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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Who should star in the TV adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred?

You may have noticed that here at Literary Hub, we’re pretty big fans of Octavia Butler—and especially of Kindred, arguably her most famous novel. So we were very excited by the recent news that that 42-year-old book is finally getting an adaptation: FX has recently ordered a pilot, which was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-19 14:00:40 UTC ]
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In ‘Shaking the Gates of Hell,’ a preacher’s son examines his church’s culture of silence on civil rights

Pulitzer Prize winner John Archibald reexamines his father’s legacy in this fascinating blend of family memoir and moral reckoning. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-13 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Your Week in Virtual Book Events, Feb. 22nd to Feb. 28th

Ten Evenings with Karen Russell Monday, February 22, All-day  As part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series, bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Karen Russell will discuss her newest collection, Orange World. Buy a virtual pass to watch anytime online for one week at $15 per... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-22 09:48:10 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Under a White Sky,’ by Elizabeth Kolbert

In “Under a White Sky,” the Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert meets people who are trying to reverse the course of man-made environmental disaster. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-02-10 10:00:00 UTC ]
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10 books to read in February

A Pulitzer Prize winner and a National Book Award finalist have new books headed our way. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-02 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Second Acts: Two Translations of Giovanni Pascoli

IN FEBRUARY 2020, I departed briefly from my usual Second Acts practice of pairing a recent second book of poems with a second book published a couple of decades ago or longer, and instead paired two recent books of translated poems, with the justification that for any given poem, its... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-22 18:00:02 UTC ]
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Neil Sheehan Dies at 84; Times Reporter Obtained the Pentagon Papers

His exhaustive coverage of the Vietnam War also led to the book “A Bright Shining Lie,” which won a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-01-07 23:20:39 UTC ]
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Nobel literature prize winner Louise Glück to publish new poetry in 2021

The poet, whose acceptance speech will also be released on Monday, will publish Winter Recipes from the Collective in 2021Nobel laureate Louise Glück is set to publish her first poetry collection in seven years in 2021 – her first since becoming the 16th female winner of the literature... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-07 11:00:36 UTC ]
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Pulitzer winner Alison Lurie dies, aged 94

Alison Lurie, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for her novel Foreign Affairs (Vintage), has died at the age of 94. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 22:01:54 UTC ]
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A Plurality of Traditions: Anthony Davis and the Social Justice Opera

ANTHONY DAVIS, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera The Central Park Five, is a composer with a great future behind him. Five is his eighth opera, and during those labors, spanning four decades, he’s found the time and talent to write orchestral pieces and music for plays, to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-17 12:30:47 UTC ]
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Karen Russell has recommended reading for you, Joe Biden.

Welcome to the Book Marks Questionnaire, where we ask authors questions about the books that have shaped them. This week, we spoke to Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Sleep Donation, Karen Russell. * Book Marks: First book you remember loving? Karen Russell: The Last Unicorn by Peter S.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-07 15:16:17 UTC ]
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Erika A. Niedowski, a former Sun foreign correspondent and 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist, dies

Erika A. Niedowski, a former Sun foreign correspondent and Moscow bureau chief who was a 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist and later worked for The Associated Press, died Friday of undetermined causes at Rhode Island Hospital two days before her 47th birthday. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2020-10-06 21:08:37 UTC ]
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Why is The Known World So Good?

Edward P. Jones’s The Known World occupies a somewhat odd space in the literary canon: it is highly decorated, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and it was even a bestseller, but 17 years after its publication, it feels curiously underread. I acknowledge, of course, that all notions of “underread,” like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-05 08:49:24 UTC ]
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8 Science Fiction Novels by Authors of Color for the End Times

Are these the end times? Who knows! Settle into this current quasi-dystopian reality with recent books by American writers of color. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-10-02 10:35:59 UTC ]
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Horsing Around

With her new novel about a talking horse, Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley continues to defy expectation—and classification. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Viet Thanh Nguyen has just become the first Asian-American member of the Pulitzer Board.

A big congratulations to Viet Thanh Nguyen, who is joining the Pulitzer Prize Board as its first Asian-American and Vietnamese-American member. After an extensive nominating process, the board chooses the winners from a list of finalists in each category and may additionally give a Special Award... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-08 18:40:01 UTC ]
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Ayad Akhtar’s play ‘Disgraced’ won a Pulitzer Prize. Now ‘Homeland Elegies’ shows what that success cost him.

Akhtar has crafted a phenomenal coalescence of memoir, fiction, history and cultural analysis. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-31 10:55:09 UTC ]
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Woodward's Next Trump Book Gets Title, Details Revealed

Simon & Schuster's dominance over the Trump exposé category is likely to be reaffirmed this September 15, when the publisher will release 'Rage,' the latest title by the Pulitzer Prize–winning 'Washington Post' reporter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Essential Steven Millhauser: Where to Start With An Underrated American Master

Steven Millhauser: Pulitzer Prize winner. Certified Writer’s Writer. Big in France. Reported Ping-Pong champ. A master short story writer who never quite seems to get his due. George Saunders before George Saunders, though sans the gooey center. Lit Hub’s own Jonny Diamond recently called him... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-03 08:49:28 UTC ]
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Colson Whitehead is the youngest writer to win the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.

It’s been quite a year for Colson Whitehead! First, he won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (again) and then he received the Orwell Prize for political fiction. And now the Library of Congress is honoring him with their lifetime achievement prize. (Previous recipients include Toni Morrison, Denis... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-14 15:56:24 UTC ]
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