Meryl Streep gave a career-defining speech Sunday after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, slamming President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigration stances and for mocking a disabled reporter while campaigning for office. She then encouraged viewers to support the Committee to Protect Journalists, something Trump surely discourages. It was a huge middle finger directed to a politician who can’t even dream of Queen Meryl’s grace.

A hoarse Streep began by recognizing a handful of the actors and actresses born outside of the Los Angeles bubble, including many who are not from America.

“Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you’ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not arts,” she said. 

Streep’s speech was a departure among Cecil B. DeMille winners, who typically focus on their careers when accepting the annual lifetime achievement prize. She ended with a message her late friend Carrie Fisher once told her: “Take your broken heart and make it into art.”

Viola Davis, who introduced Streep’s segment with a story of their recipe-swapping friendship, continued the political talk in the press room after winning Best Supporting Actress for “Fences.” 

“I will, believe it or not, remove Trump from the equation because I believe it’s bigger than him,” Davis said. “I believe that it is our responsibility to uphold what it is to be an American, and what America is about and the true meaning of what it is to pursue the American Dream. I think that America in and of itself has been an affirmation, but we have fallen short. Because there is no way that we can have anyone in office that is not an extension of our own belief system. So what does that say about us? And I think that ― if you answer that question ― I think that says it all.”

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Disney unveiled a new “Beauty and the Beast” teaser during the Golden Globes on Sunday night, giving us a sneak peek of Emma Watson singing “Belle (Reprise),” a number from the original 1991 movie. Watch it below.

The live-action reboot hits theaters March 17. 

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Not one but two people made a tragic mix-up at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday that made for some of the most unforgettable moments of the night.

“Today Show” host Jenna Hager Bush and actor Michael Keaton invented the unfortunate title “Hidden Fences” during incredibly awkward moments (Bush’s happened during the pre-show) in which they clearly confused the names of two of this year’s biggest films “Hidden Figures” and “Fences,” both of which are led by black casts. 

It shouldn’t be that difficult to remember the names of these widely acclaimed films (both of which feature award-winning actors and actresses), especially when they are nominated for such a prestigious awards. To say nothing of the fact that there is a teleprompter to read from.  

Still, it happened... and Twitter users responded to the regrettable mistake in a hilarious way. As a result, #GoldenGlobeErrors picked up on Twitter as users hilariously highlighted other made-up or mixed-up names of classic black films. Here’s a sample of some below, coming never to a theater near you: 

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Another year, another glamorous night of the Golden Globe Awards ― the annual show where we get to watch some of the most glamorous celebs in Hollywood get drunk and celebrate our favorite moments on the big and small screen ― and occasionally say something powerful and profound. 

Highlights of the night for women ranged from Tracee Ellis Ross finally winning her first Golden Globe for “Black-ish,” “The Crown” winning all the awards, and Meryl Streep’s poignant, political acceptance speech for Lifetime Achievement. 

But the best part of any awards show is, without a doubt, the tweets, and the ladies of Twitter were in fine form tonight. Check it out: 

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Casey Affleck won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama on Sunday night, and in a surprise move he appeared to address the sexual harassment allegations that have been haunting him this awards season. 

During his acceptance speech for his performance in “Manchester by the Sea,” Affleck thanked his children, saying, “It’s my kids who give me permission to do this because they have the character to keep at bay all the noise that sometimes surrounds people who live publicly.”

That comment appeared to reference the renewed attention surrounding the 2010 sexual harassment allegations made against the actor by two women who worked on the hoax Joaquin Phoenix documentary, “I’m Still Here,” which Affleck directed. 

Due to the terms of the settlement, Affleck is not allowed to discuss the case. Prior to Sunday night, his only comment on the matter was a brief statement he gave to Variety in an October cover story.

“People say whatever they want,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you respond. I guess people think if you’re well-known, it’s perfectly fine to say anything you want. I don’t know why that is. But it shouldn’t be, because everybody has families and lives.”

Affleck offered similar sentiments when asked about the allegations by the New York Times in November, in which he seemed to infer that his family members were the real victims. 

“It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset — I am sure all were — but I am over it,” he told the New York Times via email. “It was an unfortunate situation — mostly for the innocent bystanders of the families of those involved.”

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HIGH: The “La La Land”–themed opening number with all the Barbs (minus the whole “look at how funny it would be if Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake were gay!” thing).

LOW: Everything else Fallon did, particularly imitating Chris Rock while making an O.J. Simpson joke.

LOW: Shocking absolutely everyone, Mahershala Ali lost the first award of the night to Aaron Taylor-Johnson. “Nocturnal Animals” is now a Golden Globe winner. 

HIGH: Tracee Ellis Ross’ sweet speech. “This is for all the women of color, and colorful people, whose stories, ideas and thoughts are not always considered worthy and valid and important. But I want you to know that I see you. We see you. It is an honor to be on this show, ‘Black-ish,’ to continue expanding the way we are seen and known, and to show the magic and the beauty and the sameness of a story and stories that are outside of where the industry usually looks.” 

LOW: “Hidden Fences.”

HIGH: A bespectacled Julia Louis-Dreyfus filling in for Questlove in the DJ booth.

