Electric Literature’s Most Popular Articles of 2023

In one of Electric Lit’s most-read essays of the year, “Black Women Are Being Erased From Book Publishing,” Jennifer Baker examines the publishing industry in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. She holds the publishing industry accountable for appointing high-profile Black women to powerful positions, only to see many of those same women depart those positions within a year or two. She also reveals the pain of her own dismissal from Amistad Books in 2022, when she was told her position as a senior editor had been eliminated.

Editors work behind the scenes, but their impact is enduring, and widely felt. Editors influence who gets published, and how their work is ushered into the world. In her essay, Baker writes about having done that work, and feeling erased from the record. The impact of Black women in publishing, she argues, is slowly being rendered invisible. She asks a key question: “If you don’t exist, how can you even begin to tell your own story?” 

By now you know that Electric Literature is committed to publishing writers who tell stories that need to be told. Whether by soliciting work from emerging and underrepresented authors, working with a writer on in-depth, developmental edits, or creating new opportunities for authors to submit work, everything we do is geared toward supporting writers by providing a home for their most vital stories. 

At Electric Literature, helping writers tell their stories is our story. We take immense pride in guiding our writers through the editorial process, compensating them, and presenting their work to millions of readers, online, for free. 

But publishing Electric Literature isn’t free; supporting writers isn’t free. Please consider making a donation to support Electric Literature, so we can keep telling the stories that most need to be told.

Denne Michele Norris
Editor-in-chief of Electric Literature

Here are the most popular posts of the year by category, starting with the most read:

Reading Lists

1. 7 Cozy Mysteries To Curl Up With by Alice Bell

These warm and fuzzy whodunnits are perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Only Murders in the Building.

“Some might think of cozy mysteries as edgeless and old-fashioned, but that’s only the case if you want it to be. To my mind, the genre feels like a metaphorical warm blanket around the shoulders. Though the detective will be out to solve a murder, there’s usually (but not always) less gore on the page, and while I’ve used the word “detective,” a cozy crime is most often solved by an enterprising member of the public.”

2. 8 Long-Awaited Follow Ups to Beloved Books by Chris Vanjonack

Not all authors are as prolific as Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates. This list is proof that it can take decades for even the most acclaimed writers to produce their next work:

“The last few months have been an exciting time in the world of publishing, not only for the litany of debut novel and short story collection releases, but also for the publication of two long gestating, highly anticipated projects by Cormac McCarthy and Katherine Dunn.”

3. 7 Craft Books to Help You Become a Better Writer by Kyla Walker

Improving your writing doesn’t have to be a daunting task.

“Whether you are an aspiring writer, a Pulitzer-Prize winning memoirist, or a curious reader, these books on craft will change you and the way you think about the world—as well as literature—within the complex confines of beauty and truth.”

4. 7 Books to Devour if You Love Yellowjackets by Claudia Guthrie

Two words: erotic cannibalism. That’s all.

“Showtime’s Yellowjackets was the unlikely sleeper hit of 2021 with its dark, off-kilter narrative and female characters who are messy, deeply flawed (and sometimes just downright sinister)… The second season of Yellowjackets was even darker than the first.”

5. 7 Books That Use Fairy Tales to Reveal the Strangeness of the Real World by Rebekah Bergman

These contemporary works of fiction weave in fairy tales to subvert what we take for granted as normal:

“Imagine the dark forest set on a planet mostly destroyed by climate change, the magic mirror in a story of race and identity, or that enchanted sleep in a tale about the unrelenting passage of time. Suddenly, these age-old fairy-tale objects are speaking to us about our real world, showing us how very odd it all is.”

Essays

1. I Was My Mother’s Daughter, and Then I Was Stuck With My Dad by Claire Hodgdon

Claire Hodgdon writes about Apple TV’s Shrinking and the reality of being raised by a grieving single father:

“I have watched countless movies and shows that include a dead mother. Shrinking, though, is about the single dad that is left when a mom dies. It is about the parent who is still there, not the one who is gone. The trying-but-failing Jimmy is sometimes so recognizable to me I can’t watch. Jimmy wants to be a good dad more than he acts like one. He fumbles, and he betrays, and he is selfish, and—he tries.”

