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 ]
Topped by Margaret Atwood, the UK’s Top 10 bestselling authors of literary fiction last year features only one male writer, Haruki MurakamiFlying in the face of Norman Mailer’s infamous comment that “a good novelist can do without everything but the remnant of his balls”, Haruki Murakami was the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Jilly Cooper has said that literary fiction should not receive state support, arguing instead that the money would be better spent on the declining newspaper industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I’m not surprised sales of literary fiction are in decline – too many authors fail to engage their readers with any sort of story• Tim Lott is an author and journalistFollowing the announcement from Arts Council England that sales of literary fiction are plummeting, it is suggested that arts... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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India’s answer to Lear, a teen tale set amid the London riots and the first great book on grime. Experts pick 2017’s smartest, oddest and most overlooked readsCo-director, Tramp Press Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Like most audiobook buffs, I multitask; listening to a great actor read a great book is one of the rare things that makes regular workouts endurable. Still, there are always a few releases each year that are so transfixing they make any additional activity impossible. They might leave me... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2017-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England’s report into the crisis in literary fiction should serve as a "wake up call" to the industry which needs to "radically rethink" how it presents the genre, the chief executive of Curtis Brown has warned. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Overall the books selling well' in the UK 'are not literary,' Arts Council England's commissioned report from the Canelo team announces. The post Arts Council England’s Alarm for Literary Fiction: ‘The Problem Is a Real One’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England has pledged to engage with more bookshops, fund more writers and lobby the government to provide tax relief to independent publishers following a report finding that “the general trend for literary fiction is a negative one”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Since its inception in 2014, BookCon has mainly drawn women in the 18 to 30-year-old age bracket, but organizer ReedPop is adding more programming for the 2018 event to attract readers interested in literary fiction, mystery/thriller, sci fi/fantasy and romance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George Saunders has become the second American author to win the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for his first full-length novel, Lincoln in the Bardo (Bloomsbury). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The winner of the Man Booker Prize, one of the world's most prestigious literary awards, will be announced Tuesday afternoon, and American author George Saunders is the odds-on favorite to take it home. The Guardian reports that Saunders’ “Lincoln in the Bardo,” a novel about Abraham Lincoln... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie booksellers are divided on who they think will take home the Man Booker Prize, with a few backing fellow bookseller Fiona Mozley for her debut Elmet (JM Originals), while others have hinted they are expecting Ali Smith or George Saunders to claim the prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The prize used to champion unknowns and outsiders. But a 2014 rule change has cemented the neo-colonial cultural dominance of the US and the UKThe upstairs room of an indie bookstore. A book launch for a local author. Crisps and wine are being handed out, a buzz is in the air, congratulations... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In our digital age, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nobel prize is a reminder that it is still novels that ask the biggest questionsIt’s always entertaining to observe the interaction between the news media and a writer who has just won the Nobel prize. The all-time best was obviously Doris Lessing, who when... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The writer discovered that his ‘perfect novella’ was all in his mind. It’s a story that is somehow fitting for the times in which we liveIt’s been a busy few days in the literary world, what with the release of this year’s Man Booker shortlist following the recent longlist announcement for its... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize, considered one of the most prestigious fiction awards in the world, was revealed Wednesday. Three American authors made the cut from the longlist: George Saunders, for “Lincoln in the Bardo”; Paul Auster, for his novel “4 3 2 1”; and Emily Fridlund for... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Man Booker Prize has announced its shortlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and it includes books by Paul Auster and George Saunders. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novels by Arundhati Roy, George Saunders, Sebastian Barry and Zadie Smith have been longlisted for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England is broadening its literature work, which has previously concentrated on areas such as poetry and translated literature, into a new emphasis on literary fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The winner of the Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent has taken the literary world by storm. The author discusses her ascent with Alice O’Keeffe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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