HIGH: Keith Stanfield’s little jig when “Atlanta” won.

LOW: Sofia Vergara made a weird anal-sex joke, then turned to introduce Sylvester Stallone’s teenage daughters.

HIGH: Meryl Streep shooing people away so Viola Davis could get to the stage to accept her award.

HIGH: Sunny Pawar! 

HIGH: Ryan Gosling’s heartfelt acceptance speech praising Eva Mendes. This dude knows how to secure an Oscar nomination!

LOW: “La La Land” won Best Screenplay, because it totally makes sense to give a musical a writing award over “Moonlight” or “Manchester by the Sea.”

HIGH: Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell reminiscing about their sad experiences watching animated movies. 

HIGH: Queen Meryl Streep slamming Donald Trump in a speech that radiated elegance. 

LOW: No Frances McDormand reaction shots.

HIGH: “Moonlight” closed out the night by winning one of the two top film awards. (The other went to “La La Land.”) It was the only prize “Moonlight” took home, which is a bummer. But it was an incredibly high note to end an otherwise spotty show.

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The crowd at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre erupted in applause before its Broadway show even started on Sunday.

Hillary Clinton walked in to see the final performance of “The Color Purple,” and New York City theatergoers gave the former presidential candidate not one, but several, standing ovations, according to New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro, who was in attendance.

Clinton, who has kept a relatively low profile since losing the election in November, attended the show with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea. 

Videos shared on social media show the Clintons surrounded by audience members attempting to take selfies with the former Democratic presidential candidate. Supporters also reportedly yelled out “We love you,” and “God bless you!”

Clinton was also surrounded during intermission, and received another round of applause when her presence was proudly referenced during the cast’s farewell speech after the show, the Times reported.

The entire experience was substantially more welcoming than when Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see “Hamilton” soon after the election. Pence was booed by fellow theatergoers as he tried to find his seat, and the cast publicly confronted him and his divisive policies after the show. 

Between Clinton’s attendance and the cast’s performance, fans described “The Color Purple’s” final performance as electrifying.

For those who couldn’t attend, the production posted Cynthia Erivo’s final performance of her show-stopping number, “I’m Here”:

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On Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. In protest of the occasion, a group of 130 artists and critics have signed a petition calling for cultural institutions around the nation to close for the entire day.

The J20 Art Strike implores museums, galleries, schools, non-profits, studios, theaters and concert halls to refrain from conducting business as usual in an attempt to resist what organizers call the “normalization of Trumpism ― a toxic mix of white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, militarism, and oligarchic rule.” Instead, creative citizens are called upon to hit the streets, protest and recalculate the role of such cultural spaces over the next four years.

“We consider Art Strike to be one tactic among others,” the petition states. “Like any tactic, it is not an end in itself, but rather an intervention that will ramify into the future. It is not a strike against art, theater, or any other cultural form. It is an invitation to motivate these activities anew, to reimagine these spaces as places where resistant forms of thinking, seeing, feeling, and acting can be produced.”

Given the sweeping socioeconomic disparities in the art world, the Art Strike aims to prioritize voices that are particularly threatened by Trump’s impending presidency. It challenges art-world actors to protect the importance of diversity, individuality and free self-expression in a time when the future of such values remains in question.

“However you choose to respond to this call, Art Strike is an occasion for public accountability, an opportunity to affirm and enact the values that our cultural institutions claim to embody,” the petition states. Artists including Joan Jonas, Barbara Kruger, Simone Leigh, Cindy Sherman, Trevor Paglen and Dread Scott are among the signees along with critics Hilton Als, Chris Kraus and Lucy Lippard.

Some art institutions, however, have resolved to remain open during the inauguration day, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles.

Miranda Carroll, LACMA’s director of communications, explained the museum’s stance in an email to The New York Times: “Our entire program and mission, every day, is an expression of inclusion and appreciation of every culture.”

The Outsider Art Fair will also take place throughout inauguration weekend in New York.

While most art-world inhabitants abstaining from the protest believe in both the importance of open art institutions and J20 Art Strike’s overall mission, Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones strongly doubts the strike’s effectiveness. 

“Such a protest can only help the participants feel good about themselves. It is at best a way of saying ‘not in my name,’ and cannot conceivably do anything to curb Trump or ensure his electoral defeat next time around,” Jones wrote in an op-ed on Monday.

He continued, “Let’s face it: art and serious culture are completely marginal to American life. Trump’s victory proves that. Closing museums is not likely to have any impact on those who support him. With all due respect, they might be affected a lot more if reality television shows went on strike.”

Jones’ comments come just after Meryl Streep used her Golden Globes achievement award speech to condemn Trump’s bullying as well as his hostility toward immigrants and the press. Whether or not such acts of defiance from the creative sphere will influence the president-elect is yet to be seen, though at the very least, Streep got under his skin.

As Inauguration Day draws near, cultural institutions and creative individuals can decide for themselves whether or not an art strike is the appropriate reaction to what will be, for many, a difficult day.

But for those who decide to strike, you have some very gifted artists and thinkers on your side. 

