Reposted by Yiyun Li
“A recurrent subject for Beryl Bainbridge in her novels…is how much more fully and intensely children live in the world they create in their own minds than in the world outside.” —Yiyun Li
A Talent for Living | Yiyun Li
In Beryl Bainbridge’s novels, to die is an awfully big adventure—and so is to live.
www.nybooks.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:19 AM
“A recurrent subject for Beryl Bainbridge in her novels…is how much more fully and intensely children live in the world they create in their own minds than in the world outside.” —Yiyun Li
Reposted by Yiyun Li
‘Cancel’ comes from a Latin word meaning “to make like a lattice.”
When people needed to annul or void a document, they sometimes would mark it with crosshatches
XXXXX
which resembled a lattice.
So the document became ‘canceled.’
...we hope this post doesn’t get us that.
When people needed to annul or void a document, they sometimes would mark it with crosshatches
XXXXX
which resembled a lattice.
So the document became ‘canceled.’
...we hope this post doesn’t get us that.
January 2, 2026 at 4:18 PM
‘Cancel’ comes from a Latin word meaning “to make like a lattice.”
When people needed to annul or void a document, they sometimes would mark it with crosshatches
XXXXX
which resembled a lattice.
So the document became ‘canceled.’
...we hope this post doesn’t get us that.
When people needed to annul or void a document, they sometimes would mark it with crosshatches
XXXXX
which resembled a lattice.
So the document became ‘canceled.’
...we hope this post doesn’t get us that.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li on child’s play in Beryl Bainbridge’s An Awfully Big Adventure https://go.nybooks.com/3MTgRWy
A Talent for Living | Yiyun Li
In Beryl Bainbridge’s novels, to die is an awfully big adventure—and so is to live.
www.nybooks.com
January 1, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Yiyun Li on child’s play in Beryl Bainbridge’s An Awfully Big Adventure https://go.nybooks.com/3MTgRWy
Reposted by Yiyun Li
In an essay drawn from her critically acclaimed book “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” Yiyun Li writes about the loss of her sons, and the type of sorrow for which there is no language. Read her account: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/cwGt5m
December 27, 2025 at 1:00 AM
In an essay drawn from her critically acclaimed book “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” Yiyun Li writes about the loss of her sons, and the type of sorrow for which there is no language. Read her account: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/cwGt5m
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Titles by Miriam Toews, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Yiyun Li, and more are among the best reviewed nonfiction books of 2025.
The Best Reviewed Nonfiction of 2025
It’s time to crown some nonfiction. We, the dogged review sleuths at Book Marks, have spent the past 12 months ferreting out raves, pans, and everything in between from more than 150 publications. …
buff.ly
December 16, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Titles by Miriam Toews, Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Yiyun Li, and more are among the best reviewed nonfiction books of 2025.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Announcing the National Book Critics Circle 2025 Longlist for Autobiography
December 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Announcing the National Book Critics Circle 2025 Longlist for Autobiography
Reposted by Yiyun Li
I try not to know the sales numbers of my own books or others, but it appears that my book on writing has this week outsold Olivia Nuzzi's book on activities that she enjoys (including, I presume, writing). Not vastly outsold, so I have included a link.
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
A Long Game
From bestselling and award-winning author and professor Elizabeth McCracken comes an irresistible look at the art of writing.
Writing can feel like an endle...
www.harpercollins.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I try not to know the sales numbers of my own books or others, but it appears that my book on writing has this week outsold Olivia Nuzzi's book on activities that she enjoys (including, I presume, writing). Not vastly outsold, so I have included a link.
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
Reposted by Yiyun Li
It’s here: Our list of 100 Notable Books of 2025. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
November 28, 2025 at 1:48 AM
It’s here: Our list of 100 Notable Books of 2025. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
Reposted by Yiyun Li
THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li has been named a 2026 Carnegie Medals for Nonfiction finalist! 👉📚 tinyurl.com/wuxm3rdh
November 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li has been named a 2026 Carnegie Medals for Nonfiction finalist! 👉📚 tinyurl.com/wuxm3rdh
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Do your ideas form themselves in your head or on the page? ‘On the page. Ideas in one’s head are like beautiful fish in the water.’
