Book News & Features

Behrouz Boochani won Australia's richest literary prize earlier this year — but the asylum-seeker, detained offshore, couldn't accept in person. Now, he has made it to New Zealand with a message.

The literary prize, which honors fiction that tackles tough social issues, has announced a longlist of 16 titles. The nominees for the $35,000 prize include some big names and plenty of debuts.

In her new book, Charlotte Druckman asks over 100 female chefs and food writers if there are any words or phrases they wish people would stop using to describe them. One word was a bit of a surprise.

"Mudlarks" were the people who made a living picking objects out of the mud along the River Thames. Writer Lara Maiklem follows in their tracks; she chronicles her journeys in a new book, Mudlark.

Vijay Seshadri has been named the twelfth poetry editor ofThe Paris Review. He says he sees a resurgence in American poetry right now, and a new recognition of different lives and experiences.

In a new book of essays, writers such as Claire Messud and Edwidge Danticat share stories of surviving dark times and the foods entwined with those memories. Think of it as a cathartic dinner party.

For October, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles praises picture book author Todd Parr and his insight into the emotional needs of children who are dealing with loss, change — and other children.