A Monthly Update from Penguin Classics

Because what you read matters. Subscribe to the Penguin Classics Newsletter here. Black Lives Matter. Black Voices Matter. Black Stories Matter. This month we’re sharing a few of the works by Black authors we have been learning from lately. Let us know on social media the Black voices and stories you’re reading this month (we’re @PenguinClassics everywhere). Nonfiction—History: The

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Interviews, Reviews, and News: Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad received glowing critical reception upon its publication, earning him the National Book Award and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His highly anticipated follow-up novel The Nickel Boys faced the threat of being overshadowed by its predecessor, but has quickly earned a spotlight of its own. We’ve put together a

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Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez (Celebrando Gabriel García Márquez)

Journalist, novelist, and short story writer—no matter the medium, master storyteller Gabriel García Márquez knew how to transport readers from around the world to Latin America. With his signature mix of realism and the fantastic, García Márquez’s words brought to life the history and culture of an entire continent. As a way to celebrate the

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Announcing the Modern Library Torchbearers Series

We are pleased to present the new Modern Library Torchbearers series, created to honor a more inclusive vision of classic books by recognizing women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance. “The collection started with our desire to use the Modern Library as a platform to call out

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Documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am arrives in theaters

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am profiles the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of international acclaim, featuring interviews with Morrison herself, Robert Gottlieb, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Walter Mosley, and more. The documentary portrays Morrison in an intimate, human light: examining her life, works, and the philosophies woven throughout the stories she tells. In the video

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Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale retold through illustrations

Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale kicks off on Wednesday, June 05, with Hulu releasing new episodes each week. Hulu has described the new season as being “driven by June’s resistance to the dystopian regime of Gilead and her struggle to strike back against overwhelming odds.” Just in time for the season premiere, Nan A. Talese

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FROM THE PAGE: There There

There There is a multivoiced novel that features twelve Native American characters of different backgrounds and generations all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American, grappling with a complex and painful history. In an interview with The New Yorker, Tommy Orange explained

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FROM THE PAGE: Washington Black

Washington Black follows “Wash” Black, an eleven-year-old field slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados. When Wash’s old master dies, the plantation’s already dire living conditions immediately worsen. Wash is then selected to become a manservant to his new master’s brother, a man who, as it turns out, is not only an abolitionist, but an inventor,

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Classic Works Through Fresh Perspectives: Five Lit Crit Memoirs

Approaching classic works of literature through the eyes of a modern, thoughtful reader is one way to enhance a reading experience that can otherwise feel musty and dated. Writing for Signature Reads, Jennie Yabroff offers up a list of memoirs written by contemporary authors working their way through five classics.

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