Shirley Jackson centenary
Miles Hyman was about 3 years old when his grandmother, writer Shirley Jackson, passed away in 1965. He has one clear memory of her: She’s sitting in her kitchen in North Bennington, Vt., with a cigarette and a glass of J.W. Dant bourbon before making dinner.
Fast forward 50-plus years. Hyman, an artist who specializes in graphic novels and adaptations of classic literature, has created “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’: The Authorized Graphic Adaptation’’ (Hill & Wang), being published Oct. 25. It’s a lusciously visual presentation of his grandmother’s chilling story. Published by The New Yorker in 1948, the story about a village stoning brought the magazine a torrent of letters by upset readers.
Dec. 14 marks the 100th anniversary of Jackson’s birth and the literary world is taking note. A new biography, “Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life’’ (Liveright) by Ruth Franklin, offers a deep examination of Jackson’s life and her place in American literature. Cambridge-based Ninth Art Press has published “The Shirley Jackson Project: Comics Inspired by Her Life and Work’’ edited by Robert Kirby. The cartoons riff on her stories, explore the meaning of food and blood in her work, and catalog Jackson archetypes such as the Pompous Windbag, the Devouring Mother, and the Eternal Outsider.
Podcast taping at the Lilypad
In the new podcast “The Fail Safe,’’ successful authors talk about how to move beyond dead ends and false starts. In the first episode, Garth Greenwell, author of the well-reviewed debut novel “What Belongs to You’’ (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), said he felt like a failure when he was enrolled in a PhD program at Harvard because he had abandoned his own writing. When he left academia to teach English in Bulgaria, he found time to write.
On Oct. 28, the Lilypad in Inman Square, Cambridge, will be the setting for a live taping of a new episode, this one with Laura van den Berg, whose 2015 novel, “Find Me’’ (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), was named a best book of the year by NPR and BuzzFeed, among others. She’ll be interviewed by Mark Polanzak, a writing professor at Berklee and cofounder of Draft: The Journal of Process, a literary magazine. The podcast is a joint effort of Draft and the Iowa Writers’ House. Doors open at 7 p.m.; taping begins at 7:30.
Antiquarian Book Fair on tap
An illustrated Japanese edition of “Don Quixote’’ and a watercolor painting of Hogwarts — created for the British edition of a Harry Potter book — are among the intriguing items that will be for sale at the annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Oct. 28-30 at Hynes Convention Center. In honor of this 40th anniversary year, admission is free on Oct. 29 and 30. Edgar Allan Poe scholar Paul Lewis is among the speakers. Details at bostonbookfair.com.
Coming out
“Honor Before Glory: The Epic World War II Story of the Japanese-American GIs Who Rescued the Lost Battalion’’ by Scott McGaugh (Da Capo)
“The Girl From Venice’’ by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon & Schuster)
“The Obsidian Chamber’’ by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central)
Pick of the Week
Alden Graves of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., recommends “Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill’’ by Candice Millard (Doubleday): “The young Churchill saw his path to prominence and power through fearless exploits in the British Army and as a war correspondent. England’s brutal war with the Boer rebels in southern Africa would prove to be his crucible. Millard’s exciting chronicle of Churchill’s experiences there, both daring and humbling, is a fitting tribute to a man whose early dreams of glory proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.’’
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
