The nominees for the National Book Awards have been announced.  You might be interested to know that one of the categories is for young people’s literature, and that Scott Westerfield is among the judges for that award.

And the whole world has known since Thursday that Doris Lessing is this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The MacArthur Fellowships (lovingly called “genius grants”) have been announced.  Check out the winners.  They include scientists, writers, artists, and even a blues musician.  Each fellow gets $500,000 paid in installments over five years.