2. I Was Too Quick To Call Out Cultural Appropriation by Kavita Das

George Harrison went from chief villain to unlikely hero in Kavita Das’s story of how Indian music came to the West.

“Why had George undertaken this grand endeavor of a cross-cultural tour, the likes of which had never been attempted before, putting his own musical reputation and resources at stake, if not to promote Indian music and musicians and to demonstrate the power of musical collaboration?”

3. As a Cult Survivor, I Found Prince Harry’s Spare Surprisingly Relatable by Rebecca Woodward

Rebecca Woodward’s parents raised her as a Jehovah’s Witness. Decades later as an adult, she sees parallels between her escape from the religion and Prince Harry’s separation from the royal family.

“Like life in the royal family, Witness life was full of ever-shifting rules that often made little sense, but obedience to the men God had chosen to lead his organization was mandatory. In Spare, Harry is often as mystified by the arbitrary rules that dictated his life as I had been. Obedience, it seemed, was the only point for both of us.”

4. Black Women Are Being Erased in Book Publishing by Jennifer Baker

Jennifer Baker, a former acquisitions editor, saw her experience working at a Big 4 publishing house reflected in The Other Black Girl. The novel written by Zakiya Dalila-Harris tells a tried and true story of the challenges faced by Black professionals in the book world.

“Exclusion begins with erasure. Because if you don’t exist, how can you even attempt to tell your own story?… Being the only, or one of the few, is an unenviable position no matter the situation or occupation.”

5. We Need To Talk About Professional Jealousy by Benjamin Schaefer

For Benjamin Schaefer, embracing disappointment is healthier than resenting another writer for their achievements.

“It’s discouraging to see the thing we want, to be so close to it we can almost touch it, and then to be told it isn’t for us, not yet, maybe never. It resonates in the body…

How do we feel disappointment without avoiding it or offloading it onto someone else? Without giving in to the story about how we’ve once again overestimated ourselves or the value of our work? Without perceiving disappointment—and, by extension, desire—as a threat to our well-being?”

Interviews

1. The Quest to Uncover a Disappearance in the Biafran War

Lucy McKeon talks to Emmanuel Iduma about his memoir I Am Still with You and his return to Nigeria in search of the uncle he never knew.

“It was clear to me while I wrote the book that the real failure of imagination would be to avoid a reckoning with the histories that led, in part, to the protests. My sense is that political reckonings are cyclic in nature—an event sparks a reaction, a reaction leads to a flashpoint, again and again.”

2. Maggie Smith Finds Beauty in the Dissolution of Her Marriage

Hoda Mallone talks to Maggie Smith about her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful and letting go without forgiving.

“I wasn’t interested in writing a book in which I was the ‘good guy’—a victim, a martyr—and someone else was the villain.”

3. The Craft of Turning Video Games into Literary Essays

Summer Farah talks to J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado about how Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games came together.

“We were curious what people would have to say about how games fit creatively in writers’ lives. How do video games fit into a creative practice—or, do they?”

4. Kelly Link Makes Fairy Tales Even Weirder Than You Remember

Chelsea Davis asks Kelly Link why we’re drawn to folk tales and how superstitions shape stories.

“The patterns of fairy tales are so recognizable that introducing even the smallest piece of those patterns—’once upon a time,’ for example—means the language of the story that follows becomes charged. Readers will pay closer attention to the appearance of animals (talking or not), or colors, or, say, repetitions of three.”

5. Palestinian Poets on the Role of Literature in Fighting Genocide

In this roundtable discussion moderated by Summer Farah, Samah Fadil, Priscilla Wathington, and Rasha Abdulhadi talk about countering Zionist propaganda and mobilizing art into action.

“Literature can set the stage for the attempted annihilation of a people, and it is our responsibility to point to it. How often have I chosen a slow death in service of comfort? The truth is, I have never been able to look around a room and not see the genocidal escalation to come—if the vitriolic disregard for human life, for Palestinian life, did not permeate through to our most mundane of activities, over 18,000 Palestinians would not have been killed in the past 67 days, over 1.5 million would not be displaced from Gaza.”

—Summer Farah

The Misfits

(Articles That Didn’t Fit Into Any Other Categories)

1. Free or Low-Cost American Writing Residencies by Monica Macansantos 

Looking to get away to a quiet space to focus on your writing without any distractions? In this newly updated article, Monica Macansantos recommends free or affordable 20 residency programs across America.

