Alexander Manshel

@alexandermanshel.bsky.social

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Assistant Prof, McGill English | Book: WRITING BACKWARDS (Out now from Columbia UP: Bit.ly/WritingBackwards) | Writing: The Atlantic, LARB, Public Books, Post45, PMLA, and MELUS | 📍Montreal

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Alexander Manshel

If you are at MLA, please stop by the Columbia University Press booth (315) for recent books by @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social, @courtneythorsson.bsky.social, Glenda Carpio, Imani Owens, Sofia Samatar & Kate Zambreno, @alexandermanshel.bsky.social, as well as many other great titles.

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"One of the year’s most trenchant ... literary studies" Sam Sacks draws on WRITING BACKWARDS: HISTORICAL FICTION & THE SHAPING OF THE AMERICAN CANON, by @alexandermanshel.bsky.social, to frame his year-end fiction review in the Wall Street Journal. bit.ly/48Dxf2V

If you're headed to Philadelphia for MLA this week, come check out this fabulous panel! I'll be talking about my new book and how women writers have reshaped the contemporary literary canon!

An absolute pleasure to talk with Brooke Gladstone @onthemedia.bsky.social about my work with @mellymeldubs.bsky.social, @lbmcgrath.bsky.social, and @jdporter.bsky.social on literary prizes and the politics of representation!

Who Cares About Literary Prizes? | On the Media | WNYC Studioswww.wnycstudios.org It turns out, a lot of us.

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Amid great interest in the sociology of lit—thanks to @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social's & @alexandermanshel.bsky.social's excellent books—let me recommend my (contingent scholar) friend Amy Paeth's recent contribution to this convo, The American Poet Laureate State: A History of U.S. Poetry and the State

The American Poet Laureate | Columbia University Presscup.columbia.edu The American Poet Laureate shows how the state has been the silent center of poetic production in the United States since World War II. It is the first histo... | CUP

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"To borrow the iconography from Columbia University Press’s colophon, they are crowning achievements." -- Omid Bagherli on WRITING BACKWARDS, by @alexandermanshel.bsky.social and BIG FICTION, by @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social. bit.ly/415IMFE

"While Sinykin and Manshel place accent on different components, these excellent, systematic studies complement each other well in defining the contours of the contemporary US novel...they are crowning achievements." Thanks, Omid Bagherli and ASAP Journal, for this fabulous review!

Reading Literary Success: On Dan Sinykin’s Big Fiction and Alexander Manshel's Writing Backwards /...asapjournal.com

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Anise K. Strong

Sophia Nguyen in @washingtonpost.com notes @alexandermanshel.bsky.social's _Writing Backwards_' great pt that 80% of "new canon" written by BIPOC & taught in schools is historical fiction, mostly slavery, WWII, immigrant fams, multi-gen sagas, & recent hist - a way of accessing non-elite stories.

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Alexander Manshel

congrats!

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One of my favorite pieces of writing from one of my favorite literary critics! This essay is so fantastic, and a perfect teaser for the excellent WRITING BACKWARDS.

Today is the official publication day for my book, and I couldn't be happier to see this excerpt—on the historical novels of @colson.bsky.social, and the book that started it all—published in LitHub!

The History of the United States According to Colson Whiteheadt.co Since the publication of his first novel in 1999, Colson Whitehead has become one of the most lauded, prized, taught, and studied American novelists writing today. Winner of the National Book Award…

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Alexander Manshel (@alexandermanshel.bsky.social), author of WRITING BACKWARDS, has co-written a fascinating new essay w/ @mellymeldubs.bsky.social in @publicbooks.bsky.social examining the National Book Awards and how literary distinction is doled out, and by whom. bit.ly/3MABZxG

What 35 Years of Data Can Tell Us about Who Will Win the National Book Awardbit.ly We may never know what goes on in the rooms where literary prizes are decided, but thanks to data, we know exactly who was there.

This year's jury for the National Book Award is the most diverse in the prize's history. Will that make a difference when the winner is announced next week? The answer is more complicated than you might think. Before the gala, check out @mellymeldubs.bsky.social and I in @publicbooks.bsky.social!

In the first article in our latest installment of “Hacking the Culture Industries,” @mellymeldubs.bsky.social and @alexandermanshel.bsky.social dig into data on the The National Book Award. What they find reflects enduring issues of racism in literary awards. www.publicbooks.org/what-35-year...

What 35 Years of Data Can Tell Us about Who Will Win the National Book Awardwww.publicbooks.org We may never know what goes on in the rooms where literary prizes are decided, but thanks to data, we know exactly who was there.

