Shetland literature has a short history. Or, more accurately, the long history of Shetland literature has been truncated — the result of a double disadvantage, as far as official histories are concerned: an oral culture, in which few people could read or write, and a language that died out before literacy became widespread.The Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland would once have been rich in songs, poems and stories, spoken and sung in Norn (the closest extant relative of which is Faroese). But after Shetland became part of Scotland, in the late fifteenth century, the language was gradually replaced by a distinctive local variant of Scots. And by the time cultural collectors began to take an interest in such things, a few hundred years later, Norn was pretty much gone. Only a single full-length ballad, ‘Hildina’, was ever transcribed.Romanticising the pastWhen writers from Shetland did begin to publish their work, in the early nineteenth century, the islands were already being written about by authors from elsewhere. Most significantly, Walter Scott used the islands as the setting for his 1822 novel The Pirate, in which he imagined a rather glamorous version of Shetland’s history, with a particular emphasis on its Norse heritage. That portrayal, by one of the world’s most famous authors, was influential, but it also highlights a conundrum for writers in the islands: A romanticised, exoticised depiction of Shetland may be more appealing to readers than one that shows the... Continue reading at 'British Council global'
[ British Council global | 2020-02-13 12:54:04 UTC ]
Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-15 08:01:27 UTC ]
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‘In her concern for making a tidy death, my mum overlooked that other kind of mess which is grief, and guilt, and confusion.’ Memoir by Luke Allan. The post Death to Books appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2024-07-11 12:54:44 UTC ]
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Lin-Manuel Miranda is wrapping up the recording of a concept album for a new musical co-written by playwright Eisa Davis, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The album will be based on the 1979 movie "The Warriors," whose sympathetic depictions of gang members and gritty... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2024-07-09 10:03:03 UTC ]
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Many of the book’s themes, including structural racism, inequalities and poverty are as topical now as 30 years ago. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-07-08 15:26:53 UTC ]
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Bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe sells a new souther epic to Morrow, Hillary Clinton’s new memoir goes to Simon & Schuster, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with Joni Mitchell, the new memoir by acclaimed writer Paul Lisicky, which will be published by HarperOne on February 4th, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. From the moment Paul Lisicky heard Joni Mitchell... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-07-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Rastafarian memoir for fans of Educated, a final girls thriller, a love letter to bookstores, and more of today's best book deals. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-07-02 15:05:00 UTC ]
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In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-29 11:50:03 UTC ]
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New novels from J. Courtney Sullivan and Liz Moore, a memoir by a “hacktivist” member of Anonymous — and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-28 09:02:43 UTC ]
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Royal told to attempt to retrieve messages, which judge says may be relevant to his legal battle with NGNThe Duke of Sussex has been ordered to explain why messages with his ghostwriter were destroyed after the publication of his memoir Spare when they could be relevant to his legal battle with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-06-28 08:45:03 UTC ]
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Newly renamed the TLS Ackerley Prize with a 'Times Literary Supplement' partnership, this contest focuses on memoir and autobiography. The post London: The TLS Ackerley Prize Names Its 2024 Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-06-27 18:07:35 UTC ]
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Last fall, around the time Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me was published, I went to the Brooklyn stop of Liz Phair’s 30th anniversary tour for her debut album Exile in Guyville. Exile is one of the epochal albums of the 1990s, a Gen X classic; it came out when I was a freshman […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-26 08:56:16 UTC ]
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His memoir began when he was a child, watching his father die young. Mine started when my young children learned their father died by suicide. We were drawn to each other’s perspectives, thought they could inform our own. In a writing class, students often make alliances such as these,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-25 08:54:10 UTC ]
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“A memoir is closer to historical fiction than it is to biography” writes artist and author Jill Ciment in her retrospective memoir Consent. At seventeen, Ciment had an affair with her forty-seven-year-old painting teacher. The two married, and Ciment wrote the original account of the affair in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-24 08:55:21 UTC ]
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The physician and researcher who weathered the COVID pandemic, the HIV/AIDS crisis and countless Republican conspiracy theories has a new book. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-06-23 10:30:27 UTC ]
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The evenhanded scientist is generous to Trump, but you can tell what he really thinks. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2024-06-21 15:04:13 UTC ]
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“We are all unreliable narrators, recounting our stories through the filters of perception and memory.” Matt Young considers the nuances of memoir and autofiction. | Lit Hub Craft Levi Vonk on Summer Brenner’s Dust and the complexities inherent to writing about the South. | Lit Hub Criticism... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-18 10:30:05 UTC ]
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When my first book, a memoir about my time in the Marines called Eat the Apple, was published back in 2018, I did an event at Powell’s with a fellow writer, Matt Robinson, who’d written an amazing collection of stories called The Horse Latitudes. Robinson’s an Army vet and was writing about Iraq... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-18 09:00:44 UTC ]
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The story of why Priyanka Mattoo quit her job as a Hollywood agent to pursue a career in writing has as many twists and turns as her literary debut, the memoir 'Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-06-17 10:00:00 UTC ]
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The Eighth Moon: A Memoir of Belonging and Rebellion is a deep consideration of land, ownership, and civil society tracking the histories of an author and area in upstate New York. Jennifer Kabat studies time in a continuous present, watching the past bleed onto now. That blood is from the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-06-14 11:00:00 UTC ]
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