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It’s a distant memory, but there was once a time when McDonald’s was not a worldwide behemoth. A businessman named Ray Kroc helped to franchise the fast-food joint, and now he has a whole movie of his own. 

The Huffington Post and its parent company, AOL, have a joint exclusive clip from “The Founder,” in which Michael Keaton plays Kroc and B.J. Novak plays Harry J. Sonneborn, who became the first McDonald’s president. The scene shows the two men in the throes of expanding the burger business.

Directed by John Lee Hancock (”The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks”), “The Founder” opens Jan. 20.

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A GOP congressman removed a student painting, without warning or permission, from the walls of the U.S. Capitol complex on Friday, Jan. 6, because of its contentious depiction of police officers.

The image ― a response to the 2014 protests of police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri ― shows a policeman with the head of a boar aiming a gun at a protestor with the head of a wolf. In the background, protestors hold signs reading “Stop Kill—,” “History” and “Racism Kills.” On the right, a black man in a graduation cap appears crucified and holding the scales of justice.

The controversial artwork, made by recent high school graduate David Pulphus, was selected by a committee of artists as part of the annual U.S. Congressional Art Competition in May. The piece responded to the civil unrest brewing in Ferguson, where the competition was held, following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer. 

“The painting portrays a colorful landscape of symbolic characters representing social injustice, the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri, and the lingering elements of inequality in modern American society,” Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who represents Ferguson, wrote in a statement. Until Friday, the piece hung in the Cannon House Office Building tunnel that connects the Capitol with members’ legislative offices. 

Not everyone, however, was moved by the piece. According to Fox News, over 27,000 law enforcement officials protested Pulphus’ painting, specifically its depiction of cops as animals, describing the work as “reprehensible, repugnant and repulsive.”

Police unions in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Oakland collected their thoughts in a letter sent last Tuesday to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. “This latest indignation, sponsored by an elected official intent on pandering to professional protesters, unfortunately adds credence to a demonstrably false narrative about law enforcement that undermines the safety of law enforcement officers and those we protect,” they wrote. 

Yet Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) acted alone and unprompted when he, on Friday, simply removed the painting from the tunnel wall and dropped it off in Rep. Clay’s office. Clay was out at the time. “It was an impulsive thing when I walked by,” Hunter said of his decision, in an interview with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It strikes a nerve ... You shouldn’t have something in the Capitol that depicts cops as pigs. It’s that simple.”

In response to the many people offended by the work, Clay suggested thinking about the artist’s motivation for the painting, rather than just the piece itself. “The bigger conversation we should be having is, ‘Why does this kid feel that way?’” Clay told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

Earlier this month, Clay released a statement explaining his refusal to remove the work despite its criticisms because of the First Amendment’s protection of provocative artwork. “I had no role in selecting the winner of this student art competition and I would never attempt to approve or disapprove artistic expression,” he said. “The U.S. Capitol is a symbol of freedom, not censorship. The young artist chose his own subject and the painting will not be removed.”

Whether or not Clay will re-hang the work after it has been removed remains to be seen. We have reached out to Clay’s office for comment and will update accordingly. 

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Hollywood still loves Brad Pitt, in case you were wondering. 

The actor made a surprise appearance Sunday night at the Golden Globe awards, where he introduced the movie “Moonlight,” which was up for and won Best Motion Picture, Drama.

When Pitt took the stage, the crowd erupted in applause ― and we can’t help but feel it had something to do with the fact that he’s going through one hell of a dramatic public divorce with Angelina Jolie. Just listen to those cheers:

The Globes marked the first major appearance for Pitt since Jolie filed to end their marriage in September. He previously turned up at a November screening of “Moonlight,” which he produced, alongside good friend Julia Roberts.

Pitt and Jolie’s divorce has become a tabloid spectacle due to their ongoing custody case. Pitt was cleared of any allegations of child abuse by both the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services in November; since then the drama has played out in court. 

Most recently, Pitt requested that the couple’s custody documents be sealed and accused Jolie of having “no self-regulating mechanism to preclude sensitive information from being placed in the public record, or she has other motives.” In turn, Jolie’s lawyers filed documents agreeing to keep the case private but responded stating Pitt was “terrified that the public will learn the truth.”

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Picture it: your living room, 2017 …

On Saturday, Hulu announced that the beloved NBC sitcom “Golden Girls” will be available on the streaming service beginning Feb. 13.

The show’s streaming debut comes just a day before Valentine’s Day …

… Which means, Bea, that that if you don’t have plans for that holiday, you don’t have to eat your feelings in cheesecake completely alone!

You can plop in front of your computer and watch all 180 episodes of your new (or old) BFFs — Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia — hilariously trade witty quips, like this one:

And this one:

And this one:

All are sure to make you forget about the romantic day.

Well, maybe.

Craig Erwich, head of content at Hulu, made the official announcement while speaking during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, per the Hollywood Reporter.

In other good news, Hulu announced that it nabbed streamed rights to all episodes of ABC’s “Black-ish” and renewed the libraries of “Desperate Housewives,” “Body of Proof” and “Private Practice.”

Oh, Hulu, thank you for being a friend.

