Alexander Manshel

Criticism Is Literature. Why Is It Vanishing?, by Adam Morgan What do the best book reviews do? What is the current state of the critical ecosystem? Chicago Review of Books founder Adam Morgan takes stock of book reviewing in the US.

With Ron Charles and Becca Rothfeld laid off from WaPo, there are now only 5 full-time book critics working in the United States.

That's down from 7 when this pubbed last year, though you may find my definition of a "full-time book critic" arbitrary.

worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb...

Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction by Laura B McGrath McGrath, an English professor at Temple University, debuts with an enlightening study of how agents have shaped the American lit...

“Anyone curious about how their favorite books came to be will appreciate this peek behind the curtain.” @lbmcgrath.bsky.social’s Middlemen—“an enlightening study” of literary agents—earns a @publisherswkly.bsky.social review:

The NEA is a Zombie What Was the NEA?

Started mucking around with data this morning. Made a couple interesting charts from data about all the writers who ever got an NEA grant, with data from Xander Manshel + team. Decided I’d write it up for my first post.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Ok hello who can tell me the name of the google doc that I made in 2018 and where I stored it please and thank you.

The wisdom of the Pagliacci joke! I can't find the original post but one of my favorite examples of the genre went like...

Man goes to the doctor. Says, "It hurts when I do this."

Doc says, "Then don't do that!"

Man bursts into tears.

"But doc, I AM DO THIS!"

Are you looking for an indexer for an academic monograph? I have space this summer for one or two clients. DMs open for more info!

Yes, give a holler when you’re here!

Congrats!!

@mowhan.bsky.social's SCHOOLS OF FICTION is outstanding, and I could not be more excited for NOTES ON THE NOVELLA!

Toni Morrison in a black suit jacket with a white shirt and black cravat, looking effortlessly cool in a way that Bob Dylan in his just-gone-electric days could only dream of.

“Canon building is Empire building. Canon defense is national defense. Canon debate, whatever the terrain, nature and range…is the clash of cultures. And *all* of the interests are vested.”

— Toni Morrison, “Unspeakable Things Unspoken”

The same thing happened at ACLA in Montreal a couple years ago. All my friends were asking if “spring always comes so early in Montreal.” The moment their planes took off, it was 🥶🥶🥶

Fun talking with @andeamarzocchi.bsky.social and @smallgoodpodcast.bsky.social, about the history of the American short story, and the institutions (prizes, anthologies, The New Yorker) that elevate a select few to the status of The Best of The Best!

Out today! Meet Alexander Manshel, Associate Professor of English at McGill University. How is contemporary short fiction in America influenced by the people and institutions that contribute to its production, circulation, and reception? Listen here to find out:

www.spreaker.com/episode/the-...

Yes! But as anyone who’s ever driven in or through one of these towns can tell you…

Born and raised in a few of these, my ear says Damon does the best job

UW researchers analyzed which anthologized writers and books get checked out the most from Seattle Public Library UW researchers analyzed the checkout data from the last 20 years of the 93 authors included in the post-1945 volume of “The Norton Anthology of American Literature,” which is assigned in U.S....

Nice write-up by @uwnews.uw.edu about our research into the most read canonical American authors in Seattle, drawing on library data.

It was so fun to work on this project with @neel2112.bsky.social and a stellar group of undergraduate students.

www.washington.edu/news/2026/01...

This #MLA26 panel on "Public Canons" is going to be a blast! Some of my favorite people and scholars.

We're saving time for open conversation, so please join us!

MLA 2026 Panel #447 "Public Canons" Saturday, 10 January from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM in MTCC-709 Presider: Autumn Womack (Princeton) Presentations... "The High School Canon" by Alexander Manshel (McGill) "The Nonfiction Canon" by Laura McGrath (Temple) "The Remix Canon" by Melanie Walsh (UWashington) "The Viral Canon" by Tess McNulty (UIUC)

If you're headed to #MLA26 in Toronto, come check out these two DYNAMITE panels I'm a part of...

On Saturday at 12:00, we've got PUBLIC CANONS, featuring @lbmcgrath.bsky.social, @mellymeldubs.bsky.social, Tess McNulty, and Autumn Womack!

🔥🔥🔥 let’s goooooooooo!

The ‘Crisis of the Humanities’ Is Over. That’s Not a Good Thing. All of higher ed now suffers the attacks of politics and technology.

This was published in the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s. If you work in education & were, reasonably, taking a break, maybe you missed it.

Don’t miss it.

The Goodreads “Classics”: A Computational Study of Readers, Amazon, and Crowdsourced Amateur Criticism – Post45 What is a classic? This is “not a new question,” as T.S. Eliot acknowledged more than seventy-five years ago.(( T. S. Eliot, What Is a Classic?: An Address Delivered Before the Virgil Society on the 1...

Also worth checking out this great article by @mellymeldubs.bsky.social and @mariaa.bsky.social!

post45.org/2021/04/the-...

Ugh. Such fomo!

The papers are outstanding,
the time slots are perfect,
the rooms are drably carpeted and harshly lit—
WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?!

MLA 2026 Panel #511 "The Study of High School English" Saturday, 10 January from 3:30 PM to 4:45 PM in MTCC-601A Presider: Scott Newstok (Rhodes) Presentations... "The Institution(s) of High School English" by Alexander Manshel (McGill) "Rebellious Subjects: Teaching and Learning Romeo and Juliet" by Andrew Newman (Stony Brook) "Morrison on Goodness" by Annie Abrams (Bronx High School of Science)

And on Saturday at 3:30, there's THE STUDY OF HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH, with Scott Newstok, Andrew Newman, and @annieabrams.bsky.social!

MLA 2026 Panel #447 "Public Canons" Saturday, 10 January from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM in MTCC-709 Presider: Autumn Womack (Princeton) Presentations... "The High School Canon" by Alexander Manshel (McGill) "The Nonfiction Canon" by Laura McGrath (Temple) "The Remix Canon" by Melanie Walsh (UWashington) "The Viral Canon" by Tess McNulty (UIUC)

If you're headed to #MLA26 in Toronto, come check out these two DYNAMITE panels I'm a part of...

On Saturday at 12:00, we've got PUBLIC CANONS, featuring @lbmcgrath.bsky.social, @mellymeldubs.bsky.social, Tess McNulty, and Autumn Womack!

Dragons, Sex and the Bible: What Drove the Book Business This Year

over 400 new bookstores opened in the USA in 2025, which is 100 more than opened in 2024. bookstores are thriving:

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b...

This holiday season, give the gift of “readable, timely, inventive…definitive”! Preorder MIDDLEMEN!

Thanks, Laura!

Thank you, Sarah! I firmly believe it was the expert indexing that pushed it over the edge!