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 ]
Terry McMillan's eighth novel, 'Who Asked You?,' is rich in narrative tension, nuanced humor and moral heft."Who Asked You?" is Terry McMillan's eighth book, and it is a corker: a long, smooth, Indian-summer cocktail. For all the racy, scandalous pleasures in books such as "Waiting to Exhale"... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The commencement address George Saunders delivered this past spring at Syracuse University, which has gone viral across the Internet, will be published next year as a book by Random House.From the department of it had to happen: The commencement address George Saunders delivered this past spring... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Oh, the magic of finding a great book through the sheer power of chance! Is the summer the best time for that to happen? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In an interview with Guernica magazine, literary agent Nicole Aragi discusses the crisis of literary fiction, why translated books don't sell in the US, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
After winning the highest honor in the literary world, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners have seen sales increases – but so far the numbers are pretty tiny. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Publishers Weekly faces controversy after naming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author E L James 'Publishing Person of the Year' for 2012. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Can fraudulent writers, aka Johah Lehrer, ever be forgiven? Or should they simply be cast into permanent exile from the literary world? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Rosalind Prize for Fiction – named for Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' heroine – follows awards like Australia's women-only Stella Prize and the U.K.'s Orange Prize. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For nearly a decade, some say even longer, people in the publishing industry have been decrying the death of the midlist. As the story goes, the industry consolidatedsmaller and midsize publishers were gobbled up and brought together into six large houses that themselves are small pieces of... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 15:19 Digital publisher Open Road is launching a new imprint, Iconic E-books, with Erica Jong's Fear of Flying and Alice Walker's The Color Purple to be among its first titles. The Iconic E-Books titles will be those that have... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 08:30 Pan Macmillan's Macmillan New Writing scheme will continue despite the head of the imprint leaving the company. Will Atkins, who worked at Pan Macmillan for five years and was its editorial director for fiction, has left... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 09:41 The safeguarding of Waterstone's future will secure the midlist of history and science writing, literary fiction and memoir, the m.d. of Faber has said. Stephen Page, writing in the Guardian, said if the Waterstone's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this