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The classic young adult novel The Outsiders, a gritty saga about teenage gang rivalry, came out 50 years ago as of 2017, and it’s remained popular ever since. Though frequently challenged for its unvarnished depictions of violence and teen substance abuse, it’s also often on syllabuses in high school English classes. 

But times have been a-changin’ since author S.E. Hinton penned the book, long beloved by misfit teens, when she herself was a high schooler in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The novel, which depicts close, caring relationships between poor and rough-around-the-edges teen boys, lends itself particularly well to interpretations of homoeroticism and submerged gay romance. Though many of Hinton’s fans are eager to read these shades of queerness in her 50-year-old story, she has repeatedly, and controversially, denied that her characters are gay ― and last week, she went so far as to claim that she was “being attacked for being hetero.” 

The Hinton-vs.-readers dustup over character orientation dates back to at least October, when she responded on Twitter to a young fan who asked outright whether Johnny Cade and Dally, two of the young toughs in the novel, were secretly in love, adding that she thought it would be cute:

Hinton’s curt responses attracted outrage from readers who inferred a soupçon of homophobia in her denial:

Earlier this month, the debate resurfaced on Hinton’s Twitter feed, where her terse tone and defensiveness continued to antagonize a segment of her readers:

In her latest flood of tweets on the topic, she explicitly claimed that she felt her sexual orientation was under attack, drawing derision and anger from many:

Hinton also gestured, perhaps intentionally, toward the uproar last year over Lionel Shriver’s speech rejecting the idea of cultural appropriation, tweeting that she didn’t feel comfortable writing about gay characters because she didn’t own their experience. “There are many writers (good ones) to write from personal experience on this subject,” she tweeted at one critic.

She had at least one high-profile supporter:

Many authors, including (notoriously) Song of Ice and Fire series scribe George R. R. Martin, struggle with the strength of fan theories and the pervasiveness of fan fiction, which often take characters in far different directions than the creator intended. A similar frustration can be sensed in Hinton’s decisive smackdowns of any idea that Outsiders characters might be gay. Much like Game of Thrones, her half-century-old YA book is a magnet for amateur spinoffs; young fans have written over 9,000 stories about characters like Ponyboy, Sodapop and Johnny Cade on fanfiction.net alone. In 2012, Hinton bemoaned an Outsiders fic with an mpreg plotline.

Despite her ruffled response to the gay theories, Hinton has said that she doesn’t actually have an issue with fan fiction ― she’s even written her own, about the TV show “Supernatural.” (We’ll never read The Outsiders the same way again.)

In her flurry of tweets last week, Hinton did herself no favors with fans by framing herself as a victim and evincing knee-jerk irritation at the idea of her tightly knit gang of teenage boys being involved in gay love affairs. Ultimately, however, she insisted that she believes her readers have every right to their own interpretation ― as long as she can maintain her original vision: 

It’s not exactly the J.K. Rowling approach, that’s for sure. But given that The Outsiders is halfway to 100 years old, maybe we’re all better served by focusing on the outstanding YA fiction about LGBTQ kids being published today ― and feeling absolutely free to believe, in our hearts, that Johnny and Dally were in love.

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Manhattan’s Lower East Side cleaned up one massive pile of poop last week. Unfortunately, it was the one massive pile of poop that really meant something. 

Street artist Hanksy painted the viral mural known as “Dump Trump” in the summer of 2015, shortly after Donald Trump announced his presidential run. Somewhat inspired by the poop emoji, the artist rendered the now president-elect as a literal pile of shit, his signature yellow-orange tuffet of hair perched atop the mountainous crap mound.

Hanksy urged his fans to “dump Trump” by participating in a street art campaign, in which voters could download free images and banners protesting Trump as well as the normalization of the bigotry and intimidation for which his campaign stood. Trump himself even got a whiff of the protest, although he strangely mistook his poopy portrait for a picture of a potato. 

Well, Trump won, and the mural is no more. The image was whitewashed on Jan. 6, after the owner of the building housing the artwork received a letter from the city, threatening fines if the work wasn’t removed. Some say, however, its scent still lingers on certain warm, summer nights. 

“It was a shit mural anyways,” Hanksy told Gothamist, stating the obvious. He then offered to paint the image again, if anyone happens to have a nice, open wall in direct view of Trump Tower. Anyone? Don’t be shy!

Until then, farewell, “Dump Trump” ― the one epic turd in this town that was more than just a pile of fecal matter. It will be missed, kinda. 

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New year, new books. At least, that’s what we wrote back in December, when we were just starting to add titles to our 2017 reading lists.

Now that we’re nine days into the new year, our to-read list has only grown. And while our first book preview was filled with all the fiction you could handle, we wanted to take a moment to talk about the incredible wave of nonfiction we’re expecting this year, too.

Particularly, we’re talking about nonfiction from women authors ― because a single year that includes memoir and essay collection releases from the likes of Roxane Gay, Patricia Lockwood, Joan Didion, Yiyun Li, Mary Gaitskill, Samantha Irby and Camille Paglia is worth celebrating.

Behold: 27 nonfiction books by women everyone should read this year.

