The novelist and short story writer on her new book about Azrael, the angel of death, her encounters with Raymond Carver and Richard Yates, and why fiction should be uncannyJoy Williams, 80, has written five novels and four story collections and is the recipient of numerous awards. Her most recent book of short stories, Concerning the Future of Souls: 99 Stories of Azrael (Tuskar Rock), was published earlier this year. Her work ranges from the philosophical examination of being, belief and morality to urgent engagements with environmental catastrophe; James Salter wrote of her that she belongs in the company of Céline and Flannery O’Connor. Born in Massachusetts, she now lives in the Sonoran desert.An earlier collection of yours was called 99 Stories of God, and now you’ve moved on to Azrael (the angel of death and transporter of souls) as the subject. What drew you to him?I read in a WS Merwin collection his translation of Hadrian’s deathbed poem to his soul – Animula vagula blandula – so sorrowful and succinct. The soul, a worthy subject. And Azrael has always fascinated me: he was death, but not death exactly. He was more a gorgeous creation of Islam. I picture him as responsible for all the souls of this ensouled Earth. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-19 17:00:20 UTC ]
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'Blood at the Root,' LaDarrion Williams' first novel in a three-book deal — a series that centers on a Black boy in a YA fantasy saga — is the kind of fiction he wishes existed when he was a kid. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-05-03 10:00:51 UTC ]
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Paul Auster, the famed American postmodern writer behind 'Smoke,' has died at 77. The bestselling author was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-05-01 14:20:39 UTC ]
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As baby boomers have aged, they have accumulated more assets leading to more discretionary spending. Since retiring two years ago, Joan Harris has upped her travel game.Once or twice a year, she visits her two adult children in different states. She’s planning multiple other trips, including to... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-04-29 13:22:05 UTC ]
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The novelist traded a finance career to pursue fiction. It just may have saved his life. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Four new titles look at the visionaries who transformed the performing arts in 20th-century America, from group portraits of trailblazing ballerinas and jazz legends to biographies of a folk icon and Broadway director. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The former N.F.L. player has been living with A.L.S. for more than a decade. Sharing “the most lacerating and vulnerable times” in “A Life Impossible” was worth the physical and emotional toll, he says. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-25 09:00:47 UTC ]
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Sisters Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti will rerelease their self-published Zodiac Academy romantasy series in paperback under their newly-formed company, Dark Ink Publishing. On April 23, Dark Ink released 'Restless Stars,' the ninth and final book in the series, with an announced print... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In China we have a saying that reading a banned book on a snowy night is one of the true joys of life. From this, one can well imagine the kind of satisfaction that reading a banned book may bring—like candy locked up in a cabinet, it releases a sweet fragrance into solitary spaces. Whenever […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-23 08:56:19 UTC ]
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Dennett was the codirector of Tufts University's Center for Cognitive Studies and the author of more than 20 books, known for their provocative arguments about religion, morality, consciousness, and evolutionary biology, among other topics. He died on April 19. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The bookstore proprietors of today are putting inclusivity first, building communities, and opening up shop in unexpected places. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The author of the best-selling book series said she had been undergoing treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, after a diagnosis in 2022. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-17 17:24:05 UTC ]
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Best-selling British author Sophie Kinsella announced Wednesday that she has glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-04-17 17:16:17 UTC ]
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I have always loved the versatility of the short story, how it can so easily take on the forms of other things. There are playlist short stories, recipe short stories, diary and epistolary-style short stories. There are flash fiction stories, short short stories, and long short stories that... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
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When I was a child, my grandfather was embroiled in a quiet, and possibly entirely one-sided, feud with his next-door neighbor. Every summer I would visit my grandparents for a week, and follow Grandpa on his morning walks through the woodlot, along a path that skirted the neighbor’s field. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-10 08:54:38 UTC ]
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The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’Before parched and dusty towns across Australia became full of fictional sinister people; before the explosion of outback noir and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
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She explored the struggles of young women in the novel “The L-Shaped Room” but found her biggest success with a children’s book about a magical cupboard. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-05 22:36:08 UTC ]
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Writer was also one of first female news reporters on British TV, interviewing stars such as Charlie ChaplinThe author Lynne Reid Banks, known for her novel The L-Shaped Room and her children’s book series The Indian in the Cupboard, has died at the age of 94.She died of cancer “peacefully with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 14:04:44 UTC ]
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This Earth Day, settle into "A Fire So Wild," Sarah Ruiz-Grossman's debut novel about the societal impacts of climate change. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2024-04-05 09:45:24 UTC ]
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