Every now and then I encounter people who can’t suspend disbelief. They ask how I can write about ‘such terrible things’Feeling unappreciated is your lot as a writer. Few readers; no readers. Scathing reviews; no reviews. Publishers saying, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” or not taking a punt on your second book because the first sold poorly. The fat American and English imports on display at the front of many bookshops, a tiny Australian section in the back corner. Beverley Farmer finding her short-story collection Milk shelved with books on nursing mothers; me finding my novel The Stencil Man shelved in Art and Craft.Most of these indignities occur while you’re still at your desk. They multiply once you appear in public. Elizabeth Jolley, signing books at a department store in Perth, was scrutinised by a beady-eyed woman who eventually approached and asked, “How much is the table?” A bookseller stuck the first page of a US thriller under my nose and said, “Once you can learn to write as good as this …” Related: Harold Bloom’s defence of western greats blinded him to other cultures | Kenan Malik If I say, 'Worse things happen in real life than I invent, just read a newspaper,' I learn they don’t read newspapers Related: Peter Handke's Nobel prize that dishonours the victims of genocide | Ed Vuilliamy Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-03 17:00:27 UTC ]
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“It’s even harder for older writers," Patterson, whose net worth is estimated to be $800 million, told the Sunday Times. "You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-14 14:28:52 UTC ]
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The author, who is white, told British newspaper The Times that job difficulties were "another form of racism." Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2022-06-13 08:03:37 UTC ]
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Stats from 2020-21 reveal that the Pointless presenter’s The Thursday Murder Club is the biggest hit in UK librariesRichard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club was the most borrowed book from UK libraries in the year 2020-21, while the prolific bestseller James Patterson was the most borrowed... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-06-09 13:22:35 UTC ]
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Savor the mastery of "The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka," "533 Days," "The White Room" and "The Lure of the Unknown." Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-01 14:00:37 UTC ]
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The U.S. Book Show's opening keynote featured Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov, speaking from his home in Kyiv, who provided the history through a literary lens of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict that culminated in war. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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As fiction editor, he helped mold the stories of generations of writers. As a sportswriter, he was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-20 21:24:22 UTC ]
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In her memoir “Mean Baby,” the “Hellboy” actress opens up about her childhood and career and how she has coped with a variety of challenges Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Journalist Justin Tinsley revisits the life and times of a hip-hop star gone too soon. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-11 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the most acclaimed living science fiction writers, is done with deep space narratives. His focus now is on solving real problems — like climate change. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-11 09:00:20 UTC ]
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In March 2021, my mother, Nancy Bourne, a lifelong nonsmoker, died of lung cancer. Two weeks before that, though, as she cycled in and out of hospital wards, she was on her laptop sending off a flurry of query letters to literary agents asking for their help in selling her first novel. Six... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-06 08:52:38 UTC ]
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Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean islandLast week, Trinidadian writer Lisa Allen-Agostini’s novel The Bread the Devil Knead landed a coveted spot on the Women’s prize shortlist. As a fellow Trinidadian... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-03 13:03:34 UTC ]
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Author Christopher M. Cevasco says there's a surprising lack of crossover between the two. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2022-04-29 16:00:00 UTC ]
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The mood was celebratory as mystery publishers and authors honored the best in the genre, live and in-person, for the first time since 2019 at a ceremony last night at New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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What is it like to be blind in an industry overwhelmingly dominated by sighted individuals? Jessica Powers, founder and publisher at Catalyst Press, spoke to George Mendoza and Kristen Witucki about crafting stories for sighted readers, finding community and release in fiction, and battling... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-28 08:58:13 UTC ]
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No couple ever recovered from infidelity by only reading books, even the books written for that purpose. But books are what kept me from falling apart. The post Distancing: On the Writers Who Saved My Marriage appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-04-21 10:00:59 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer prize-winning author discusses her follow up to A Visit from the Goon Squad and how imagining a new technology set her writing freeWhen Jennifer Egan bought her house in Brooklyn 20 years ago, it had been on the market for eight months. The owners were an elderly couple, and the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-04-16 08:00:03 UTC ]
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Aamina Ahmad’s debut novel The Return of Faraz Ali begins with a moment of no return. Born and raised in Lahore’s old city, the young Faraz is forced to leave behind his mother and his sister Rozina. It isn’t until Faraz is an adult in 1968 working as a policeman, that he goes back to […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-07 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Dear Literary Community, We write to you from the Texas and North Carolina chapters of Writers for Democratic Action, a national organization committed to “bringing together the literary community to demand racial and economic justice, champion suffrage for all people, oppose impediments to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-21 08:49:57 UTC ]
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Why did Penguin decide to reissue a memoir and a novel by Harry Crews, a dead white Southern writer? His influence — and his truths — run deep. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-03-15 13:00:07 UTC ]
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At Public Libraries Online, Jane Pek discusses her debut novel, The Verifiers, which follows Claudia Lin, an amateur sleuth who investigates the potential suitors of lovelorn New Yorkers. “When I read, above all it’s about becoming invested in the character,” Pek explains. “Once I’m invested,... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-03-09 21:30:56 UTC ]
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