JANUARY

Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation by Kyo Maclear

For many of us working full time in urban environments, the prospect of studying mushrooms or catching fireflies seems like a faraway fantasy. In 2012, writer Kyo Maclear was inspired by a musician she met who had fallen in love with birds ― one of those rare natural spectacles readily available in cityscapes. The author spent the year devoted to the winged things, observing them and documenting the changes she underwent along the way. Birds Art Life chronicles her journey, exploring the many shapes passion can take, and the many spaces natural beauty can occupy. ― Priscilla Frank

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Jan. 3.

Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin

Earlier this year, Merritt Tierce, author of critically acclaimed 2011 novel Love Me Back, surprised readers with an essay detailing what she’s been up to since the buzz about her book quieted. “I promptly went broke,” she stated in Marie Claire. Now, she’s delivering mail. It’s not a tragic anomaly, but a new reality for writers ― including those who have achieved some sort of objective success ― is confronting laughably low pay. So, what’s a writer to do? Manjula Martin, founder of WhoPaysWriters.com, edited a collection of essays by the likes of Jonathan Franzen, Emily Gould and Alexander Chee, doling out practical advice. ― Maddie Crum

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Jan. 3.

The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady by Veronica Chambers

“Whenever I think about Michelle Obama, I think, ‘When I grow up, I want to be just like her. I want to be that intelligent, confident and comfortable in my own skin,’” author Roxane Gay, one of the 16 writers included in this timely homage to forever first lady Michelle Obama, proclaims. With a preface from Ava DuVernay and more essays from people like Phillipa Soo of “Hamilton,” this is a good book to help ease your way through the end of the Obama presidency. ― Katherine Brooks

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Jan. 10.

How to Murder Your Life: A Memoir by Cat Marnell 

In an oddly perfect bit of timing, Cat Marnell — whose singular, manic style of beauty writing on the women’s site xoJane led to a certain brand of internet infamy — returns for public judgment with her long-awaited memoir just as that same site rings its death knell. Marnell wrote openly about her high-flying New York lifestyle, addiction and rehab stays, subject matter that attracted both fans and critics alike. Her memoir promises more relentless excavating of her life’s darker parts and glossy magazine juiciness. ― Jillian Capewell

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Jan. 31.

FEBRUARY

All The Lives I Want by Alana Massey

The title of Alana Massey’s essay collection comes from a Sylvia Plath quote that reads, in part, “I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want.” Massey’s meditation on our cultural fascination with the iconic, prematurely deceased writer is a standout of her upcoming collection, in which she probes the lives of famous and infamous women and incorporates her own experiences to arrive at sharp insights on celebrity fascination and personal examination. ― JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Feb. 7.

This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression by Daphne Merkin

“It is an affliction that often starts young and goes unheeded, younger than would seem possible, as if in exiting the womb I was enveloped in a gray and itchy wool blanket instead of a soft, pastel-colored bunting,” Daphne Merkin wrote in a 2009 piece for The New York Times Magazine. Merkin brings her longstanding affliction — depression — to life through her remarkably honest and visceral descriptions of the mental health condition that still remains largely cloaked in silence. In the essay collection, Merkin revisits childhood memories, therapist visits, hospitalizations and more, yielding an intimate portrait of life as a woman and a writer living with depression. ― PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Feb. 7.

Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life by Yiyun Li

Novelist Yiyun Li turns to nonfiction in 2017 with this literary autobiography. A love letter to her authorial influences, a memoir of her youth in China and her writing career in America, Dear Friend explores how language and literature help us shape who we are and what we hope to be. If you’re not convinced, check out the excerpt recently published in The New Yorker, which poignantly unravels her relationships to Chinese and English ― and why she chose to renounce one for the other. ― Claire Fallon

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Feb. 21.

Abandon Me by Melissa Febos

The best memoirs, like the best novels, don’t lean on a fantastical life story but on the unforgettable prose of a born storyteller. Abandon Me is the second memoir of Melissa Febos; her first, Whip Smart, shed light on her experiences as a professional dominatrix. In her latest, Febos excavates the legacy left by her birth father, whom she didn’t know, and her close bonds with her mother and her adoptive father, a sea captain. Intermingled with this reexamination of her childhood and ancestry is a love story ― the aching, erotic saga of her affair with a married woman. Searing and eye-opening at every turn, this memoir will be a must-read. ― CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Feb. 21.

Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London by Lauren Elkin

A “flâneur” is defined as “one who wanders aimlessly.” However, for most of cultural history, this someone was presumed to be male. Cultural critic Lauren Elkin challenges this assumption by celebrating the women throughout history who have dared to move throughout urban spaces on foot. Elgin explores the personal and political implications of a woman moving through a city alone: who she looks at, who looks at her, and what happens when she makes her primary place outside the home. Elkin intersperses her own personal experiences wandering through Paris with the many flâneuses who came before and the types of self-transformations that can only occur on foot. ― PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore Feb. 28.

MARCH

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui

In The Best We Could Do, Thi Bui tells the story of her family’s departure from South Vietnam to the United States in the 1970s, providing a Vietnamese perspective on a war that rocked the cultures of both countries. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen described it as “a book to break your heart and heal it.” Bonus: The entire memoir is illustrated. ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 7.

