Markwayne Mullin is just as crazy and drunk on power as Noem was. Case in point: DHS Is Stepping Up Its Intimidation Campaign Against a Federal Judge | TNR newrepublic.com/post/210476/...

An honor to write of this writer’s extraordinary work.

The May issue is out with a cover feature ,"Reading in Egypt," + a diary from Iran, reading recs from the Philippines, and much more. Check out the table of contents here: worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/may.

Cannupa Hanska Luger won the 2026 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for SURVIVA: A Future Ancestral Field Guide. We spoke with Luger at the #PENLitAwards about his reaction to winning the award, his perspective on the state of free expression, & the unrealized power of make-believe. pen.org/cannupa-hans...

The University of Oklahoma Department of English is excited to welcome National Book Award Finalist and Guggenheim Fellow Brandon Hobson as the new David A. Burr Chair in Letters; he’ll teach fiction writing in our dynamic, and growing, creative writing program, beginning Fall 2026.

April 16 is National Librarian Day in the US. To celebrate this day, we offer fifteen books and one film for those who love libraries and the people who make them places for everyone: the librarians. worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/booklis...

In the country of my ancestry and my heart, my books have been shrink wrapped and considered pornography because they contain gay characters. He controlled books and the media, shuttered universities, and was a foot on the country’s neck. There’s a long road ahead — de most, a pezsgő. 🍾 🇭🇺

The pro-democracy movement is already flexing its power in the streets and the voting booth. Now we need to harness our collective power as workers and consumers to demand an end to the oligarch-enabled Trump regime. Join us for the nationwide day of economic disruption on May Day: maydaystrong.org

Victor Orbán’s removal sends a timely signal. Corrupt kleptocratic Christian nationalism was on the ballot in Hungary today — just as it will be on the ballots that Americans will cast in November. It was repudiated abroad — may it be repudiated here in November (and beyond).

Hungarians showing how to win big in an unfair election: organize AND protest AND vote AND demand profound change.

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez: “The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” 🍿

Nothing but love for Jeff and the whole team at @magiccitybooks.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/b...

May Day!

On Tuesday, May 12 at 6pm CDT, join U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, Noh Anothai, Wendy Call, Kola Tubosun, and Daniel Simon for a Zoom convo about their new books, with a focus on the urgency of literary translation. Link to register and more details here: worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/news-an...

Join us Thursday and Friday (April 2–3) when writer, performance poet, and Rumi translator Haleh Liza Gafori headlines the 2026 Puterbaugh Lit Fest at the University of Oklahoma. Bring all your Rumi fans and join us! Event details here: www.puterbaughfestival.org/events/event/

Bruce Springsteen Brings Fiery Speeches and Songs to Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/a...

“I learned to connect with the people of the 1948 Nakba—the style of language they spoke, the proverbs they used.” In our March issue, Shereen Malherbe interviews Liana Badr. worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/march/i...

Holy New York.

#nokings Norman OK

#nokings No Kings Oklahoma City 3.28.26

Now THAT’S what I call a special guest! Bruce Springsteen joins Amy Goodman on stage to perform Streets of Minneapolis and celebrate @democracynow.org 30th Anniversary.

If we made the green energy transition this war would be unthinkable and these authoritarians wouldn’t be in power — not in the US, not in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia, not in Russia. Hydrocarbons are killing our freedom and just plain killing us.

“A good translation appeals to our ears, eyes, and heart; it is a singular endeavor and is a humanizing act.” From our March issue, enjoy an excerpt from US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze’s latest book + his conversation with Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/march/b...

Let's talk book history! Next week I will give a talk on the history of @oupress.bsky.social (coauthored with Tom Kahle), "Book Publishing and the American West, Then & Now." It's part of the American West & the Humanities series at OU. Wednesday, 3/4, 1pm @ the Charles Russell Center.

