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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“There’s No Office Left to Run For”

On this week’s episode of my podcast, I Have to Ask, I spoke with David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker. Remnick began editing the magazine in 1998; before then, he was a staff writer for the magazine and a Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post. His coverage of the fall of communism... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meet our new U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith

Tracy K. Smith is a highly accomplished poet (she has a Pulitzer Prize), but at 45, she's several decades younger than many recent US poets laureate Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tracy K. Smith Named U.S. Poet Laureate

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of 'Life on Mars' has been named to the highest public office reserved for an American poet. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tracy K. Smith Is the New Poet Laureate

Tracy K. Smith has published three volumes of poetry and won the Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie House Rides the Pulitzer Wave

Seattle-based poetry publisher Wave Books is seeing a surge of interest after one of its titles, 'Olio' by Tyehimba Jess, won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Teaching Writing At the Writers Studio

The non-MFA writing school, run by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Philip Schultz, turns 30 this year, and marks the milestone with a new anthology. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Whitehead shortlisted for Arthur C Clarke Award

Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winning The Underground Railroad (Fleet) has found itself a place on the shortlist for this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award for science fiction literature. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Colson Whitehead wins the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for 'The Underground Railroad'

Colson Whitehead won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in fiction Monday for “The Underground Railroad.” It caps a sweep of accolades that the book has received since its publication by Doubleday in August 2016, including winning the National Book Award in November and being selected by Oprah Winfrey for... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Maggie Nelson, new MacArthur fellow, says, 'You've just got to do what each book demands'

Maggie Nelson has been named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her work that blends frank autobiography with criticism and philosophy. A poet who leads the MFA program at CalArts, Nelson’s work wrestles with issues of gender, LGBT theory, art and violence; her most recent books are the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Anthracite Fields' composer Julia Wolfe says MacArthur grant will bring 'time and space'

After receiving the Pulitzer Prize for music last year, a Grammy Award nomination and other praise for her coal-mining-themed choral work “Anthracite Fields,” composer Julia Wolfe can add another accolade to her professional mantel: a MacArthur Fellowship, a five-year grant that comes with an... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Washington Post says Obama should not pardon whistleblower Ed Snowden

Newspaper criticised for calling for the criminal prosecution of its own source, on ‘whose back the paper won and eagerly accepted a Pulitzer Prize’The Washington Post has stunned many people in the United States, including a large section of the country’s journalistic community, by coming out... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Critic's Notebook: In Books on Donald Trump, Consistent Portraits of a High-Decibel Narcissist

Six of the recent books about the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2016-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Crazy but fantastic': Man Booker prize pitches tiny publishers into big league

A year after Marlon James and his indie press Oneworld beat publishing giants to win the Man Booker, three independent publishers have made the 2016 longlist. But what effect does the ‘mother of all prizes’ have on tiny teams?Man Booker 2016 longlist – in picturesAlongside heavy hitters such as... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jack Fuller, Prizewinning Chicago Tribune Journalist, Dies at 69

Jack Fuller won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing at The Chicago Tribune and later became Tribune Publishing’s president. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2016-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2016: Robert Olen Butler: Veteran Writer

The striking similarities between Pulitzer Prize–winner Robert Olen Butler and the narrator in his latest novel, "Perfume River," leads readers to wonder if the book is in some way autobiographical. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Picks: Books of the Week, January 11, 2016

This week: new books from Elizabeth Strout and China Mieville, and the fascinating world of brilliant con artists. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gaylord Shaw dies at 73; journalist won a Pulitzer for The Times in 1978

Gaylord Shaw, a renowned journalist who broke the news of Richard Nixon's resignation and won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1978 for the Los Angeles Times, has died at age 73. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TurnRow Book Company Staff Takes to the Stage

For years, the booksellers at TurnRow Book Company in Greenwood, Miss., have been obsessed with David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play Glengarry Glen Ross. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novels from female perspective miss out on major awards

Books written by women or men from the perspective of a female character are less likely to win major literary awards than books written from a male perspective or about men, research by author Nicola Griffith has found. Griffith analysed the last 15 years of winners for six fiction awards –... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors and Illustrators to Meet at CI3: Children's Institute 2015

Below is a list of the most recent books by writers attending the author reception, the Scholastic Meet & Treat party, and/or the opening reception with members of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, cosponsored by PW. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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