those who simply can't wait for John Cotter's memoir Losing Music, hitting shelves in 2023, we got a preview from it at his reading while he was a resident at the Merrill House. He also had four Covid monologues come out in the fall New England Review.
Jenny Shank has a lovely essay about her writing mentor, Lucia Berlin, in last month's Poets and Writers. After you enjoy that, remember you can order her latest collection of stories, Mixed Company, here.
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| | LIT FEST AUTHORS ON A ROLL
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In case you haven't heard, there are some lovely little tidbits coming out from Lit Fest authors who are slated to come to Denver in June. (You can apply to study with any and all of them: see details here.)
- Melissa Febos has been named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for her latest book, Girlhood. (Also on the finalist list is 2020 & 2021 guest Hanif Abdurraqib.) Percival Everett received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from NBCC.
- Three visiting authors were awarded NEA fellowships this month: Melissa Febos, Steve Almond, and Laura Van Den Berg.
- Meanwhile, Nadia Owusu's Aftershocks made the coveted Obama favorite book list last month. (Be sure to check out our upcoming workshop with Lighthouse instructor Angelique Stevens, where you'll read, discuss, and explore Aftershocks. You can register here.)
- On the lookout: New books will be hitting the shelves from these visiting authors, including Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, by Melissa Febos (3/15); All the Secrets in the World, by Steve Almond (4/19); Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua (4/19); The Trees Witness Everything, by Victoria Chang (4/26); Sleepwalk, by Dan Chaon (5/24); and The Men, by Sandra Newman (6/14). These books and many more will be available at the Lit Fest bookshop this June.
- Back to filming: Dean Bakopoulos and Alissa Nutting are back to work on HBO Max's Made for Love, a TV adaptation of Nutting's 2017 novel of the same name. Details here.
- Fun news from regular Lit Fest faculty: If you subscribe to the New York Times, you can sign up to receive weekly installments from Sheila Heti's autofiction project; her new novel Pure Colour, comes out on February 15, and she'll come read in Denver on May 27.
We hope that's enough good news to keep your mood trending upward. Next edition of our kudos newsletter will feature members and workshop participants. If you're a current member of Lighthouse and have news to share, please fill out this form for possible inclusion in our next roundup.
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