Got Writer’s Block? Go to the Theater!

This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. I love art that seems like it came from outer space, that seems unrelated to anything else in the Zeitgeist, that makes me wonder how the artist ever came up

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The New Yorker

Free quota

“Narrow Escape,” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Fiction by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in English for the first time: The police lieutenant appeared to be writing down exactly what Gleb was telling him, but relying upon completely different words.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn·Sep 27, 2026·14 min read

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Literary Hub

The Artist’s Room Is Not a Neutral Space

At the BFI, Ruby has barely finished showing her film before the tax is levied: which parts are real? The interviewer wants origins, autobiography, the little certificate of suffering audiences sometimes seem to require before they trust invention. Ruby thinks

Demetris Papadimitropoulos·Sep 24, 2026

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The Paris Review

John Berger, Death’s Secretary: A Conversation with Tom Overton

“The first letter I sent to him was about a print that he’d made, which was in the archive—a Chagall-inspired Virgin Mary standing on a donkey.”

Scott Schomburg·Sep 24, 2026

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Literary Hub

Lit Hub Daily: September 24, 2026

During the season of big books, how do you choose one to read? With a flowchart, obviously. | Lit Hub How Imogen Crimp’s Give Me Everything You’ve Got demonstrates the loaded nature of an artist’s room. | Lit Hub Criticism

Lit Hub Daily·Sep 24, 2026

Hyperallergic

Arthur Jafa, King of Pop

His eclectic references and intuitive grasp of memes and virality set him apart as an artist taking assemblage and collage to new heights.

Stephanie Wambugu·Sep 25, 2026

Hyperallergic

Should You Sit Out the Armory Show?

One line on the blue-chip behemoth, Independent 20th Century highlights overlooked artists, and more.

Hyperallergic·Sep 25, 2026