Twenty Questions with Yiyun Li
Twenty Questions with Yiyun Li
Twenty Questions with Yiyun Li
www.the-tls.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Do your ideas form themselves in your head or on the page? ‘On the page. Ideas in one’s head are like beautiful fish in the water.’
Twenty Questions with Yiyun Li
Twenty Questions with Yiyun Li
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Princeton's Yiyun Li (@appletwigli.bsky.social) has been named Princeton University’s Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, an appointment first held by Professor of Creative Writing, Emerita, Toni Morrison.
Yiyun Li Named Princeton University’s Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities
Creative writing professor Yiyun Li has been named the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University.
arts.princeton.edu
October 30, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Princeton's Yiyun Li (@appletwigli.bsky.social) has been named Princeton University’s Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, an appointment first held by Professor of Creative Writing, Emerita, Toni Morrison.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
4. BOOK - Duel Duet: Selected Stories by Graham Greene, edited by @appletwigli.bsky.social
‘This ingenious collection places Greene’s stories in pairs – to be read, as the title suggests, not merely in conversation, but also in opposition and in concert’
‘This ingenious collection places Greene’s stories in pairs – to be read, as the title suggests, not merely in conversation, but also in opposition and in concert’
October 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
4. BOOK - Duel Duet: Selected Stories by Graham Greene, edited by @appletwigli.bsky.social
‘This ingenious collection places Greene’s stories in pairs – to be read, as the title suggests, not merely in conversation, but also in opposition and in concert’
‘This ingenious collection places Greene’s stories in pairs – to be read, as the title suggests, not merely in conversation, but also in opposition and in concert’
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Congratulations to Princeton professors @poetpatriciasmith.bsky.social and @appletwigli.bsky.social and alumna @juliaioffe.bsky.social '05 who were named finalists for National Book Awards this week.
2025 National Book Awards Finalists Announced
Twenty-five Finalists to contend for National Book Awards in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature
www.nationalbook.org
October 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Congratulations to Princeton professors @poetpatriciasmith.bsky.social and @appletwigli.bsky.social and alumna @juliaioffe.bsky.social '05 who were named finalists for National Book Awards this week.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“The adjectives which really suited grown-ups were ‘lily-livered’ and ‘chicken-hearted.’"
--Mary in Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows (more recently encountered by me in @appletwigli.bsky.social's story "Any Human Heart")
--Mary in Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows (more recently encountered by me in @appletwigli.bsky.social's story "Any Human Heart")
August 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM
“The adjectives which really suited grown-ups were ‘lily-livered’ and ‘chicken-hearted.’"
--Mary in Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows (more recently encountered by me in @appletwigli.bsky.social's story "Any Human Heart")
--Mary in Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows (more recently encountered by me in @appletwigli.bsky.social's story "Any Human Heart")
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“Two moments in Graham Greene’s published life have often returned to me in the past twenty years. This may sound strange: an ideal reader should refrain from crossing the boundary between a writer’s work and his life.”
Yiyun Li on Graham Greene. buff.ly/M9gqQF9
Yiyun Li on Graham Greene. buff.ly/M9gqQF9
August 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“Two moments in Graham Greene’s published life have often returned to me in the past twenty years. This may sound strange: an ideal reader should refrain from crossing the boundary between a writer’s work and his life.”
Yiyun Li on Graham Greene. buff.ly/M9gqQF9
Yiyun Li on Graham Greene. buff.ly/M9gqQF9
Reposted by Yiyun Li
"The humanities tell us who we are. Without them, we're automata." Edward Carey, Celsius 232 Festival, Avilés, Spain.
