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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Polari Book Prize Canceled After Authors Withdraw in Protest
Organizers of the Polari Prize, which confers the only book awards honoring LGBTQ+ authors in the UK, have canceled this year’s prizes after more than a dozen nominees and two judges withdrew to protest the inclusion of John Boyne. Boyne, who has publicly expressed anti-trans ideas and come out in support of J.K. Rowling’s virulent transphobia, has only doubled down in response. The Polari will be back in 2026, and organizers have committed to “increase the representation of trans and gender non-conforming judges on the panels.” Strategic resistance and thoughtful response are exactly what you want in a situation like this, and I hope to see Polari follow through with greater care and consideration for their community.
Is the Way You Read Lolita the Way You Read Everything?
It’s been 70 years since Lolita was published, and American readers have spent all seven decades arguing over how to interpret it. Vox’s Constance Grady offers a sharp analysis of how Lolita “has become a barometer of sorts for cultural change,” a welcome, nuanced take in a moment when discourse feels allergic to complexity. Everyone seems to have a take on Lolita, including a wave of BookTok creators declaring it a “red flag book” without, I’d wager, having read it. (See: the internet’s ongoing war on nuance.) Grady’s model of critical engagement and deep reading is a quiet act of resistance to algorithms that reward capturing attention more than paying it. More like this, please.
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Jeffrey Wright and Octavia Spencer to Star in Death of a Salesman Adaptation
Shut up and take my money. Oscar nominees Jeffrey Wright and Octavia Spencer are set to star in a big-screen adaptation of Death of a Salesman created by Chinonye Chukwu and Tony Kushner. Originally published in 1949, Death of a Salesman is a two-act tragedy set in Brooklyn about a traveling salesman who is depressed, possibly developing dementia, and increasingly disillusioned with the American Dream. It’s a powerful and perpetually resonant story that, in its original text, explores an implicitly white American experience. Wherever and whenever the adaptation is set, its meaning and interpretation will be shaped by Chukwu and Kushner’s choice to cast Black actors. This is one to watch.
Coming to a Screen Near You
This fall is stacked with literary adaptations hitting streamers and the big screen. You want a cozy British murder mystery? We’ve got you. A campy divorce comedy? Check. Leonard DiCaprio having the time of his life in a Paul Thomas Anderson spin on a Pynchon novel? Boy oh boy. Tessa Thompson in Hedda Gabler? Hell yeah. And yes, you can even see Sydney Sweeney star in the adaptation of a BookTok fave.