Very cool to see Craig Fehrman's piece about my book in today's @bostonglobe.bsky.social! I’ll be getting a print copy for my scrapbook, but here’s the link for the rest of you!

We’re drowning in historical fiction - The Boston Globet.co Books about the past get most of the prestige. That’s boxing writers in — and some more so than others.

John Guillory’s work on the institutional life of literature has been a big part of my thinking for years. I’m thrilled and honored to have his words on the back cover of my book!

"A surprising new history of the contemporary novel that no future critic will be able to ignore." -- John Guillory on WRITING BACKWARDS, by Alexander Manshel (@alexandermanshel.bsky.social) bit.ly/3MOosmJ

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Alexander Manshel's amazing new book WRITING BACKWARDS: HISTORICAL FICTION & THE RESHAPING OF THE AMERICAN CANON is now out! For more on the book listen to his interview with @onthemedia from earlier this year. bit.ly/41OAh1G @alexandermanshel.bsky.social #LiteratureNow

How Historical Novels Can Help Us Remember | On the Media | WNYC Studiosbit.ly Patching the holes in our historical record, one novel at a time.

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Loved @lkonstan.bsky.social 's survey of the sociological turn in literary studies, prominently featuring books by @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social, Gisèle Sapiro, and @alexandermanshel.bsky.social. Worth making a free account to read. 1/2

Opinion | The Sociology of Literature Comes of Agewww.chronicle.com Two new books investigate how capitalism and culture collide.

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With the recent arrivals of MIGRANT AESTHETICS, by Glenda Carpio; WRITING BACKWARDS, by Alexander Manshel (@alexandermanshel.bsky.social); and BIG FICTION, by Dan Sinykin (@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social), it's been a great Fall for #LiteratureNow! Read more about the series here: bit.ly/3p6XKYj

It’s finally here, and it’s gorgeous!

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“Literary fiction” is dead. What even was it? I wrote about its short life (created in the 1980s!), conditions of possibility, & rapid decline into obsolescence for The Nation. A taste of my book, Big Fiction www.thenation.com/article/cult...

What Was Literary Fiction?www.thenation.com The strangely short history of a publishing niche.

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Hot off the press! Congratulations to @alexandermanshel.bsky.social on the arrival of his new book WRITING BACKWARDS: HISTORICAL FICTION & THE RESHAPING OF THE AMERICAN CANON. bit.ly/3LMwqvG

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Hey ASAP friends! We're doing a seminar on DH, data, and contemporary culture tomorrow afternoon — come check it out! We're sharing work on TikTok, Goodreads, Instagram, creative writing fellowships, and more. I'll be talking about Rupi Kaur 😎

Heading to ASAP in Seattle next week? Come see this fabulous double session of papers using data to investigate 21st century writers and readers! From the NEA to Goodreads, TikTok to Rupi Kaur, these panels have lots to say about contemporary art and how we study it!

If you're interested in joining this ACLA panel on "Reading the Classroom," please reach out by email ASAP! It'd be great to have a sense of numbers before the ACLA paper deadline of September 30...

Thinking about attending ACLA 2024? Looking for a good excuse to visit Montreal? Then why not join me in “Reading the Classroom,” a seminar on the connections between literary study and literary criticism?! https://www.acla.org/reading-classroom

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WE'RE BACK! And this season we're weeeeird. Look out for a special drop later today, featuring the brilliant @katemarshall.bsky.social! 👀👽

Such a pleasure to get to talk about my forthcoming book with @onthemedia.bsky.social! The piece, which is re-airing this weekend, also features the incredible Min Jin Lee and Alexander Chee!

How the Historical Novel Took Over | On the Media | WNYC Studiost.co Patching the holes in our historical record, one novel at a time.

If you're looking for an indexer for your book project, or might be soon, definitely contact @smosment.bsky.social! She did a great job on the index for my book, and I would absolutely work with her again!

Writing Backwards | Columbia University Pressbit.ly Contemporary fiction has never been less contemporary. Midcentury writers tended to set their works in their own moment, but for the last several decades cri... | CUP

Whether or not you've been following the World Cup, check out Kathryn Winner's @nplusonemag.bsky.social dispatch on the group stage of the World Cup! Why can't more sports coverage read like this?! I really hope they've got her doing the rest of the tournament!

These Are Women on My TV | Kathryn Winnerwww.nplusonemag.com Men are good in a runny, underdetermined way: their value to society is clear by the way they are watched, worshiped, and paid, but there’s insufficient evidence that they deserve what they have. (L...

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We’re going on a journey, y’all. This is just the first of 12 (?!?).