Payback

A federal judge has ordered the National Endowment for the Humanities to reinstate more than $100 million in grants, directed to more than 1,400 recipients, after DOGE canceled the funds in an AI-assisted and ideologically targeted purge. Pine State Literary, the agenting arm of the eponymous North Carolina–based publicity firm, has launched under the direction of Zoe-Aline Howard, with a focus on titles that speak to rural and middle America. And U.K.-based author Arianna Reiche chatted with PW about Bo-sco, her new page-to-screen IP scouting service aimed at producers. In an interview with Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt, the Wall Street Journal repeated speculation that the bookstore chain may go public this year. The Gothamist examines how New York City’s literacy curriculum has discouraged K-12 teachers from assigning whole books. A new biennial literary festival in Austin, Tex., is aiming to recreate the nostalgia of the Scholastic Book Fair for adults, per KUT. Author, publisher, and literary agent Lori Perkins talks with the New York Times about making a living in New York City. The Evanston Round Table checks in with newly minted Pulitzer Prize winner and local author Daniel Kraus. And for Travel + Leisure, photojournalist Greta Rybus pays a visit to the homes that inspired classic children’s books.