One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays by Scaachi Koul

This is Scaachi Koul’s debut essay collection, centered on her experience growing up as the daughter of Indian immigrants and a woman of color in the West. On Twitter, she urged readers to “preorder my book and laugh yourself into an early grave.” If you’re looking for equal doses of humor and outrage in 2017, we suggest you check this out. ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 7.

South and West by Joan Didion

Joan Didion, the great author of books like Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The Year of Magical Thinking, is a lifelong notebook addict. She uses them to record overheard conversations between strangers and her own banal observations, to jot thoughts about interviews and potential new works. This collection of never-before-seen bits from her notebooks includes musings on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976, a road trip with her late husband, a ladies’ brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Convention, a meeting with Walker Percy, and much more. As HuffPost writer Maddie Crum wrote last year, “If you’d like to keep on nodding terms with the person Didion used to be, you can read South and West.” ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 7.

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

Right now, you could summon almost any material good you’d like ― 50 delicious tacos, a new book, a yearly supply of cat food ― and have it at your door within seconds. You can even secure a potential hookup while sitting alone in your apartment. We take these comforts for granted, and sometimes forget that not everything in life is conveniently bendable to our whims. That’s the premise of New Yorker writer Ariel Levy’s new memoir, which posits that we can’t have it all. We still can’t have children past a certain age; it’s still tricky to maintain a healthy relationship while still seeing other people. What you can have is this book that’s both personal and urgent. ― MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 14.

The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit

Writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit is the mind behind Men Explain Things to Me, hailed as the “antidote to mansplaining.” The Mother of All Questions has been ambiguously described as the former’s follow-up, involving ― as you might have guessed ― new essays on feminism. All we can say at this point is that Solnit knows how to write an intriguing book title. ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 14.

Free Women Free Men by Camille Paglia

Since the 1989 release of her first essay collection, Sexual Personae, Camille Paglia has continued to confound categorizations as a feminist who thinks women’s studies is “a comfy, chummy morass of unchallenged groupthink,” an art historian who thinks “Star Wars” is the best artwork of all time, and a lesbian who “doesn’t get along with lesbians.” Free Women Free Men is a compilation of Paglia’s best, and most incendiary, previously published essays, guiding readers through her singular perspectives on culture, sex and femininity. At times infuriating, at times glittering, Paglia’s prose is always biting and relentless. It’s more effective, however, when praising Madonna’s sexuality than defending date rape. ― PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 14. 

How to be a Bawse by Lilly Singh

Lilly Singh produces a popular YouTube channel, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before the actress and comedian wrote a book. Described as “the definitive guide to being a bawse: a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because he or she has fought through it all and made it out the other side,” the book will likely reflect aspects of Singh’s #GirlLove initiative. ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore March 28.

APRIL

Somebody With a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill

The author of Bad Behavior, Veronica, and Two Girls Fat, and Thin made a name with herself with her stories that explore power dynamics between men and women. She writes, also, about beauty standards, performance and the pressure women feel to compete with one another. Occasionally, she’s applied these thoughts to nonfiction essays, on everything from Bjork to Gillian Flynn. Finally, they’ve been collected, and fan girls everywhere are squee-ing. ― MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 4.

Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard

Sarah Gerard was a shining voice in fiction with her experimental, reeling debut Binary Star, about a teaching student struggling with anorexia and her toxic boyfriend while on a road trip. Now, readers are treated to Gerard’s insight and emotional probing into nonfiction matters in an essay collection focusing on the place where she was raised — Florida’s Gulf coast. ― JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 11. 

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose

The title of Durga Chew-Bose’s upcoming essay collection Too Much and Not the Mood comes from one of Virginia Woolf’s journals, referring to the endless editing and tweaking writers self-inflict to make their voices pleasing and meaningful to readers. For young women, who, as Chew-Bose has written, are used to “self-editing from the day we’re little girls,” the task appears especially eternal. In her essay collection, partly inspired by Maggie Nelson’s balance of the personal and the theoretical, Chew-Bose explores what it means to be a writer as a young woman of color today. ― PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 11.

Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristen Radtke

In her debut book, Kristen Radtke undulates between public and deeply personal observations. Her story begins when she attends her uncle’s funeral near a dilapidated mining town; from there, she sets out to explore abandoned places while contemplating a heart disease many members of her family have suffered from. Loss echoes throughout its illustrated pages, threading disparate corners of the globe together into a touching narrative. ― MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 18.

American Originality: Essays by Louise Glück

Louise Glück is known as a brilliant poet, but in the course of her long and storied career, she’s also turned her hand to prose. Her first collection of essays, published in the early ‘90s, won a PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction ― so there’s every reason to expect good things from her upcoming essays on contemporary poetry. ― CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 18.

A Grace Paley Reader: Stories, Essays, and Poetry edited by Kevin Bowen and Nora Paley

There probably isn’t a better teaser for this book than the short and succinct statement that appears on Amazon ― the summary describes it as “an essential book for all Grace Paley fans.” The late Paley, born in 1922, is known widely for her short stories, essays and poetry, so for those interested in acquainting themselves with a literary legend, this is the reader for you. And it doesn’t hurt that it kicks off with a introduction by George Saunders. ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore April 18.

