Books

In 1989, after Iran's religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie, readings of his works were organized around the United States. At this one in San Francisco, novelist Alice Walker reads al

Since 1989, threats to Salman Rushdie have sparked support and debate on free speech

5:30am August 19, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

Last week's attack has reignited debates over free speech, censorship and offensiveness that were already heated back in 1989, when an op-ed by a former president called Rushdie's book an "insult."

Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation is one of more than 40 books being challenged in the Keller Independent School District.

The Bible is among dozens of books removed from this Texas school district

10:26pm August 18, 2022

by Wynne Davis

The books under review were previously challenged and placed back on shelves, but now the Keller Independent School District wants them to undergo another review with new criteria.

Jewish townspeople of the village of Nasielsk, Poland in 1938.

'The Territory' and 'Three Minutes: A Lengthening' find cinematic hope in tragedy

6:22pm August 18, 2022

by Bob Mondello

A pair of documentaries gleans what it can from a pre-WWII home movie and Indigenous efforts to halt the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

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Red Keepin' it 100: A dragon flies over King's Landing on House of the Dragon.

Books
Arts

Should you watch the 'Game of Thrones' spinoff?

5:12pm August 18, 2022

by Glen Weldon

HBO's prequel 'House of the Dragon' drops you into King's Landing 200 years earlier than 'Game of Thrones.' But if you're leery of revisiting Westeros, here's what you need to know.

Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone (left) and Hadi Matar, who was charged with stabbing author Salman Rushdie, listen during an arraignment Thursday in the Chautauqua County Courthouse in Mayville, N.Y.

A judge denies bail for the man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie

4:51pm August 18, 2022

by The Associated Press

The Chautauqua County district attorney said that Hadi Matar stabbed the author a dozen times in the neck, stomach, chest, hand and right eye, before he could be stopped by shocked bystanders.

Books
Arts

Untangling the contradictions of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith

5:04am August 18, 2022

by Allyson McCabe

Highsmith's writing was full of fakes, forgeries and falsehoods, revealing not only what her characters concealed, but what readers were willing to see.

Author Jamil Jan Kochai and his former second-grade teacher, Susan Lung, were reunited after more than 20 years at a reading for the writer's second book, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories, in Davis, California.

It took 20 years for this author to reunite with the teacher who changed his life

6:55pm August 17, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

The writer searched for more than a decade for Susan Lung, who taught him to read and write English when he was a 7-year-old in 1999. On Saturday, she surprised him at one of his book readings.

Books
Arts

Author Olaf Olafsson on exploring love, loneliness and memory in new novel 'Touch'

4:59pm August 17, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author Olaf Olafsson on his new novel Touch and how the pandemic inspired the love story he had been wanting to write for years.

'Dopesick' author turns her attention to the citizen volunteers combatting addiction

1:30pm August 17, 2022

by Dave Davies

Author Beth Macy and harm reduction specialist Michelle Mathis talk about grassroots and community efforts to address the opioid crisis. Macy's latest book is Raising Lazarus.

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My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird and We Are Still Here covers.

Afghan women raise their voices in two new anthologies

8:17am August 17, 2022

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

This week marks a year since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. But the Taliban hasn't succeeded in silencing Afghan women, whose voices ring out in two new and powerful collections.