A Secret Letter to the KGB Turned A Lost Family History Into a Novel

Journalist Sasha Vasilyuk’s debut novel Your Presence Is Mandatory is a poignant look at the reverberating effects of war through the story of a Ukrainian World War II veteran’s struggle to hide a damaging secret for the sake of his family.  Vasilyuk’s book begins with death—the first chapter featuring a family at the grave in […] The post A Secret Letter to the KGB Turned A Lost Family History Into a Novel appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-25 11:00:00 UTC ]

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Republic of Consciousness prize shares £20,000 pot among longlist

Shola von Reinhold wins the award for small publishing houses with their novel LOTE, but financial reward split among 10 publishersThe Scottish author Shola von Reinhold has won the Republic of Consciousness prize for small presses for their “dazzling” queer debut novel LOTE. But the £20,000... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-19 12:17:35 UTC ]
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Trauma Has Forced Me to Become a Powerful Witch

In the introductory essay of White Magic, Elissa Washuta—a Native American author and member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe—examines the colonization of spirituality, as well as her own reticence to describe herself as a witch: “I just want a version of the occult that isn’t built on plunder, but I... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-07 11:01:00 UTC ]
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Being An Intellectual Won’t Pay the Bills

In Christine Smallwood’s debut novel The Life of the Mind, protagonist Dorothy escapes the stifled environment of an academic conference for one she finds even more depressing: the slot machines. There, she runs into her former dissertation advisor, Judith, a woman who caused her significant... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Jaws at 35,000 feet’: the flight attendant whose thriller debut sold for seven figures

TJ Newman dreamt up her terror-in-the-skies novel Falling while guarding the cockpit as the pilots took a toilet break. She reveals how she kept going through furlough and 41 rejectionsFlight attendant Torri Newman was working on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York when the idea for... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-04 05:00:21 UTC ]
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8 Historical Fiction Novels About War-Torn Love

Every love story is built with inherently high stakes. After all, a heart can be the ultimate prize, and courtship a most dangerous risk. And love, as we all know, won’t stop for much. Our hearts pay no attention to timing or impediments, and logic falls by the wayside as we feel the anguish of... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Writing a Memoir is Like Making Kimchi

In Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner—also known as the indie-pop musician Japanese Breakfast—writes of her mother’s battle with terminal cancer and the caretaking process. The mother-daughter relationship is the beating pulse of this memoir, presented in all of its uncomfortable complexities.... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 19, 2021

Pamela Dorman buys a debut novel by a longtime Knopf editor, Holt signs a memoir by Ronnie Spector, Hanya Yanagihara re-ups with Doubleday, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Knopf's Jackson Sells Debut Novel for Rumored Seven Figures

In a deal rumored to be in the seven figure-range, Knopf editor Jenny Jackson sold her debut novel to Pam Dorman, who has an eponymous imprint at Penguin Random House. 'Pineapple Street' follows three sisters who are members of a wealthy family, and is slated to be released in early 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Memoirs About Unraveling Family Secrets

There are as many different kinds of memoirs as there are novels, maybe more. The public-figure memoir. The witnessing-history memoir. The survivor’s memoir. The addiction memoir. The let-me-set-the-record-straight memoir. The travel memoir. The memoir about one specific family member. The... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Potion Made of Stolen Gold to Achieve the Indian American Dream

Sanjena Sathian’s debut novel Gold Diggers is set in the Indian American suburbs of Atlanta—a world of competitive debate and spelling bees, of racing to get into the most prestigious academic summer camps, of Miss Teen India pageants—all roads leading to the promised land of America’s most... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Park Chan-wook is directing a TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer.

Exciting adaptation news: A24 and Rhombus Media have optioned the rights to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning debut novel about a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who serves as a communist double agent after the fall of Saigon. The novel is being developed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-07 14:34:36 UTC ]
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I Work in a Bookstore. Why Am I Still Shelving “Mein Kampf”?

When Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would no longer be publishing six of Dr. Seuss’s books which have aged problematically, the bookstore I work at in Scranton, Pennsylvania had a flurry of very concerned customers. People were coming up with stacks of his books along with an... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-07 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 5, 2021

William Morrow preempts a debut novel by Liz Stein, Michelle Tea sells a memoir about the reproductive industrial complex to Dey Street, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A debut novel about migration, family and survival is everything 'American Dirt' wasn't

"Of Women and Salt," tracking generations of Latinas, comes out of Gabriela Garcia's family story, life experience and advocacy for migrants. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-23 19:20:30 UTC ]
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Lolita, Fashion Icon

From LOLITA IN THE AFTERLIFE, edited by Jenny Minton Quigley. Reprinted by permission of Vintage Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Essay copyright © 2021 by Robin Givhan. Compilation copyright © 2021 by Jenny Minton Quigley. The... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-03-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In the ’80s, she wrestled as Mad Maxine. Now her debut novel takes readers inside the ring.

Writer Jeannine Mjoseth was looking for adventure when she turned to professional wrestling. She got plenty of that. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Canceling My Book Deal Was the Best Career Move I’ve Ever Made

I started querying agents for my memoir, Negative Space, in 2012, after two years of writing and revising. I got a few rounds of passes, including several friendly rejections in which agents said they just didn’t “know how to sell” my book. I heard this refrain enough times that I started... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-03-11 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador lands Mulvey's stories and debut novel

Picador has landed a story collection and debut novel from Niamh Mulvey, writer of publishing newsletter “In the Read” and a former Quercus commissioning editor. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 22:15:18 UTC ]
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Vintage editor Lily Lindon's 'wild ride' debut goes to Head of Zeus

The debut novel of Vintage editor Lily Lindon has gone to Head of Zeus in a four-way auction, as part of a two-book deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 09:59:43 UTC ]
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Review: Why do women stay with toxic men? A debut novel has some uncomfortable answers

Megan Nolan's "Acts of Desperation," about a woman in thrall to an older man, stands out from similar tales with an uncannily self-aware narrator. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-03 15:00:19 UTC ]
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