MAY

Priestdaddy: A Memoir by Patricia Lockwood

Patricia Lockwood’s rule-breaking, creative poetry hints that she’ll offer a memoir bursting with rule-breaking, creative prose. Priestdaddy, like much of her poetry, tackles issues like religion, gender norms, class and, above all, her relationship with her eccentric, deeply Catholic family. As the title indicates, her father is a Catholic priest ― skirting the celibacy mandate, it seems, by seeking the priesthood only after marrying and starting a family. Funny and gorgeously written, with scenes so witty and zany they could be lifted from a Broadway show, Priestdaddy will be one of the major prose debuts of the year. ― CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore May 2.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby is the kind of essayist who can make readers cry with laughter and tear up with emotion within pages. It only takes a few moments reading her blog, Bitches Gotta Eat, to understand how compelling her voice is ― one that earned fans with the 2013 collection Meaty and surely will again with this year’s offering, which promises both madcap and life-affirming tellings that cover Irby’s pitch for herself as the “Bachelorette,” a trip to Nashville to scatter her estranged father’s ashes, and more. ― JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore May 30.

JUNE

Can I Borrow That?: Essays by Jenny Allen

You might know Jenny Allen’s work from the humorist’s show “I Got Sick Then I Got Better,” an emotional and witty one-woman show about grappling with an ovarian cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery. If not, allow the writer’s new essay collection to introduce you to her singular voice, which her publisher describes like “a female Dave Barry.” In the book, Allen touches on middle age, living with a serious illness, and more quotidian experiences like being a houseguest and attempting a craft project. ― JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore June 6.

Firsts: How My Twenties Helped Me to Redefine Realness by Janet Mock

Author and activist Janet Mock wrote Redefining Realness in 2014, outlining her path from a poor, multiracial, trans kid in Hawaii to one “the most influential people on the Internet.” We don’t even know yet what the book cover looks like, but we do know that Firsts will focus on Mock’s 20-something years, recounting “her stint as a stripper, her first-generation college experience, her move to New York, and her start in journalism.” ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore June 6.

Hunger by Roxane Gay

This is a big year for Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay. Her book Difficult Women, a collection of short stories about women of all origins and aspirations, came out earlier this month. While we’re poring over that, we’re also anxiously awaiting Hunger, subtitled “A Memoir of (My) Body” and described by HarperCollins as “a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.”

“I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe,” she writes. “I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere ... I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.” ― KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstore June 13.

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There may have been many shining stars in attendance at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards, but the internet thought a particularly little one sparkled brightest. 

Sunny Pawar, who plays young Saroo in the film “Lion,” joined co-star Dev Patel on stage to help introduce a clip from their movie. 

And, boy, did he make our collective hearts roar. 

The precious 8-year-old’s delightful smile quickly drew in “aww”s from the crowd. Then, Pawar’s adorably confident introduction of the film after Patel lifted him up to the mic really left everyone in pieces. 

Though the young actor was only on stage for a few short moments, that was all it took to make the entire Twitter-sphere melt. And, as you can see below, celebrities and others weren’t afraid to shout their appreciation for the boy across social media. 

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People usually associate purple with the late Prince, but it seems that gold might have been more accurate.

The musician had a plethora of gold bars in his possession and was a prolific real estate investor, according to a file released on Friday by Carver County District Court, reported on by the Star Tribune. 

When Prince died last year, he was the owner of an estimated $25.4 million worth of real estate (and other personal property) and 67 10-ounce gold bars, according to estate documents. 

Yes, solid gold bars.

The bars have been estimated to be worth a combined $836,166.70, as gold is currently going for $1,180 an ounce.

And that’s just a small part of what the legendary “When Doves Cry” singer left behind.

The Bremer Trust, the special administrator going through Prince’s estate, still hasn’t determined the full value of Prince’s assets. Assets that include the iconic “Purple Rain” and “Graffiti Bridge” motorcycles as well as unreleased recordings and videos, musical instruments, jewelry and household furnishings. 

Not to mention the value of Prince’s trademarks and copyrights, which is also unknown at this time.

Prince died on April 21, 2016 at the age of 57 after an accidental overdose and left behind no will.

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You might assume there are no 63-year-olds running popular fashion blogs. If so, prepare to get schooled.

Lyn Slater, a university professor and social worker, named her blog Accidental Icon after paparazzi mistook her for a celebrity on the streets of New York City.

Slater happened to be meeting a friend outside a fashion show two years ago, dressed in her usual sleek style, when “all of a sudden I was surrounded by fashion photographers taking my picture, thinking I was some fashion person,” she told HuffPost. “It was really all very accidental.”

The blog she started, however, is highly intentional ― and totally inspiring. 

With photos, fashion finds and personal essays, Accidental Icon offers a welcome dose of emotional maturity in a world overrun with twenty-something fashion bloggers. Slater, who prefers the term “influencer” to “fashion blogger,” features shots of herself roaming the NYC streets alongside wise reflections, from her personal definition of feminism to the similarities between quality friends and quality moisturizer. 

