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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Listen to an 8-minute song inspired by the work of Marilynne Robinson.

This week, composer, violinist, and vocalist Caroline Shaw—who in 2013 became the youngest ever recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music—announced her second album with Attacca Quartet: Evergreen will be out from Nonesuch on September 23. Shaw and Attacca Quartet also shared the opening track... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-22 13:25:38 UTC ]
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Nikole Hannah-Jones and Univerity of North Carolina Settle Hiring Dispute

Ms. Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the 1619 Project, had said she was considering legal action against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-07-15 22:45:50 UTC ]
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The new Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman features a Black Loman family.

Death of a Salesman is returning to Broadway! In 1949, Arthur Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for this play, a critique of the futility of chasing the American Dream. Willy Loman has spent so much of his life on the road as a traveling salesman; upon returning home, he comes to the shattering... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-01 15:31:43 UTC ]
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“Yoknapatawpha on the Hudson”? On the Novelistic Universe of Edith Wharton

Like William Faulkner or Thomas Hardy, and not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Edith Wharton loved some milieus too much for just one story. In its setting and characters, The Old Maid is quintessential Wharton, the New York-born author who wrote fifteen novels and novellas and became the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-12 08:51:03 UTC ]
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‘I almost got hit’: the Ukrainian journalists turned war correspondents overnight

Initially writing stories and making television reports was secondary for the journalists as many focused on survivalRussia-Ukraine war: latest updatesWhen the war started journalists in Ukraine found themselves at the centre of the biggest story in the world. They became war correspondents... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-05-10 17:24:57 UTC ]
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The Winners of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize Have Been Announced

The Pulitzer Prize recognizes excellence in journalism, literature, and musical composition. Here are the winners in the book categories. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-05-10 13:26:51 UTC ]
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The Essential Sophie Gilbert Reading List

A staff writer at The Atlantic since 2016, Gilbert is a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2022-05-10 13:16:13 UTC ]
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Washington Post Wins Pulitzer Prize In Public Service Journalism For Jan. 6 Coverage

The Post’s extensive reporting found numerous failures in political systems and security before, during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2022-05-10 10:22:14 UTC ]
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Diane Seuss, Joshua Cohen, Andrea Elliott among Pulitzer Prize winners in books

Times Book Prize winners Diane Seuss and Ada Ferrer were among the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning authors. Joshua Cohen won in fiction for 'The Netanyahus.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-05-09 21:04:58 UTC ]
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Washington Post wins public service Pulitzer for Capitol attack coverage

Paper beat out two other finalists, the New York Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The Washington Post has won the 2022 Pulitzer prize for public service journalism, for The Attack, its account of the deadly assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump on 6 January 2021.The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-05-09 20:07:35 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of March 28, 2022

Doubleday buys a novel from Kate Atkinson set in 1920s London, Elizabeth Strout sells a Lucy Barton–in-lockdown book to Random House, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Exclusive cover reveal: Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy by the Sea.

Lit Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Pulitzer-winning author Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel Lucy by the Sea, which will be published by Random House this September. In Lucy by the Sea, Strout follows Lucy—the protagonist of My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William!—through the early days of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-22 18:56:21 UTC ]
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Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan on the Freedom of Writing Anonymously

How’s this for fun? Take 27 incredible writers—including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, PEN Awards, Women’s Prize for Fiction, Edgar Award, and more—and invite each of them to write an erotic short story. Then publish the collection in one steamy anthology with the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-17 08:50:16 UTC ]
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What Banning Maus Means for the Generation of Artists It Inspired

My friend, a poet and professor, was telling her nine-year-old daughter last week about the banning of Maus. She explained that Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust had been banned, and that it’s especially important to shine a light on dark histories when... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-02-18 09:51:43 UTC ]
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Art Spiegelman calls Tennessee schools' ban on 'Maus' 'myopic' and 'absurd'

Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman has denounced the 'absurd' removal of his graphic novel 'Maus,' about the Holocaust, from school libraries. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-01-28 20:33:57 UTC ]
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Tennessee school district bans Holocaust novel 'Maus'

Conservative districts across the U.S. are increasingly limiting the types of books that children are exposed to, including those that address structural racism and LGBTQ issues. Art Spiegelman, who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Maus” in 1992, is “baffled” by the ban. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-01-28 15:54:18 UTC ]
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Edith Wharton’s groundbreaking Pulitzer was originally meant for Sinclair Lewis.

This week we’re celebrating the 160th birthday of Edith Wharton—novelist, short story writer, and the first woman to win a Pulitzer prize. But as it turns out, the 1921 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction wasn’t initially meant to go to Wharton—the jury wanted to give the honor to Sinclair Lewis, but they... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-25 17:30:38 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: November 22, 2021

Jocko Willink hits #10 on the hardcover fiction list this week with 'Final Spin', Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Erdrich lands at #11 on our hardcover fiction list with her latest, 'The Sentence,' and Will Smith, the Academy Award-nominated actor and Grammy-winning rapper’s memoir is an instant... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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5 Audiobooks to Catch Up on the 2021 Pulitzer Winners and Finalists

A Pulitzer Prize all but guarantees a book a wider audience. Not so long ago it could also mean a new edition as an audiobook. A look at the winners and finalists of the 2021 Pulitzers, however, shows how thoroughly readers, publishers, and authors have embraced this alternate form of reading.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-22 08:50:43 UTC ]
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Review: ‘The Age of Innocence,’ by Edith Wharton

This tale of Gilded Age New York City became, in 1921, the first novel by a woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-21 14:55:14 UTC ]
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