The much-acclaimed Irish author of Small Things Like These on her quietly devastating new story and why George Saunders wouldn’t read it aloud for a podcastClaire Keegan’s five books to date run to just 700 pages and some 140,000 words. “I love to see prose being written economically,” she tells me. “Elegance is saying just enough. And I do believe that the reader completes the story.” Revered by critics and prize judges for the miraculous density of her short fiction ever since her 1999 debut, Antarctica, she became an international bestseller two years ago with her first novel, Small Things Like These, about an Irish coal merchant whose eyes are opened one Christmas to the horror behind the walls of his biggest customer, a laundry run by nuns. “I think the book was taking off before it was shortlisted for the Booker prize,” Keegan, speaking from her home on the Wexford coast after technology thwarts our planned video call. “A lot of the sales went through word of mouth. A lot of people bought the book for other people for Christmas. People read it and bought it for other people in the new year. Now it’s on the school syllabus here.”The novel, which won last year’s Orwell prize for political fiction, takes its epigraph from the 1916 proclamation of the Irish republic, pledging “equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens”, a damning prelude to a book about systematised misogyny. Keegan’s new book, So Late in the Day, a 64-page story published as a standalone... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-09-02 17:00:10 UTC ]
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Don't know too much about money or how it's used? Want to learn? These new are books for you. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The awards recognize the best in Canadian books across 7 categories in both English and French. Other winners include Kyo Maclear, Hannah Green and Cliff Cardinal. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-11-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land’s new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, is out today, so we asked her a few questions about her routine, writing advice, and how she deals with writers block. Who do you most wish would read your book? Anyone who has authority over a person who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-07 09:50:56 UTC ]
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Tracy K. Smith’s To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul is available tomorrow, so we asked her a few questions about her readers, when she writes, and her favorite book to recommend to others. * Who do you most wish would read your book? People who are weary of the limits of […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-06 09:56:46 UTC ]
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“The world here beats faster than a hummingbird’s wings,” writes Alexandra Chang in her new collection Tomb Sweeping. Chang, the author of Days of Distraction and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 recipient, writes poignantly about tenuous connection. In these stories, a wealthy housewife... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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T. Martin Bennett’s new historical novel looks at World War II from the perspective of the Japanese pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With Halloween around the corner, Gilbert Cruz talks to the Book Review editors Tina Jordan and Sadie Stein about their favorite creepy books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-10-27 15:52:21 UTC ]
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The ghost story is one of the most vibrant modes in U.S. American literature today. But why are ghost stories still relevant? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-26 10:35:00 UTC ]
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The leaves are amassing, the skeletons are out, and enormous bags of candy fill the grocery store aisles and threaten to spill their chocolates right into your mouth, through absolutely no fault of your own. Yep, it’s officially spooky season. But if you still need some help getting into the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-23 16:13:33 UTC ]
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From her Louisiana roots to the quasi-imprisonment of her conservatorship, Britney Spears' 'The Woman in Me' paints the pop star's life as a Victorian nightmare. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-20 20:46:28 UTC ]
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On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
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Books & Books recently had the pleasure of hosting three-time National Book Award finalist and best-selling author Lauren Groff, presenting her new novel, The Vaster Wilds. The New York Times calls it “a lonely novel of hunger and survival.” The brilliant Groff reads from her adventure novel... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-20 08:11:49 UTC ]
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The book shares secrets – Mantel’s own alongside those of the writers, historical figures and places she describes. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-10-19 14:40:38 UTC ]
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The awards partnership between Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books will award $60,000 in scholarships. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-18 18:22:57 UTC ]
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Tiffany D. Jackson's newest book is YA novel about the Marvel superhero Storm, titled Storm: Dawn of a Goddess. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-17 15:40:54 UTC ]
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While many of the flashy, marquee mobility and transportation demos that go on at CES tend to be of the more... aspirational variety, Honda's electric cargo hauler, the Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV), could soon find use on airport grounds as the robotic EV trundles... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-10-17 15:00:25 UTC ]
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Patience, Perspective, and the Power of Story: An Interview with Toni Ann Johnson, by Scott LaMascus Interviews [email protected] Mon, 10/16/2023 - 13:46 Storyteller Toni Ann Johnson uses her skills as an actor, playwright, and fiction writer to... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-16 18:46:19 UTC ]
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These Halloween short stories are free to read online! They're deliciously unsettling, genre-bending, emotional, and even humorous. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-16 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Since my first novel was published, at almost every interview and live event, I get asked a version of the same question. Usually people seem just curious, but occasionally there are notes of hostility or amazement. They want to know why, and often how, I write my female protagonists. The answer... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-16 08:50:29 UTC ]
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Rushdie, who was grievously injured onstage last year, said the forthcoming book was a way “to answer violence with art.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-10-11 14:10:29 UTC ]
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