She posts photos with minimal or no edits, leaving laugh lines, silver hair and wrinkles for all to see. And while that may seem rare in the world of fashion, Slater isn’t even thinking about it. 

“Age is not a variable I consider when I am dressing,” she told The Huffington Post. “I think it is quite wonderful that the boundaries in fashion are loosening.”

As are we. Rock on, Lyn.

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The concept behind Women Who Draw is simple: it’s a self-described “open directory of female* professional illustrators, artists and cartoonists.” 

The asterisk in that statement is key. Women Who Draw is trans-inclusive, the organization notes. As a result, it has one succinct goal: to create a platform for women, trans and gender non-conforming illustrators find work, find each other, and continue being creative around the globe. 

Women Who Draw originally launched in December of last year, but due to an overwhelming number of submissions in one 24-hour period (early supporters included Lenny Letter co-creator Lena Dunham), co-founders/artists Wendy MacNaughton and Julia Rothman opted to relaunch in 2017. WWD now has around 700 active members, with 300 more on a waiting list ― interested artists can sign up easily online this very moment. 

Together, WWD hopes to challenge the hiring bias its founders have observed in the publishing world. “We counted a certain magazine that often has illustrated covers, and noticed that in the past 55 covers, only four were by women,” Rothman told the BBC this week. On top of that, WWD aims to help bring images of women of color and queer women ― made by women of color and queer women ― into mainstream publications that don’t often showcase them.

Ultimately, the site sends a pretty clear message to the people who claim, “Oh, I’d love to hire more talented women illustrators. I just don’t know any.” PSA: Now you do.

After spending time with Rothman in The Huffington Post’s New York office prior to the relaunch (see our time-lapse of Rothman’s painting demonstration above), we checked in with MacNaughton about the origins, and the future, of her open directory for women artists worldwide:

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I used to love Sofía Vergara. I was proud to call her a fellow Colombian immigrant. I thought she was a positive representation of my country during a time when most Americans seemed to think it was synonymous with cocaine and Pablo Escobar. 

I loved that she was beautiful and charming but didn’t take herself too seriously ― a combination that’s made her a darling in the entertainment industry. Her shrewd business sense and ability to juggle numerous endorsement deals, merchandise lines and the Hispanic talent management company, Latin WE have made her the highest paid actress on television for five consecutive years. 

Vergara is a self-made businesswoman who has built a profitable and impressive empire. She is well beyond needing to rely on Latina stereotypes for a laugh ― which is why it’s so frustrating to watch her step on screen (or on a revolving Emmy platform) and continually make herself the butt of the joke.

Unfortunately, she did little to change those tendencies at Sunday night’s Golden Globes. While on stage, she made the “mistake” of saying anal instead of annual. She then jokingly corrected herself by saying “anus” before ending the bit she later told Instagram followers she came up with backstage.

Sure, the crowd laughed. Perhaps I would have too if it weren’t for how often she makes her accent the punchline. 

A quick search on YouTube of Vergara will surely bring you to a clip of her making a dig at her thick accent. It’s become normal that she and others make fun of the fact that she pronounces things like the name of her favorite football team or Covergirl’s tagline differently.  

The habit of using her already hypersexualized figure for laughs is troubling, as well. Vergara, and all Latinas, are more than their bodies or possible sex appeal but her actions on-screen do little to dispel the stereotype. She was willingly objectified during the Emmys in 2014 when she stood on a revolving platform and said her big boobs made her look “like a hooker” at the 2013 SAG awards. 

So enough is enough. What Vergara thinks and says of her thick accent and curves is, of course, very much her own business. Yet how she continually portrays it on-screen is problematic for Latinas everywhere. 

It wouldn’t matter if Vergara was the only person poking fun at herself, but doing so has given others comedic license to do so as well. And the result is the normalization of laughing at thick accents.

What Vergara thinks and says of her thick accent and curves is, of course, very much her own business. Yet how she continually portrays it on screen is problematic for Latinas everywhere.

Diego Luna very recently proved there is real power in treating accents with respect. When the actor proudly kept his thick accent on the big screen for “Rogue One” he made hundreds of fans, including a Mexican father who became the subject of a viral post, feel represented and proud of their own accents.

I, admittedly, don’t have much of an accent, but I did grow up with a mother who spent decades too ashamed to speak English to others because of hers. My mother fearlessly left her country and family behind to give her two daughters a better life in a country where she knew neither the language nor the culture. She would attend community college courses night after night just to get a better grasp of a language she first began to learn in her late 30s while others never even considered learning a second language in their early 20s.

And it fills me with rage that anyone would think any less of my mother or any other hardworking immigrant in the U.S. based on how they pronounce the word “beach.”

But that is the reality of today, when “Speak English, this is America” and xenophobia is as rampant at a Kentucky mall as it is among politicians.

No, Sofia Vergara isn’t in charge of single-handedly eradicating Latina stereotypes on television, but she sure as hell shouldn’t be a part of the problem. And saying things like “I don’t know why people think stereotypes are so terrible” to a trade publication is only setting us back further. 

I only hope the actress realizes the damage she’s doing to those who don’t have the privilege of fame to fall back on every time she makes her accent or her curves the butt of any joke.

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