Elizabeth Strout: ‘All ordinary people are extraordinary’

The Pulitzer prize winner on uniting Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton in her new novel, her unfathomable dreams, and how she went from ‘blabbermouth’ to writerPulitzer prize winner Elizabeth Strout, 68, has wooed readers and critics alike with a string of bestselling novels set in Maine, where she grew up and now mostly lives. Her latest, Tell Me Everything, unites two recurring protagonists from recent books – self-effacing author Lucy Barton and abrasive nonagenarian Olive Kitteridge – with sometime lawyer Bob Burgess, who first appeared in her 2013 novel The Burgess Boys, and is now set to be hauled out of semi-retirement by a murder case. As a New England winter finally yields to spring, pathos and dry humour gild tender reflections on loneliness and connection, and the redemptive power of storytelling.What made you want to bring all three characters together?I never ever intend to keep writing about the same people, but it gradually came to me that they are all living nearby. I wanted to get Olive and Lucy together – that was a propelling force. I just thought it would be so much fun, and of course Olive can’t stand her at first. The working title was The Book of Bob because Bob has always intrigued me. He’s such a decent person and doesn’t know that about himself, and I wanted him to come out of semi-retirement and do something big and meaningful. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-09-07 17:00:22 UTC ]

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From Kanye to Taylor, what to watch for in pop music in 2019

On this date in 2018, we didn’t know that Kanye West would visit the White House or that Beyoncé would blow up Coachella. We didn’t know about Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize or Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” And though we might’ve suspected that BTS would release an album (or two), we... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Olive Kitteridge returns in new Strout novel

A follow-up to Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, titled Olive, Again, will be published by Viking in September 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bellevue Literary Press Goes Solo

BLP, which was a part of the New York University School of Medicine when its 'Tinkers' by Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, has completed its transition to an independent nonprofit literary house. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Woodward's 'Fear' Dominates in First Week on Sale

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bob Woodward's examination of the Trump administration, Fear, is the #1 ebook in Apple's iBooks store on the strength of pre-orders. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NBC News denies that it tried to shut down Ronan Farrow's Harvey Weinstein reporting

Ronan Farrow shared a Pulitzer Prize and received other major journalistic kudos for his investigation of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment, assault, rape and abuse of power during his long career as a movie mogul. But nearly a year after Farrow’s story made headlines and helped blaze... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage pays tribute to literary giant Philip Roth

Vintage has paid tribute to Pulitzer Prize and Man Booker International Prize-winning author Philip Roth as "one the greatest American novelists of the 20th century” following his death at the age of 85. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Junot Diaz #MeToo Accusations Surface

A number of authors have taken to Twitter to accuse Junot Díaz, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel 'The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,' of sexual harassment and other misconduct. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: April 30, 2018

With 357K print copies sold in a single week, 'A Higher Loyalty' by James Comey is #1 in the country. Meanwhile, 'New Yorker' staff writer and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Lawrence Wright debuts at #19 with 'God Save Texas,' and more in this week's bestseller news. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Essential Arts & Culture: Getty Villa's redo, speaker dresses and Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer — damn!

Hip-hop upends the Pulitzer Prize and a pair of musicians take to the stage in dresses made out of speakers. I’m Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, with the week’s rocking culture news (and essential cumbia remixes): ESSENTIAL IMAGE The 2018 winner of the Pulitzer Prize... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kendrick Lamar’s work has long alluded to other Pulitzer Prize winners

Kendrick Lamar’s achievement as the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize for music is an epochal achievement in hip-hop, and in Pulitzer history for acknowledging the genre’s importance in American cultural life. But there is some precedent and narrative behind this particular award. It’s not the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Compton's Kendrick Lamar makes history with Pulitzer Prize win

Their names are inked in history books and on the walls of hallowed concert halls as winners of American music’s most esteemed award, the Pulitzer Prize for music: Aaron Copland, George Crumb, John Luther Adams, Ornette Coleman, Caroline Shaw and dozens more. Add to that list the man nicknamed... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weinstein stories that sparked #MeToo win Pulitzer Prize

The New York Times and The New Yorker won the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for breaking the Harvey Weinstein scandal with reporting that galvanized the (hash)MeToo movement and set off a national reckoning over sexual misconduct in the workplace. The Times and The Washington Post took... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin's European series to counter 'political climate'

Penguin is launching a European Series in April to celebrate “forgotten classics”, with introductions by acclaimed contemporary authors such as Colm Toibin, Elizabeth Strout and Deborah Levy. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elizabeth Strout’s ‘Anything Is Possible’ Wins The Story Prize

Strout was awarded The Story Prize and a $20,000 cash prize for her acclaimed short story collection 'Anything Is Possible,' at a ceremony at New York's New School. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pulitzer-winning photographer who captured the despair of war dies at 104

Former Associated Press photographer Max Desfor, whose photo of hundreds of Korean War refugees crawling across a damaged bridge in 1950 captured the desperation of wartime and helped win him a Pulitzer Prize, has died at the age of 104. Desfor, who died Monday in Silver Spring, Md., volunteered... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Linney takes on My Name is Lucy Barton for London stage debut

Elizabeth Strout’s My Name Is Lucy Barton is being adapted for the stage with American actress Laura Linney taking up the title role in her London stage debut. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Complex and Satisfying, You Should Read the 'Black Panther' Comics

The recent books by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay, and Evan Narcisse have had great character-driven stories. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2018-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taylor Mac is a MacArthur genius. If you don't know about his 24-hour extravaganza, here's why you should

Gender-bending performance artist Taylor Mac whose 24-hour show "A 24-Decade History of Popular Music," resulting in him being a finalist for this year's Pulitzer Prize for drama, is a recipient of a 2017 MacArthur 'Genius Grant." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: Fresh Complaint by Jeffrey Eugenides

Like certain comets, books by Jeffrey Eugenides appear only rarely. Since 1993 he has dropped a novel a decade: The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, which won a Pulitzer Prize, and most recently The Marriage Plot. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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