June 6, 2026

by Chloee Weiner, producer of NPR's Book of the Day

Hey newsletter readers! Last week, we discussed how the latest round of AI controversies has impacted literary prizes – and asked for your thoughts on the best way forward. Some of your responses are below! As always, the inbox is bookoftheday@npr.org. And if you want to hear the latest author interviews from across NPR, subscribe to NPR’s Book of the Day podcast. Here we go!

Julia Elliott on Southern gothic and writing without shame

I just visited New Orleans for the first time, where – even though it’s not technically summer yet – it’s already sticky, hot and lush. The intensity of these summers in the American South is a major source of inspiration for the writer Julia Elliott, who just won the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. The award honors work by women and nonbinary authors in the U.S. and Canada — and the winner receives $150K. That makes it one of the most lucrative prizes in literature. Elliott, known for her eclectic blend of Southern gothic horror, surrealism and fairytale, won for her short story collection Hellions.

Elliott won the prize for Hellions. Forrest Clonts/Tin House

I had a chance to chat with the author earlier this week, post-victory. She was on her way back to South Carolina, where she lives and teaches at the University of South Carolina. Elliott told me she’s compelled by “this thing [she] call[s] the Southern gothic ecology:”

“I do a lot of writing in the summers. It’s hot, but the vegetation is also intense, lush in some places, growing very quickly. It’s hard to keep the vines back. There are shrieking cicadas … It’s almost a psychedelic fever dream. Even though there are miserable things about it, there’s something about giving into the intensity of the physical experience.”

Elliott said the prize money will allow her to take summers off from teaching classes like “Monstrous Mothers, Diabolical Daughters, and Femme Fatales: Gender and Monstrosity in Horror Films.” And since she’s a professor, I asked what advice she has for aspiring writers:

“When you’re an undergraduate especially, you should embrace mimicry and imitation and influences. That’s how you learn to write. If you find a writer you fall in love with, if your story sounds a little too similar to theirs, that’s great because you’re picking up tricks from them. Eventually, you’ll develop your own voice that’s a hodgepodge that transcends all the other influences in your life. ... Have no shame.”

If you’re a writer, do you find yourself inspired by a particular season or author? Let us know at bookoftheday@npr.org.

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TBR Pile

Julia Elliott has some not-so-summery summer reading recommendations: Everything on the Carol Shields Prize shortlist, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, Tender by Sofia Samatar, Brawler by Lauren Groff, The Monroe Girls by Antoine Volodine, and The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington. They might not be your typical summer reads, but Elliott says they’re unified by “travel to strange places.”

Stanford University, pictured in 2019, is the subject of a new book by Theo Baker. Ben Margot/AP

If you’re searching for new nonfiction, Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep interviewed Stanford student and journalist Theo Baker about How to Rule the World. It’s a memoir about Baker’s investigative reporting, which led to the resignation of the university president. He describes Stanford as a place where proximity to Silicon Valley gives rise to a parallel system of influence, recruitment and money.

Mailbag!

Last week, we asked for your thoughts on how AI should be handled when work is evaluated for literary prizes. Here’s what you said:

Teresa A. wrote: “I've personally written every book I've published. But now my publisher asks me to run the manuscript through AI before submitting the final copy. I instruct AI to check for grammar, spelling, repetition, omissions, etc … Should I be disqualified from a competition because of that? I don't believe so. Would I ever submit work for publication that relied on AI? No way. What is the line? If I have an awkward sentence and AI ‘fixes’ it is that a line crossed? I don't know the answer but I can spot AI writing a mile away.”

Kate A. wrote: “For your question on what to do about the use of AI or detecting AI in books, I’m stumped. I can only suggest that if people want to avoid AI in books, they should just ensure they are reading something pre-2022, when public models like Chat GPT became available.”

Ted K. wrote: “I teach an online, asynchronous course at my local community college. I count on a handful of AI detecting software products to ferret out cheaters. It is unthinkable to teach a course like that in this age without these tools. These same services send me emails suggesting I use them to write communications to my students, which I find highly ironic. The students pretend to write, I pretend to teach – what could possibly go gnorw?”

That’s all for now. See you next week!

P.S., if a friend sent you this newsletter and you want to sign up, the place to do it is npr.org/newsletter/books. :)

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