MUST READ
That Was Now, This Is Then: Poems by Vijay Seshadri
The brilliant new collection from Vijay Seshadri, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning 3 Sections. No one blends ironic intelligence, emotional frankness, radical self-awareness, and complex humour the way Vijay Seshadri does. In this, his fourth collection, he affirms his place as one of America’s greatest living poets. That Was Now, This Is Then takes on the planar paradoxes of time and space, destabilising highly tuned lyrics and elegies with dizzying turns in poems of unrequitable longing, of longing for longing, of longing to be found, of grief. In these poems, Seshadri’s speaker becomes the subject, the reader becomes the writer, and the multiplying refracted narratives yield an ‘anguish so pure it almost / feels like joy.’
Release date: October 06
Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam
A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped — and unexpected new ones are forged — in moments of crisis.
Release Date: October 06
The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gikuyu and Mumbi by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
A dazzling, genre-defying novel in verse, full of trial and sacrifice, The Perfect Nine is a glorious epic about the founding of Kenya's Gikuyu people and the ideals of beauty, courage and unity. Blending folklore, mythology and allegory, Ngugi wa Thiong'o chronicles the adventures of Gikuyu and Mumbi, and how their brave daughters became the matriarchs of the Gikuyu clans, in stunning verse, with all the epic elements of danger, humour and suspense.
Release date: October 08
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
From the Academy Award-winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction. ‘It's a love letter. To life. It's also a guide to catching more greenlights and to realising that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too. Good luck,’ he writes.
Release date: October 20
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song by Kevin Young
A literary landmark: the biggest, most ambitious anthology of Black poetry ever published, gathering 250 poets from the colonial period to the present. Only now, in the 21st century, can we fully grasp the breadth and range of African American poetry: a magnificent chorus of voices, some familiar, others recently rescued from neglect. Here, in this unprecedented anthology expertly selected by poet and scholar Kevin Young, this precious living heritage is revealed in all its power, beauty, and multiplicity.
Release Date: October 20
MUST WATCH
Serious Men
An upcoming, highly anticipated Netflix India release, Serious Men is based on the book of the same name by Manu Joseph. The story follows Ayyan Mani, a middle-aged Dalit working as an assistant to a Brahmin astronomer at the Institute of Theory and Research in Mumbai. He lives in slum with his wife and a son. Furious at his situation in life, Ayyan develops an outrageous story that his 10-year-old son is a mathematical genius — a lie which later gets out of control.
Release date: October 02
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Social Network writer Aaron Sorkin assembles an ensemble cast made up of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, and Jeremy Strong to depict the lives of seven anti-Vietnam War protestors who were charged with conspiracy and inciting riots in 1969. The film will be available to stream on Netflix.
Release date: October 16
Mirzapur Season 2
The second season of the hit Amazon Prime Original is all set to hit the streamind channel this month. With Ali Fazal and Shweta Tripathi in the lead roles, the new season has quickly become one of the most anticipated OTT releases of the month.
Release date: October 23
On The Rocks
Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated film, starring her muse from her acclaimed film Lost in Translation, Bill Murray, will be releasing on Apple TV+. The film follows Laura (Rashida Jones), who thinks she’s happily married with two daughters, but when her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) starts logging late hours at the office with a new co-worker, Laura begins to fear the worst. She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming and impulsive father Felix (Bill Murray), who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.
Release date: October 23
The Undoing
Big Little Lies' Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley reunite on this psychological thriller miniseries, which will release on Disney+ Hotstar. It is based on Jean Hanff Korelitz's 2014 novel You Should Have Known, about a therapist and first-time author whose life unravels with a violent death, a missing husband, and a very public disaster. Hugh Grant, Édgar Ramírez, Noah Jupe, Lily Rabe, and Donald Sutherland co-star.
Release date: October 26
MUST LISTEN
Blackpink, Blackpink: The Album
The Album is the upcoming first Korean-language studio album (second overall) by South Korean girl group Blackpink, scheduled to be released on October 2, 2020, through YG Entertainment and Interscope.
Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi 2020
2020 is the upcoming fifteenth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, which will be released on October 2, 2020. Initially, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the album was scheduled to be released on May 15, 2020, along with the ‘Beautiful Drug’ music video, but it got postponed.
Mariah Carey, The Rarities
The Rarities is the upcoming eighth compilation album by American singer-songwriter and producer Mariah Carey, scheduled to be released on October 2, 2020, by Columbia and Legacy Records.
Bruce Springsteen, Letter To You
Letter to You is the upcoming twentieth studio album from Bruce Springsteen and it marks his first album with his regular backing band the E Street Band since 2014's High Hopes.
Sam Smith, Love Goes
Love Goes is the upcoming third studio album by English singer Sam Smith. It is scheduled to be released on 30 October 2020 through Capitol Records.
