News of note for readers: May 1, 2026

Catch up quick with the bookish news of the past few days ... or take a deeper dive into each story. Your choice!  

• Bradley Sides lists ten books he thinks could win the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which will be handed out Monday (Electric Literature). 

• See which writers were chosen for a Cullman fellowship — which brings, among other perks, a $90,000 stipend — from the New York Public Library (Literary Hub).

• Kelly Jensen highlights some librarians who are running for political office in the opening to her weekly roundup of book ban and challenge news (Book Riot).

• Watch actress Sally Field read the first chapter of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt; Netflix's adaptation of the novel premieres next week (YouTube).

• And finally, take a peek into the Provincetown Public Library's Moby-Dick marathon reading, which featured 100 people reading Herman Melville's epic novel out loud; it took twenty-six hours across three days to do so (The Provincetown Independent).