Interviews Photo of Lilliam Rivera by Lilith Ferreira / Las Fotos Project Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of children’s books who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Rivera’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. Rivera’s latest novel, Never Look Back (Bloomsbury, 2020), retells the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in New York and influenced by various elements of Latin culture. I sat down with Rivera to discuss this novel, its influences, and Lilliam’s personal efforts and experiences as she wrote. Bayleigh Acosta: So, this story retells the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice from a Latinx perspective. How did this connection come to life? Have you previously used Greek or other myths/cultures as inspiration for writing? Lilliam Rivera: I’ve written short stories maybe that incorporate mythology from Caribbean mythology or folktales, and such like that, but I’ve never written a whole book that’s a retelling, so this was my first vehicle into doing it, and the Orpheus and Eurydice story was a myth that I really loved when I was young. I kind of fell in love with it. I watched this movie called Black Orpheus, which is a classic 1950s film, that’s a retelling of the myth set in Brazil during Carnival. I just love that movie so much, and I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to write, and I was like, “How can I rewrite this story and... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-02 22:19:21 UTC ]
Khulood Al Mu’alla Khulood Al Mu’alla was chosen this year as an honorary member of the Costa Rica Poetry Foundation and advisor to the International Poetry Festival of Costa Rica. She was honoured along with three poets as part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Poets of... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-01-27 10:55:59 UTC ]
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The novelist on William Blake, crying through Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and an insightful poem about teenage masturbationBorn in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1978, Emma Jane Unsworth studied English literature at the University of Liverpool and received an MA from Manchester University’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-01-26 10:00:20 UTC ]
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This week, Jabari Asim reviews a collection of short stories by Zora Neale Hurston. In 1978, Henry Louis Gates Jr. wrote for the Book Review about Robert Hemenway’s “Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-01-24 10:00:06 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Cecilia Simon Photo by Michael Gaida / Pixabay “Health is whatever works and for how long.” This phrase was announced to our literature and medicine class the first week of the fall 2019 semester. Dr. Ronald Schleifer, the instructor, used... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-22 16:01:00 UTC ]
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Over the years, Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald has made more than a few enemies. What some of his fans and supporters see as a crusade for truth and justice can strike others—including those who become the targets of his journalistic crusades—as needlessly hostile and potentially biased.... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-01-22 12:45:02 UTC ]
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Award-winning author Benjamin Myers and the Society of Authors (SoA) have criticised the pressure on writers to become “personalities” rather than be judged on their work as literary events increase. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-09 07:55:03 UTC ]
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My Afghan godfather, a bristling military man, who at one time back in the 1930s held the all-India motorcycle speed record, spoke of A Sportsman’s Notebook as one of the two or three books that formed and continued to inform his mind. I remember his copy of it lying on his bedside table,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-07 09:48:06 UTC ]
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This week, Annalisa Quinn reviews John L’Heureux’s story collection “The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast.” In 1984, L’Heureux wrote for the Book Review about “The Best American Short Stories 1984,” selected by John Updike. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-01-03 10:00:04 UTC ]
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If you find the holidays more foreboding than cheerful, find someone to relate to in these 4 free holiday short stories available to read online. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-16 11:35:47 UTC ]
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Serpent’s Tail's new crime imprint Viper will publish the second novel from former investigative undercover journalist and award-winning author Kate Simants. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-05 16:54:04 UTC ]
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Hutchinson has signed the new novel from award-winning author Carys Bray about the impact of climate change on mental health. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-28 15:45:29 UTC ]
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At the WIRED25 Festival in San Francisco last weekend, author N.K. Jemisin gave attendees a real treat: a two-hour crash course in imagining and building future worlds. Jemisin is the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, etc. Award-winning author of the Broken Earth series and the Inheritance Trilogy. (Literary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-13 16:55:20 UTC ]
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Ernest J. Gaines, award-winning author of the acclaimed novel 'The Autobiography of Jane Pittman,' and a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipient, died of a heart attack at his home in Oscar, La. He was 86. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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From meditations on the d/Deaf experience to short stories blurring the mythic and the gothic with the everyday, from mixing the personal and political to a young woman uncover the truth about her family’s past – four outstanding writers have today been named on the shortlist for The Sunday... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-11-04 12:55:09 UTC ]
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Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]
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The genre is experiencing a renaissance with quality novels and short stories from new and established authors. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-29 18:17:37 UTC ]
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JAQUIRA DÍAZ’S FIRST BOOK — the memoir Ordinary Girls, published by Algonquin Books on October 29 — lyrically chronicles a childhood and early adulthood marked by pain and chaos but also by joy and celebration. Díaz grew up, first, in one of Puerto Rico’s roughest neighborhoods and then amid... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-29 12:30:43 UTC ]
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Duolingo's library of interactive short stories is finally available for mobile, particularly for iPhones. The language-learning portal's Stories feature, which offers over 100 fully voiced bite-sized stories designed to test your reading and listeni... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-10-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible has partnered with Uber to launch in-app short stories to help stressed passengers find a "literary escape" on their journey. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-20 14:31:04 UTC ]
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Her novels, short stories and poetry were dense with lush and spellbinding imagery. As a teacher, one former student said, “She lived and died by the word.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-10-18 22:39:19 UTC ]
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