“I was a young MFA student when I attended my first artists’ residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. I had heard of these places nestled in the woods or in small-town America where writers and artists were provided with a private bedroom and studio space, as well as meals or a meal allowance, with the only expectation that they spent the majority of their time working on their art.”

2. 10 Books Coming to TV and Film in 2024

Claudia Guthrie has the deets on the literary adaptations that we can’t wait to watch in the new year.

“From classics like The Godfather and Jaws to modern marvels like Game of Thrones and Crazy Rich Asians, many of history’s greatest films and TV shows began as novels. A well-written book provides the ultimate Hollywood source material, with complex characters and an engrossing plot that, when read, already plays like a movie in your head.”

3. 12 Literary Podcasts for Writers and Readers by Laura Schmitt 

Laura Schmitt writes about the book podcasts you should be listening to.

“Whether you’re a die-hard bibliophile in search of your next read, a writer seeking some inspiration for your work-in-progress, or simply someone who enjoys the soothing cadence of spoken words, there’s a literary podcast for you.”

4. 7 Newsletters That Will Improve Your Writing by Samantha Paige Rosen

Samantha Paige Rosen recommends newsletters that offer the best of craft and publishing advice, writing prompts, pitch calls, and encouragement and commiseration about the writing life.

“Email newsletters can offer emotional support, tips and exercises for improving craft, and resources for getting published that might otherwise be inaccessible, especially to writers beginning their careers.”

5. Predicting the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction by Bradley Sides

Bradley Sides shares his top contenders for the most prestigious award of American literature. Spoiler alert: he was right! Well… half right, since there were two winners this year for Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

“No matter how difficult it might be to figure out the year’s winner ahead of time, it’s still fun. It’s a way to reflect back on the literary year that was—and to uncover those works of fiction that might’ve been missed when they were released. 

In shaping my predictions, previous awards, critical acclaim, general buzz, and a little bit of plain intuition are the top factors that I focus on.”

Most Anticipated Guides

62 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2023 by R.O. Kwon

Novelist R.O. Kwon’s annual list of the most anticipated books by women of color is a perennial favorite of Electric Literature readers:

“Finding these books has become, in the last seven years, less difficult, and I continue to hope that American letters will become so inclusive this effort will become obsolete. But we’re still far from that point. I’ll keep hoping.”

The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books for 2023 by Michelle Hart

Novelist Michelle Hart highlights the new and forthcoming queer books of each season:

“This is what queer art specifically does: it shows us that we have always been here and we always will be. Queer stories, like the ones listed below, do more than shine light on the shadows. They are the light in the shadows. They are living documents of our lives.”

Small Press Books You Should Be Reading This Season by Wendy J. Fox

From summer to fall, fiction writer Wendy J. Fox recommends literary gems by indie publishing houses that should be on every reader’s TBR:

“What’s thrilling about the books coming out from small presses is the breadth of range—there are intentional and accidental murders, family drama and polycules, medical calamity, geopolitics, and a whole lot of finding one’s way through it all. It’s a marvelous time to be a reader.”

What You Should Be Reading This Season According to Indie Booksellers by Laura Schmitt

Each season, Laura Schmitt—a former bookseller at The Bookshop in Nashville—asks independent booksellers across America about the books they love:

“What lead titles live up to their hype? Who are the debut authors you won’t want to miss? Which literary novel will speak to your very specific brand of autumn ennui? There’s a lot to consider when it comes, but luckily indie booksellers have read like mad and are here to provide some guidance via their thoughtful and thorough recommendations.”

The Most Anticipated Irish Novels of 2023 by Lucie Shelly

Irish American editor Lucie Shelly brings her literary expertise across the pond with her recommendation of the best new novels from Ireland:

“With the blue-eyed boy Paul Mescal as an avatar of young Irish men, global audiences have come to see unflattering GAA shorts and emotional suppression as attractive. Mescal’s breakthrough was of course in the Rooney Toons, and who knows, maybe that show was the start of the most recent wave of Irish prominence in pop culture. But when it comes to literature, Ireland has always been a powerhouse.”