Can We Truly Be Free of Our Past? A Conversation with Wendy Chen, by Xixuan Collins Interviews [email protected] Mon, 04/29/2024 - 15:10 An epic family saga that spans over one hundred years and two countries, Wendy Chen’s powerful, lyrical debut, Their Divine Fires (Algonquin, forthcoming on May 7, 2024), is about history, love, passion, loyalty, betrayal, and our desire to be free of our past. In the novel, four generations of women survived the formidable hardship in China during the tumultuous twentieth century—the warlord melee, the Communist–Nationalist civil war, the Japanese invasion, and the Cultural Revolution—each emerging with unspeakable loss and heartache yet undampened spirit for life and the future. An intimate study of family relationships with the backdrop of a chaotic, changing world, this book provides a perspective on Chinese history rarely seen in American literature. Xixuan Collins: You capture the emotions of the four generations of Chinese and Chinese American women so vividly. You have said that you were inspired by your grandmother’s stories of her mother and uncles and the ways they fought, lived, and died for what they believed in. Can you tell us a little more about the story behind your story; that is, what was the moment when you realized you had a story to tell and you felt compelled to sit down and write this novel? Wendy Chen: My grandmother would always tell me stories of her family when I... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-29 20:10:46 UTC ]
Sex and the City star says it is ‘the thrill of a life’ to be appointed to 2025 panel alongside Roddy Doyle, Kiley Reid and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ to pick year’s best novelHer Cosmopolitan-sipping, Manolo-wearing, wise-cracking Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City was a generation-defining star turn.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-12-14 14:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Joseph Earl Thomas won this year’s Center for Fiction First Novel Prize for his book God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. Congratulations! The novel has made it onto several best-of-2024 lists, and has been praised as “a powerful examination of every day black life–of health and sex, race and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-11 16:36:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Among this spring’s most anticipated offerings are the latest novel from Susan Choi, about a father’s mysterious disappearance, and Colum McCann’s tale of transcontinental cables and the deep sea divers who repair them. Other noteworthy titles include novels by Morgan Jerkins, Torrey Peters,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
I yearn for a literary world where, as readers, we’re familiar with a wider spectrum of narrative traditions and approaches than what we now think of as the canon. We Bengalis love so much to talk, to weave tales, to let our anecdotes tangle with each other’s into a larger collective... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-11-19 12:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Dogeaters wasn’t just the first Filipino American novel I ever read; it was the first work of literary fiction I picked up on my own outside of a classroom. I was in my mid-twenties. I had already flunked out of college twice, having spent exponentially more time behind turntables, picking... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-13 09:56:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In “McNeal,” the playwright Ayad Akhtar explores the way artificial intelligence is disrupting the literary world and raising questions about creativity. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-10-26 09:04:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Since 2009, when his first novel Some Things That Meant the World to Me introduced his heart-rending, beat-driven, often surreal voice, Joshua Mohr has published nine books—two raw addiction memoirs (Sirens and Model Citizen) and seven idiosyncratic novels. The New York Times called his 2011... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-22 08:55:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In the Central Eastside Industrial District of Portland, Ore., Patrick Leonard has opened Postcard Bookshop, a store featuring global literature and culture, children’s titles, and sidelines including journals and games for people on the move. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Earlier this May, an Esquire article by Kate Dwyer called “Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch?” channeled the fear of debut novelists everywhere: What happens if no one buys my book? Book sales are an important way for editors and agents to gauge whether to invest in an author. If her first... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2024-10-16 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
I highlighted Luis Jaramillo’s first book, the short story collection The Doctor’s Wife—a gathering of 91 ultra-short chapters, some as brief as a sentence, that add up to a portrait of a family—as a best book of 2012 for NPR. His first novel further reveals his wide-ranging literary talents.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-10-08 08:55:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Oscar-winning actor and author of the Myron Bolitar series have been ‘writing pages over many months’ together to create a thriller to be published next yearReese Witherspoon has written her first novel, in collaboration with bestselling author Harlan Coben, publisher Penguin Random House... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-02 17:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Richard Charkin cheerfully anticipates the 2024 Frankfurter Buchmesse: 'Of all the world's great book fairs, none can compare.' The post Richard Charkin on Looking Forward to Frankfurt appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-09-30 18:11:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Fifteen years ago, Electric Literature started as a print and digital quarterly journal during the glory days of the print magazine era. Our very first issue surpassed 10,000 copies in sales, we were stocked in newsstands and bookstores, and as an e-book. We were one of the first to publish... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-27 11:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It’s delightful, on the one hand, to have a feverish Book Event. I’m as excited as anyone that we’re doing midnight release parties for literary fiction in the year of our lord 2024. That said, we need to talk about the Rooneyverse. This week, we’re getting a novel—Intermezzo—from Sally Rooney,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-23 13:55:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We spoke with Peter Brown about the experience of seeing 'The Wild Robot,' the first novel in his middle grade trilogy, adapted by DreamWorks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
O’Connell comes to Saga from the flagship Simon & Schuster imprint, for which he will continue to acquire literary fiction and select nonfiction. Joe Monti, who founded Saga in 2015, has been promoted to VP, associate publisher, and editorial director. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Hannah Silva examines the (not so) shocking similarities between quantum physics and queer dating. | Lit Hub Memoir August brought some great book covers, and a lot of them were slippery. | Lit Hub Design “I had been writing my diaries on the notepad app of my phone, when it went the way of so […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-28 10:30:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The first novel in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet was just voted the best book of the 21st century. We like it too. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-08-23 13:58:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this