A Novel of Old Shanghai: In Conversation with Weina Dai Randel, by Susan Blumberg-Kason

Interviews   Weina Dai Randel burst onto the literary scene a number of years ago with her duology about Empress Wu Zetian, China’s first woman leader. After winning the prestigious Rita Award in 2017 and seeing her novels translated into seven languages, she is back now with a new historical novel set in 1940s Shanghai. Keeping with her love of strong women characters, her new book, The Last Rose of Shanghai, centers on a nightclub owner named Aiyi Shao who falls for a Jewish refugee who had recently escaped Nazi Germany. Through their love of jazz, they develop a forbidden bond set during one of Shanghai’s most volatile and exciting eras. Randel is the first Chinese American author to write about Shanghai Jewish refugees, although there have been dozens of memoirs, narratives, and novels about this phenomenon from Jewish authors. We recently spoke over Zoom about what made Shanghai so special and why it matters now, along with the reasons Jews escaped to Shanghai during World War II and how Chinese and Jewish traditions are so similar. Susan Blumberg-Kason: It seems that the popularity of 1930s and ’40s Shanghai rose both in China and the US about twenty-five years ago. Can you talk about the appeal of this time and why it’s so special, both to people in the US and China? Weina Dai Randel: I think many aspects of Old Shanghai appeal to us today. From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the period of Old Shanghai was a symbol of... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-20 14:33:49 UTC ]
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“Between the Facts”: A Conversation with Monique Truong, by Renee H. Shea

Interviews Renee H. Shea Monique Truong / Photo © Haruka Sakaguchi Monique Truong, who came to the United States in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam, began exploring untold and ignored histories in her first novel, The Book of Salt (2003), told through... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-17 13:54:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary legacy #restaurant workers #cookbook #historical fiction #novelists


Susan Kamil, a Top Book Editor and Publisher, Dies at 69

Salman Rushdie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Lena Dunham, Elizabeth Strout, Gary Shteyngart and Prince were among the authors she nurtured. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-09-10 22:55:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #susan kamil #salman rushdie #ta-nehisi coates #lena dunham #elizabeth strout #gary shteyngart #book editor


Random House publisher Susan Kamil has died at the age of 69.

Executive vice president and publisher of Random House Susan Kamil, who published Salman Rushdie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Elizabeth Strout, Sophie Kinsella, and Ruth Reich, among many others, died this weekend from complications relating to lung cancer, the AP reports. Random House president Gina... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-09 14:26:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ta-nehisi coates #elizabeth strout #sophie kinsella #lung cancer #ap reports #random house


Random House Publisher Susan Kamil Dies at 69

Susan Kamil, publisher of Random House and a veteran publishing executive whose career spanned more than 40 years, died on Sunday, September 8, from complications from lung cancer. She was 69. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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How Susan Sontag Influenced Patti Smith’s Reading Life

“She advised me to read more German authors,” says the writer and singer, whose latest memoir is “Year of the Monkey.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-09-05 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Reimagining Folktales, But for the Ear: A Conversation with Mahsuda Snaith, by Carolyne Larrington

Interviews Carolyne Larrington Audible’s new fiction podcast, Hag, launching August 29, features eight reimaginings of traditional British folktales by eight contemporary female writers, with folktales chosen from across the UK. The collection will be... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-30 14:21:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #donkey skin #human experience #talking animals #family history #first novel #costa book #english literature


Susan Straight’s memoir is a letter to her daughters — and a reckoning with America’s past

“In the Country of Women” looks back at the slaves and immigrants who made Straight’s family possible. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-22 16:26:46 UTC ]
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Susan Hill's The Small Hand to become Channel 5 drama

Awesome Media & Entertainment and Two Rivers Media, have teamed up to adapt Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story (Profile), about an antique book dealer, for Channel 5 in the first adaptation of a book by the author for seven years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-21 14:39:05 UTC ]
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Recalling and Reimagining Vietnam: A Conversation with Genaro Kỳ Lý Smith, by Mary E. Adams