We're in Baltimore! Join us TOMORROW NIGHT at 7pm for our AWP off-site reading, Boathouse Extravaganza: Writers (and Editors) on the Waterfront! Lia Purpura, @rika99.bsky.social, @samuelkolawole.bsky.social, and Athena Nassar will be reading for AGNI. See you there! #awp2026

“As I sleep, half-awake, I dream that I crack open my thorax with a surgical crowbar.” Read Catalina Infante Beovic’s short story, “A Nostalgia for Desire,” translated by Michelle Mirabella, in our March issue. @michellemirabella.bsky.social worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/march/n...

Yesterday, ASME announced its finalists for the 61st National Magazine Awards and included WLT’s July 2025 “Gaza Voices” issue as one of five magazines in the Single-Topic category alongside The Atlantic, Bloomberg Markets, New York Magazine, and Orion! worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/news-an...

My daughter took this photo of me during my #vss365 livestream celebration yesterday when I was talking about how our everyday creativity can contribute to the ultimate downfall of tech bros and patriarchy. That’s why I was smiling.

“A richness of language and vision pervades the entire collection, stories that ask us to consider the role of a caretaker.” Geri Lipschultz reviews these eleven stories in Josefowicz’s third book of fiction. worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/january...

NEW — With police empowered to assist or carry out immigration enforcements, Oklahomans report fear and confusion, including during a recent raid in OKC's Asian District. | Ben Fenwick, Oklahoma Watch reports:

Out Now! "Reasons We Fight: Tejanos and American Wars, 1836-1972" by Alex Mendoza documents the circumstances that shaped military attitudes among Mexican Texans, along with their shifting ideas about identity, community, nationalism—and America itself. www.oupress.com/978080619654...

“To read The Chameleon, by Rita Signorelli-Pappas, is to flip through a book of postcards from around the world and throughout time.” Sarah Rebecca Warren reviews this collection “bookended in examples of profound change.” worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/january...

fellow Okie writer and friend @rilla-askew.bsky.social wrote a novel over 10 years ago that you should buy - imagining our way out of this is a big first step: "With the passing of a new state law, it becomes a felony to harbor an undocumented immigrant in Oklahoma ... "

From the @academemagazine.bsky.social archives: Hank Reichman's "Eight Myths About Tenure." "Tenure, for nearly a century the strongest bulwark in defense of academic freedom, protecting independent scholarship from shifting political winds & whims of scholarly fashion, is under withering assault."

“The book’s title alone announces Calleja’s illuminating and clever writing and the complexities of translation.” Regina Galasso reviews this “energetic, fun, and inspired” book. worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/january...

As Narges Mohammadi, PEN America's 2023 #FreedomToWrite Awardee, starts a hunger strike to protest prison conditions for detainees, PEN America as part of the #FreeNarges Coalition steering committee stands in solidarity with Narges and demands her release. www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/m...

If you’re near the University of Oklahoma campus on Friday, Feb. 20, please join us for the Oklahoma debut of the WLT centennial anthology A Compass on the Navigable Sea. We’ll be in Gould Hall, room 130, at 3pm. worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/news-an...

If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.

today on the good news front: journalism in Oklahoma is still alive and kicking ass (also donate to Frontier if you can)

‘Ain’t nobody coming to save us, except us.’ from Tom Morello’s intro

Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis earlier today. Please share and let this ring out from sea to shining sea. ICE out now!

Springsteen Takes the Stage as Minneapolis Residents Take to the Streets www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Bruce shows up in Minneapolis!

In this essay in our January issue, Chelsea T. Hicks and Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse discuss their rematriation work in Oklahoma, Iraq, and beyond. worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/january...

For Minneapolis’s Native Americans, a New Fight Echoes a Bitter History www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...

The movement now has its own “Ohio” thanks to Bruce Springsteen‘s “Streets of Minneapolis”: youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?...

Plans for a large ICE processing center in southwest OKC have been disclosed. City officials aim to involve the public in the approval process, although they admit there are few legal avenues to halt the project. | Brett Fieldcamp reports: freepressokc.com/few-options-...

The Havoc That One Disgruntled Student Can Wreak on a University www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/o...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free