Drew's been working on (gasp) a novel and it seems to be going well (because saying so certainly won't jinx it) so this week is a bit of writer-work-focused!

Kicking off with a shout to Ursula K. Le Guin's Steering the Craft, we are then joined by Erin Somers (author of Stay Up with Hugo Best and the forthcoming The Ten Year Affair but also a reporter & editor at Publishers Lunch) to explain the one-stop-publishing-shop that is Publishers Marketplace—you know, with the deal announcements you see your writer-friends posting on Instagram?

Then, an excerpt of Jonny Diamond's conversation with Maris Kriezman on the last stop of Maris's book tour for I Want to Burn This Place Down, recorded live at the Northern Spy Reading Series at Left Bank Ciders in Catskill, NY. And finally, James Folta pops in with a quick update on why more than half of the longlisted authors have withdrawn from this year's Polari Prize.

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Summer, to me, means long days and hanging out in nature and Shakespeare — specifically Shakespeare in the Park. After James Folta wrote about NYC Comptroller Brad Lander's sonnet for the ribbon cutting at the revamped Delacorte Theater in Central Park, his office reached out to remind us that the Comptroller has done this multiple times now... and so obviously, Drew had to talk to him about diving into the poetic form and the power of art to build empathy in these otherwise selfish times.

Then, Stefan Tobler (publisher of & Other Stories) drops in to tell Drew what it's like to be a small press that wins a big prize — and why it is that copies of 2025 International Booker Prize winner Heart Lamp have taken so long to reach US bookshops.

Plus, a quick love letter to a recent read: Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost!

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We're back from our lil summer break and shaking off the rust! It's been hot, but getting maybe better—and we're trying to take the slow pace and the long view before we truly roll into the fall. Speaking of: what are you reading for the rest of the summer? Perhaps try the Sealey Challenge (all funds this year going to the Sameer Project)! Or start reading the Booker Prize longlist!

Also, you could pick up an old issue of Lapham's Quarterly to get in the mood for the storied mag's revival—and we have acting editor Donovan Hahn on the show to tell us more about that slow pace, that long view, and the future of Lapham's. Or perhaps you're feeling like it's a real socialist gothic summer—and McKayla Coyle is here to chat with Drew about the socialist fundamentals of gothic literature and the very specific burgeoning sub-genre that is Socialist Gothic.

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Halfway through the year means it's time to anticipate again! That's right: the Lit Hub staff has compiled a list (multiple lists, actually) of books you should be looking forward to for the rest of the calendar year—and now we bring you a bunch of staff members talking about some (some!) of the books they're most excited for.

Featuring (in order of appearance): Drew Broussard, Jonny Diamond, Julia Hass, Brittany K. Allen, McKayla Coyle, Calvin Kasulke, Jessie Gaynor, Dan Sheehan, Emily Temple, James Folta, and Drew again (because he is just that excited about SO MANY BOOKS).

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025, Part Two

Our 33 Most Anticipated Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books for the Rest of 2025

The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of Summer 2025

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"...that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth."

No, Lincoln didn't say that on July 4th—but Jefferson was a racist and Adams wasn't all that inspiring a speaker ("sit down, John!") and we certainly aren't going to quote Hamilton (the guy or the show).

Anyway, not a real episode this week—just a little holiday note and an acknowledgement that after next week's Most Anticipated audio, we'll be taking a two week break and coming back in August!

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We're riding the high of something going right in the world (see: NYC's mayoral primary) and leaning mostly into hijinks and happiness this week—but not before we remind you all of the very real stakes facing artists of all stripes right now, the frankly-existential threat that is generative AI.

First up, Brittany Cavallaro drops by to introduce the "Against AI" open letter that Lit Hub just published. Then, Calvin Kasulke hosts a rollicking conversation with Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett about LittlePuss Press, trans publishing, and what it's like to run a small press. Finally, Drew chats with McKayla Coyle and Oliver Scialdone about fan-fiction in a conversation with perhaps more giggles-per-minute than any we've yet aired on the show. Maybe.

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Community. Community, community, community, now more than ever.

We kick things off this week with a special guest: Leila Green Little, lead plaintiff in the ongoing Little v. Llano County book-banning case, chats with both Drew and Anthony Aycock, whose piece about the case ran this week on the site. Then, Drew talks to Benjamin Davis of Chill Subs about their Lit Mag Incubator Program that's going to give away $1000 a piece to five lit mags who need it. And finally, a little suggestion to read Diana Oh's My H8 Letter to the Great American Theater and to hug the people you love.

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Oh another bad week in the world, and what's a book podcast to do but... talk about Hamlet! Seriously, though: theater belongs in the literary conversation and there's something about the confluence of text and audio that we obviously take very seriously here at Literary Hub or else we wouldn't be doing this podcast!

So, this episode is primarily Make Believe Association's Jeremy McCarter sitting down with Drew for a warm reunion (they've known each other for a long, long time) and a discussion of MB's new production of Hamlet—which takes place entirely from the point of view of the prince. Yeah, it's very cool and you can listen to the whole thing now wherever you get your podcasts. Will it build empathy? Maybe. Will it teach you how to understand character and motivation and direction differently? Absolutely.

Then, as a little treat, James Folta explains the difference between his book recommendations... and your book recommendations.

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Do you have one of the ~iconic~ Joan Didion Lit Hub totes? (You can still get one, ps.) Were you also interested, and then maybe confused, by the 'new' Joan Didion book? Don't worry, we've got you covered this week. We've also got some writer-beware tips for those hoping to get their work out into the world while avoiding a mess like the one at Unbound/Boundless—and also there's a bit of meta/twee fun! A true summer jawn!

First: Evelyn McDonnell (The World According to Joan—coming in paperback this summer!) talks about her essay "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? On Notes to John and the Selling of Didion's Privacy"

Then: Kate McKean (Write Through It—out next week!) offers some agent-level advice to writers about what to watch out for when looking at agents and publishers.

Finally: Brittany Allen drops in to mutually adore Wes Anderson with Drew, inspired by her "All the Fake Books in Wes Anderson's multiverse, ranked" list before we all (and I do mean we all) go see The Phoenician Scheme this weekend.

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How do you solve a problem like romantasy? What is it like to have written the most banned book in the country? Jenny Hamilton chats about her Reactor essay "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Romantasy?" and George M. Johnson talks banned books, being banned, and their new podcast Fighting Words.

* "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Romantasy?"

* "Natalie's Theory of Urban Fantasy"

* Fighting Words

* All Boys Aren't Blue

* The ALA's Top Ten Banned Books List

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