Thousands of budding US novelists enlist in courses each year, hoping to gain credentials that often influence who gets published

Thomas Pynchon was known to avoid the press and refuse interviews. There are only two official photographs of the Gravity’s Rainbow author available publicly – one taken at high school, the other during his time in the navy. He is the embodiment of the American image of a great writer: a mysterious recluse who works in a turret alone.

These days, the writerly lone wolf is more a myth than it is a reality. Most of today’s celebrated authors are trained in the profession and their qualification is the MFA (master of fine arts). Percival Everett received his from Brown, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie studied at Johns Hopkins University, and Jhumpa Lahiri went to Boston. Great writers, now, are less rare animals discovered in the wild and more elite thoroughbreds, meticulously trained and set up for the race ahead.

Tensions in the national party are trickling down to US college campuses, where a newer student group is rapidly outflanking longstanding moderate rivals

When the Utah county clerk’s office announced last month that it was hiring Kai Schwemmer – an undergraduate at Brigham Young University and a rightwing influencer – to help reach younger voters, an uproar ensued.

An energetic and fast-talking 23-year-old, Schwemmer is a rising star of campus organizing at the College Republicans of America (CRA). He is also a prolific livestreamer with a record of provocation – which returned to haunt him when more than 80 prominent women in Utah signed a letter protesting against his hiring.

HBCUs offer more than higher education – they provide a safe haven for Black students and an investment in their wellbeing

I know exactly the soaring anticipation that Howard University’s roughly 2,500 incoming first-year students have been feeling since the first notice of their acceptance letters. There were high school graduation parties decorated in the school’s indigo, red and white colors. Parents beaming to their neighbors about upcoming send-offs to the country’s most recognizable historically Black college or university (HBCU). Located in Washington DC, Howard is nicknamed “The Mecca” by its devoted alumni because it boasts a who’s-who of graduates who pioneered every era of Black history since the school’s 1867 founding.

I know the inextinguishable excitement these recently admitted students are feeling because when I arrived wide-eyed at Spelman College in the heart of Atlanta’s HBCU epicenter, I was enveloped in instant amity, greeted with overdue affirmation and welcomed into an institution designed to nurture the promise of the young, gifted and Black. Inside the verdant urban oasis of my little Black college, I felt airlifted from countless racist indignities I endured prior. An immediate awareness dawned on me that this was how white people must feel about America, in that they never have to question if all of this was made for them.

Historically Black institution withdrew more than 500 first-year students for missed tuition payments

New York residents who were unenrolled from Washington DC’s Howard University have been offered a reprieve after the historically Black institution withdrew more than 500 first-year students for missed tuition payments in late July. On 27 July, Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, announced that affected New Yorkers can seek admission at the City University of New York (Cuny) and the State University of New York (Suny) for the fall 2026 semester.

Students will be offered expedited late admissions review at the Suny campuses at Buffalo, Albany, Buffalo State University, Binghamton, Oneonta, Stony Brook and New Paltz, with other schools assessing capacity.