James Plath, whose most recent published criticism—”Updike’s ‘Wife-Wooing’: The Seven Year Itch and the Soliloquy of Seduction”—appeared in The John Updike Review Vol. 10, No. 1 (Fall 2023), recently spent two weeks researching an essay on Mark Twain and John … Continue reading →

Stewart Lytle, reporting for The Town Common, writes that the Ipswich Historical Commission “is preparing to erect a plaque to honor the prolific author on the door of the Caldwell Building, which houses the Choate Bridge Pub. The owner, the … Continue reading →

It was a soft (and occasionally noisy) spring day in Shillington when a crowd of around 30 gathered on the side lawn of The John Updike Childhood Home, 117 Philadelphia Ave., in Shillington, Pa. They came on Friday, March 18, … Continue reading →

Michael Updike posted on Facebook that it was a “great morning installing Lucy Foster’s gravestone. This project was initiated by Dr. Linda Meditz and her students at the Academy of Penguin Hall. They found, researched Lucy and designed her stone. … Continue reading →

On Feb. 21 in New York City at a Library of America event, writer Kevin Morris and Cornell professor Glenn Altschuler took the stage to discuss Updike’s legacy. Morris, who had “adopted” John Updike: The Collected Stories through the Guardian of … Continue reading →

Could we see a TV adaptation of Updike’s Rabbit tetralogy in the future? We would if it were up to Andrew Davies, whose BBC1 adaptation of Les Miserables is expected to air next year. The 80-year-old screenwriter announced at a Radio … Continue reading →

Broadwayworld.com reported that playwright Mark St. Germain is adapting John Updike’s “prequel” to Shakespeare’s Hamlet for the stage. Orlando Shakespeare Theater has commissioned the project, and a staged reading of the Gertrude and Claudius play “will be featured at the Theater’s … Continue reading →

Donald Trump is in the news again (still), this time with media outlets reporting on new allegations regarding the president-elect, his ties to Russia, and a bizarre twist some in the Twittersphere are calling “#watersportsgate.” In a story titled “Americans Deserve … Continue reading →

The John H. Updike Literary Trust announced yesterday that James Schiff will edit a volume of John Updike’s letters, with a target completion date of 2020. A publisher has not yet been named. Anyone familiar with Updike studies knows that … Continue reading →

David Updike “shared the story of a summer in his life, as pieced together from various books written by his father, John,” Gerold Shelton wrote in a Dispatch-Argus story. Although his father drew heavily on his own life for his … Continue reading →

Stephen King, the master of horror who debuted with Carrie (1974), has turned to the newspaper headlines and a trio of literary masters for the subject of his new book. Finders Keepers is about a psychopath’s obsession with writer John Rothstein … Continue reading →

In a story written for The Sacramento Bee books section, writer Sam McManis considers “Sex on the page: Often cringe-worthy, occasionally uplifting.” The pun was most certainly intended, considering some of the examples McManis cites as less than effective—among them this … Continue reading →

Random House announced that John Updike: Selected Poems will go on sale October 13, 2015 in a 320-page hardcover edition edited by Christopher Carduff. The volume features five decades of Updike’s witty, intimate, and moving poems “with the cumulative force … Continue reading →

Yesterday Adam Begley tweeted, Here’s the Amazon.com link.

Tulane professor and writer Zachary Lazar was announced as the winner of the John Updike Award, a $20,000 prize administered by the Academy of Arts and Letters. As an article in The Times-Picayune notes, “Lazar is the third writer to win the … Continue reading →

Wes Driver‘s stage adaptation of Roger’s Version, which was named Nashville Scene‘s Best Original Drama 2014, has been nominated for the American Theatre Critics Association’s ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award. Driver, who is Blackbird Theater’s artistic director, premiered Roger’s Version on May 30, … Continue reading →

At one time Paul Moran said he wasn’t interested in the money, but just wanted to find a good home for the Updike materials he famously scrounged from the author’s curbside in Beverly Farms. That time has apparently passed. Now he’s … Continue reading →

Updike’s longtime publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, celebrates 100 years of publishing in 2015, and according to their website, “Each week, we will tell you about the new books we are publishing in this anniversary year, as well as throw in … Continue reading →

The Schmooze recently posted the story “Donna Karan Honored at Lungevity Foundation Gala,” and it turns out that the event’s “honorary gala chair” was Martha Updike, “whose husband the noted American writer succumbed to lung cancer in 2009. Her son … Continue reading →

Jorge Salgado Simoes writes with news from Camara Municipal de Torres Novas, Portugal: FICTIONAL GEOGRAPHIES – BREWER AND THE JOHN UPDIKE TERRITORIES Last October 4th, Torres Novas Municipal Library, in Portugal, developed a workshop on John Updike’s works, particularly on his Rabbit … Continue reading →