LITERATURE
Poetry / Fiction / Nonfiction / Interviews & Op-Eds
National Book Club Award winner Sadeqa Johnson says key to success is never giving up
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: When Sadeqa Johnson speaks at the eighth annual Morristown Festival of Books on Saturday, Oct. 9, it will be to promote her latest novel, “Yellow Wife.” (21 October 2021)
FORBES: From Toni Morrison to Joan Didion, John Irving to Ta-Nehisi Coates, we've compiled 50 books to read for a literary road trip across the USA. (17 June 2020)
50 BOOKS FOR 50 STATES: THE ALL-AMERICAN READING LIST
US Travelers League: Sometimes, when the open road isn’t quite available, the best way to explore the United States of America is through your imagination. (3 January 2022)
An Insider's Guide To Montauk, From The Author Of This Summer's Hottest Beach Read
FORBES: The West Coast may boast endless days of sunshine throughout the year, but there’s simply no competing with an East Coast summer. (24 June 2019)
THE BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: “I did not plan for my book to come out in the midst of a pandemic and during a reckoning around racism in the country,” Nadia Owusu stated with a laugh. (10 February 2021)
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: Courtney Zoffness didn’t even know she was writing a book when she first began working on the essays that would comprise her literary debut, “Spilt Milk.” (27 September 2021)
BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: “I was living my best life,” David Michaelis recalled of finishing his latest book in lockdown. (3 February 2021)
THE BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: “You can’t think yourself into being a great writer,” says Kristin Hannah. “You have to write yourself into being a great writer.” (9 February 2021)
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian Breathes New Life Into Another American Presidency
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: “I’ll be on my deathbed and asked about the music in ‘Hamilton,’” Ron Chernow quipped to the sold-out audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown Friday night, Oct. 13. (16 October 2017)
The Recorder Newspapers: Victoria Schwab, also known by her pen name, V.E. Schwab, is accomplished enough to make you regret every moment you’ve wasted over the course of your lifetime. (1 February 2021)
10 Professional Travelers Share Their Favorite Books For Wanderlust
FORBES: Rather than binge another Netflix series, why not spend a lazy afternoon in the wilds of South Africa or the glamour of the French Riviera? Though our options may be limited these days, this (literary) choice is yours. (28 May 2020)
Stuck At Home? Here Are The 8 Best Books To Transport You Overseas
FORBES: While you may not be able to book your ticket at this very moment, you can still take a vacation the old-fashioned way—mentally, that is. (19 March 2020)
An Interview with Bestselling Novelist Emma Straub
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: Emma Straub couldn’t spell straight. “There are some little stapled-together construction-paper books that my parents whip out now and then from when I was six-years-old, and all the words are spelled wrong,” she says. (18 May 2017)
Cabot's Secret to Success? Believe in Yourself - and Keep on Writing
THE BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: Though it may be difficult to believe, the prolific author Meg Cabot initially believed she could never be a writer. “I always did want to be a writer. But my father was a college professor, and my mom was an English major, and they were like, “No, you can’t be a writer. It will be so hard,” she said. “I never thought I could be a writer because I knew how hard of a life it is.” (3 October 2019)
Jersey Native To Speak About His Adaptation Of 'Dear Evan Hansen' Play Into Novel
BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: The fictional American high school in the Broadway play "Dear Evan Hansen" could exist anywhere, but for Val Emmich, who adapted the play into a novel, inspiration was “definitely” drawn from his experiences attending Manalapan High School in Monmouth County, though he said he believes that “one of the strengths of the story is that it feels universal.” (24 September 2019)
FORBES: At a time when authoritative voices are more needed in travel than ever, we interviewed 15 Black travel writers on their favorite trips, stories, and what's next. (21 July 2020)
10 Places To Eat, Drink, And Fish Like Ernest Hemingway In Key West
FORBES: The longing to escape to the Florida Keys was immortalized in the words of Ernest Hemingway, who once declared, “I want to get to Key West and away from it all," And that he did—he returned stateside after his extended sojourn throughout Kenya. While the Keys may technically belong to the state of Florida this destination feels light years from the continental United States. (29 June 2019)
An Interview with Julie Maloney: She Dances with Words
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: Debut novelist and Randolph Township resident Julie Maloney worked for years as a professional dancer before beginning her writing career, though she quickly found her literary rhythm. (25 September 2018)
Calling all MFA Students (and Hollywood Screenwriters): David Foster Wallace Wants You to Stop Being Cool
THE BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: For someone so ardently vocal about how uncool he was, David Foster Wallace has become the epitome of cool for my generation's angst-ridden English majors and counter-culture, would-be poets. Isn't it ironic? (7 August 2018)
She Always Said She’d Buy the Flowers Herself:
THE BERNARDSVILLE NEWS: My New Year's resolution was to revisit the classics, which is how I found myself rereading "Mrs. Dalloway" during the endless days of early July. I report back with all confidence that Virginia Woolf's novel should be required reading in 2018. (31 July 2018)
An Interview with Lincoln Child on His Sixth Solo Novel
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: It should come as no surprise that the extraordinarily prolific novelist Lincoln Child penned his first books before he even knew how to write. (27 September 2017)
Hot Off the Press: An Interview With Carolyn Murnick
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: Carolyn Murnick, the author of “The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, And Murder,” never thought she would write a book. (21 August 2017)
Before the Sequel Hits Theaters, Remember How The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Ends
POPSUGAR: Unless you've been living under a rock (or a spider's web), you've heard about the upcoming sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, slated for release in November. (28 September 2018)
Emma Straub Shines at Morristown Festival of Books Summer Spotlight
THE BOOK REPORT NETWORK: “What is it like to be a person? What is it like to fall in love? What is it like to fall out of love? What is it like to have children who grow up?” (7 June 2017)
Morristown Festival of Books Summer Spotlight with Emma Straub
BROADWAY WORLD: Calling all bibliophiles! Kick off the summer season with the novelist who has mastered the art of the witty and intelligent beach read. (8 May 2017)
In Defense Of Poetry: Road Less Traveled Wants Plenty Of Attention
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS: steemed as one of the oldest arts, poetry seems to be undergoing an identity crisis these days. (24 February 2012)
In Blue Nights, Joan Didion Gets Personal- Again
RECORDER NEWSPAPERS:In her new memoir, “Blue Nights,” Joan Didion turns her iconic, unflinching gaze inward and reflects upon her own frailty and failures through the death of her daughter, Quintana Roo. (24 November 2011)
The Year Of Magical Reading
ECHOES SENTINEL: It is alarmingly easy to occasionally feel trapped in the day-to-day banalities of your routine. (9 November 2011)
Some Muggle Thoughts On Harry Potter
RANDOLPH REPORTER: Harry Potter has, essentially, grown up with me, although I would not call myself a fanatic waiting in lines outside of book stores to buy "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," J.K. Rowling's final book in the series about the boy wizard. (15 August 2007)
An Interview with Langdon Jones
PSRC: An interview with author Langdon Jones (15 August 2006)
Dying Is An Art, Like Everything Else: The Role Of Suicide In American Poetry
WARREN HUNTINGTON SMITH ARCHIVES: Honors Dissertation 1 May 2005)