July 17, 2025 at 11:04 AM
"The humanities tell us who we are. Without them, we're automata." Edward Carey, Celsius 232 Festival, Avilés, Spain.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Reading Yiyun Li’s latest memoir “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” Ali Moss reflects on her responsibilities and limitations as a parent.
electricliterature.com/yiyun-lis-la...
electricliterature.com/yiyun-lis-la...
Yiyun Li’s Latest Memoir Illuminates My Responsibilities and Limitations as a Parent - Electric Literature
As the mother of a trans child and the daughter of a man who died by suicide, “Things in Nature Merely Grow” pulled me in like a black hole
electricliterature.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reading Yiyun Li’s latest memoir “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” Ali Moss reflects on her responsibilities and limitations as a parent.
electricliterature.com/yiyun-lis-la...
electricliterature.com/yiyun-lis-la...
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“There is no redemption arc in ‘Things in Nature Merely Grow,’ no arrival at a deeper meaning of life after the tragedies of Vincent and James’s suicides.” Jenessa Abrams reviews Yiyun Li’s "Things in Nature Merely Grow." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/children-die-and-parents-go-on-living/
July 5, 2025 at 12:50 PM
“There is no redemption arc in ‘Things in Nature Merely Grow,’ no arrival at a deeper meaning of life after the tragedies of Vincent and James’s suicides.” Jenessa Abrams reviews Yiyun Li’s "Things in Nature Merely Grow." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/children-die-and-parents-go-on-living/
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“Fortunately, fiction allows one the space to complicate matters and dispel the innocence of any image.” Yiyun Li discusses her short story “Any Human Heart.”
Yiyun Li on Dispelling Innocence and Dissecting Pears
The author discusses her story “Any Human Heart.”
www.newyorker.com
June 15, 2025 at 8:21 PM
“Fortunately, fiction allows one the space to complicate matters and dispel the innocence of any image.” Yiyun Li discusses her short story “Any Human Heart.”
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“And here sat Maureen, who had no one else to send flowers to as sweet revenge. And here sat Lilian, who had thought that little in life could surprise her anymore.” Read a new short story by Yiyun Li.
“Any Human Heart,” by Yiyun Li
And here sat Maureen, who had no one else to send flowers to as sweet revenge. And here sat Lilian, who had thought that little in life could surprise her anymore.
www.newyorker.com
June 15, 2025 at 7:04 PM
“And here sat Maureen, who had no one else to send flowers to as sweet revenge. And here sat Lilian, who had thought that little in life could surprise her anymore.” Read a new short story by Yiyun Li.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“Not calling a fact by its name can be the beginning of cruelty and injustice.” —Yiyun Li #SundaySentence
June 15, 2025 at 11:32 AM
“Not calling a fact by its name can be the beginning of cruelty and injustice.” —Yiyun Li #SundaySentence
Reposted by Yiyun Li
Reposted by Yiyun Li
“We both took pleasure in being irrelevant and irreverent and unflappable.”
Today in TYR, Yiyun Li pays tribute to her friend, the late Edmund White.
Today in TYR, Yiyun Li pays tribute to her friend, the late Edmund White.
yalereview.org
June 6, 2025 at 12:06 PM
“We both took pleasure in being irrelevant and irreverent and unflappable.”
Today in TYR, Yiyun Li pays tribute to her friend, the late Edmund White.
Today in TYR, Yiyun Li pays tribute to her friend, the late Edmund White.
Reposted by Yiyun Li
The latest book by @appletwigli.bsky.social absolutely devastated me with its beauty and grace so I wrote about it for @washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
Review | A mother pays tribute to the sons she lost
In her memoir “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” Yiyun Li tries to honor the lives, and accept the unfathomable deaths, of her two sons.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 6, 2025 at 3:58 AM
The latest book by @appletwigli.bsky.social absolutely devastated me with its beauty and grace so I wrote about it for @washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...