Interviews Mary E. Adams Genaro Kỳ Lý Smith was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and raised in California. His first book, The Land Baron’s Sun: The Story of Lý Loc and His Seven Wives, won the 2015 Indie Book Award for best poetry collection. His other works... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-12 20:31:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #language barrier #tone deaf #larry heinemann #dog soldiers #book award


Writing to Uganda: A Conversation with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, by Matthew Davis

Interviews Matthew Davis Ugandan novelist and short-story writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s first novel, Kintu, won the Kwani Manuscript Project in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. She was awarded the 2014 Commonwealth... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-06 13:42:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short-story form #quickly found #american writers #familiar themes #american literature #short stories


Review: Susan Straight's new memoir amplifies stories of strong women who survive and thrive

Susan Straight's new memoir, "In the Country of Women," depicts the tough, trauma-burdened women who have populated her life. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-30 19:40:36 UTC ]
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Filled with a New Kind of Truth: A Conversation with Samanta Schweblin

SAMANTA SCHWEBLIN’S COLLECTION of short stories Mouthful of Birds opens bleakly: When she reaches the road, Felicity understands her fate. He has not waited for her, and, as if the past were a tangible thing, she thinks she can still see the weak reddish glow of the car’s taillights fading on... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-10 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Susan Orlean and readers share library stories at L.A. Times Book Club launch

In her research for "The Library Book," Susan Orlean was surprised to learn how many people call the Los Angeles Library on a daily basis with outlandish questions. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-26 21:09:36 UTC ]
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Susan Orlean and readers share library stories at L.A. Times Book Club launch

In her research for “The Library Book,” Susan Orlean was surprised to learn how many people call the Los Angeles Library on a daily basis with outlandish questions. Some people want help cheating on crossword puzzles. Others have more personal queries. “There is a guy who calls the library... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-26 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library book #people call #susan orlean #daily basis #outlandish questions #crossword puzzles #times book


Of Tibetans’ Disenchantment, Reclamation, and New Literacy Space: In Conversation with Tenzin Dickie, by Shelly Bhoil

Interviews Shelly Bhoil Tenzin Dickie is a Tibetan writer and translator and editor of The Treasury of Lives, a biographical encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayan region. Her edited anthology, Old Demons, New Deities: 21 Short Stories from... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-06-25 14:25:59 UTC ]
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Why Susan Orlean sees a bright future for public libraries

If you want to get Susan Orlean riled up, just ask her about the economist who suggested the government could eliminate public libraries and "save taxpayers lots of money" now that we have Amazon for books and Starbucks as a gathering place. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-20 10:00:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bright future #gathering place #public libraries


Why Susan Orlean sees a bright future for public libraries

If you want to get Susan Orlean riled up, just ask her about the economist who suggested the government could eliminate public libraries and “save taxpayers lots of money” now that we have Amazon for books and Starbucks as a gathering place. This modest proposal was published on Forbes.com... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-20 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bright future #gathering place #modest proposal #public libraries


Susan Orlean on the crazy things people ask a librarian, from 'The Library Book'

The Los Angeles Times Book Club is reading "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean. Here's an excerpt. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-19 10:00:08 UTC ]
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Susan Orlean on the crazy things people ask a librarian, from ‘The Library Book’

The Los Angeles Times Book Club is reading "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean. Here’s an excerpt. The opposite of a sensory-deprivation tank might be to spend a Monday morning in the library’s InfoNow Department. The phone rings with that weird blooping electronic tone all day long, and the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-19 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Q&A with Susan Orlean

Good morning, and welcome to the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter. We caught up with bestselling author Susan Orlean ahead of her June 25 visit with the Los Angeles Times Book Club to ask about her current books, binges and guilty pleasures. Here’s what she said: Reading: “Barbarian Days” by... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-15 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #susan orlean #good morning #bestselling author