Category: Literature

Booktok: A Community of Readers Rekindling My Love For Literature

1/1/2025

by BriAnna Sankey

When you read a good book, one that leaves you absolutely stunned--all you want to do is share it with someone! Preferably someone who has already read it, and understands your emotion behind the most specific scenes. Most times though, we find ourselves calling up a friend and forcing them to stay on the phone for an hour as we explain the whole plot of the book, and continue to give a thirty minute analysis breaking down the book in its entirety. Now I don’t know about you, but my friends would probably hang up after 10 minutes of word vomit because they aren’t readers. Since I’ve joined BookTok, I’ve seen how it brings readers together in a world where they can share their excitement over popular books and new, emerging titles. This sense of community is influential to the public because everyone wants to be “in” on the conversation. FOMO is no joke.

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The Disappearance Of Disability: Why Do We Lose Representation From Book To Film?

10/1/2024

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by Allison D'Arienzo

Photo by Eric TERRADE on Unsplash

We’ve all heard the phrase “the book was better than the movie,” and in many cases that rings true. Numerous book-to-film adaptations seem to fall short of the expectations of readers who have diligently followed a series from paper to the screen. Countless times I have found myself watching the credits roll after a movie, still fuming because my favorite scene from the book was cut, or the main character’s hair was longer than I had imagined. But what happens when a film adaptation’s cuts and changes become harmful to the communities the book is representing?

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Hey Hollywood, Publishing Is Actually Harder Than You Think

9/1/2024

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by Chloe Joy

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

One of my guilty pleasures is bad romance movies. Bonus points if they are Christmas-themed or feature a person from a big city forced to travel to a small town and fall in love with a local. If both tropes are used? Immediately my favorite movie of the year. I love them so much because they’re not meant to be taken seriously nor reflect our real lives, so I often let my suspension of disbelief hang. The main leads say “I love you” after knowing each other for a few days? Sure! One big speech at the end can wash away the trauma one character brought upon another? I’m eating it up!

However, nothing gets under my skin more than the inaccurate portrayals of the publishing industry in these movies. Many romance movies have a B plot that focuses around the publishing industry (because publishing and struggling writers are just so sexy), and they almost always end with a fairy tale dream success story. I’m tired of this dominant, false narrative prevailing through the media, making publishing look easy, because if you’re a writer or aspiring editor like me, you know it’s anything but easy.

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Who Can Write What?

8/1/2024

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by Eric Noon

Image by nugroho dwi hartawan from Pixabay

One of the most common sayings for writers is to “write what you know.” Pulling from your own experiences and the things that you’re already familiar with are great ways to get the juices flowing and to fill in the gaps of otherwise tiresome or troubling writing in which we writers can often get bogged down. After all, it’s much easier to put a twist on a story you already know, or embellish something that’s happened to you--the bulk of the work is already done! The real question, and maybe where the advice needs to shift, is “what can we learn from the things we don’t already know?”

If all we’re to write about is our own experiences, then what room does that leave for us to learn, to empathize with, and to appreciate the stories of others? Writing about what we don’t know, the experiences we personally will never have to go through, could potentially help us to connect and build bridges with one another in ways we couldn’t see before. But as with any work of art, the court of public opinion holds a lot of sway in what is acceptable and what is not. I’m often left with the burning question of “Who can write what?

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In Defense of Short Stories

7/1/2024

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by Courtney R. Hall

A cover page with text in large, capitalized font that reads The Oxford Book of English Short Stories.

Photo by Hyoung-Won Park on Flickr

As a lifelong reader, avid writer, and recent graduate student pursuing a MA in Writing degree ('24), I have a confession to make: I cannot recall reading a short story for my own pleasure prior to attending graduate school. I, of course, had to study short stories throughout primary and high school, but they always seemed to be one-off stories in a textbook rather than part of a cohesive and meticulously curated collection. Craving an escape, my younger self epitomized the stereotypical book-obsessed-child, and this yearning has profoundly shaped my literary journey. It predominantly drew me toward novels and longer works of fiction and nonfiction—a literary habit I didn’t know I possessed until recently.

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Booktok: A Community of Readers Rekindling My Love For Literature

The Disappearance Of Disability: Why Do We Lose Representation From Book To Film?

Hey Hollywood, Publishing Is Actually Harder Than You Think

Who Can Write What?

In Defense of Short Stories

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