Finding your literary voice - with a working class accent

At the beginning of 2020, well before my debut novel was published, I was invited to an evening soiree in Glasgow’s Mitchell Library – a kind of preview event for authors performing at a well-known literary festival.  I changed quickly in the toilet at the car salesroom I worked in and navigated the comments from the boys about who I was ‘going on a date with’ – literary soirees not being a regular feature at this Ford dealership in the East End of town. I arrive late and I’m stressed – finding a parking space and rushing in. Continue reading at 'The Bookseller'

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-15 16:53:37 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Finding your literary voice - with a working class accent"


C Pam Zhang’s ‘How Much of These Hills Is Gold’ brilliantly reimagines the cowboy narrative

At once subversive and searching, the debut novel focuses on two sisters on the run whose roots lie in an unnamed country “from beyond the ocean.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-06 20:54:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Chelsea Bieker distills the fire and fury of the parched Central Valley

Chelsea Bieker's 'Godshot,' a surreal debut novel set in the parched Central Valley, depicts a fundamentalist rain cult and sex worker resisters. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-06 14:30:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Beyond the tent

A couple of weeks ago, John Howkins wrote a piece for us on the value of invisible work. Ever since, as news of one cancelled literary festival after another has hit my inbox, it's been resonating hard. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-03 13:14:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Hawaii of ‘Sharks in the Time of Saviors’ Is Modern, Yet Mystical

Kawai Strong Washburn’s debut novel envisions an archipelago of Indigenous peoples who refuse to be erased. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-03-31 12:43:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Alexandra Chang’s ‘Days of Distraction’ experiments with form to reveal the complexities of modern life

The debut novel intersperses the story of a tech reporter in Silicon Valley with Facebook posts, tweets, Google results and other fragments. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why Is Dying in America So Expensive?

In Megan Giddings’s debut novel Lakewood, desperation leads to a loss of self in a capitalist medical system bent on taking advantage of Black people and their bodies. After the death of her grandmother, Lena, a college student struggling with overwhelming medical debt and taking care of her... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-03-24 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Head of Zeus bags romantic comedy by debut author Nicole Kennedy

Head of Zeus is to publish the debut novel of Nicole Kennedy, a former city lawyer.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-23 14:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Kate Elizabeth Russell’s debut novel is an unsettling tale of abuse

“My Dark Vanessa” will strike a chord with women. But it ought to be read by men Continue reading at The Economist

[ The Economist | 2020-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Bit Like Paint-By-Numbers: An Interview with Mara Faye Lethem

MARA FAYE LETHEM is one of the translators of Albert Sánchez Piñol, a Catalan writer whose debut novel Cold Skin, a sparse psychological thriller, caused a sensation in Spain. Lethem also translated Piñol’s second novel, Pandora in the Congo, a fabulist tale that is by turns laugh-out-loud funny... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-03-19 19:00:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Kate Elizabeth Russell’s debut novel is an unsettling tale of abuse

“My Dark Vanessa” will strike a chord with women. But it ought to be read by men Continue reading at The Economist

[ The Economist | 2020-03-19 15:48:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Meh on the Debut, In Love With the Sophomore

TFW you didn't love the debut novel and are completely taken by surprise when you fall head over heels for that same author's second book. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-19 10:35:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bloomsbury wins Imogen Crimp's debut novel in four-way auction

Bloomsbury Publishing has won Imogen Crimp’s debut novel, The High Notes, in a four-way auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-17 18:04:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this


When All Is “Temporary,” Nothing to Hold Onto

Hilary Leichter’s destabilizing debut novel imagines a productivity-centric dystopia, not far off. Continue reading at Guernica

[ Guernica | 2020-03-13 14:00:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Germany's Lit.Cologne literary festival cancelled due to coronavirus

While German publishers are still reeling from the cancellation of the major spring fair Leipziger Buchmesse last week, the industry has been dealt two more blows in the wake of the coronavirus crises. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-11 07:50:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


8 Contemporary Novels by Japanese Women Writers

My novel The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is a story of how a young woman’s unexplained suicide shapes and transforms the lives of those she left behind. It’s a literary mystery with elements of magical realism set in Japan, not unlike my debut novel Rainbirds. Because of these, I am often... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-03-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harvill Secker signs Ailsa McFarlane's debut novel in 'swift' pre-empt

Harvill Secker has "swiftly pre-empted" debut novel Highway Blue from Ailsa McFarlane, a 23-year-old writer who had never shown her work before sending it to agents. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-08 18:43:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Phaidon moves London HQ to Stratford

Art publisher Phaidon is relocating its London headquarters to Stratford, joining companies including Sadler’s Wells and the BBC in moving to the East End. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 22:29:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Film rights for Osman debut novel bought by Amblin in 14-way auction

Film rights to Richard Osman’s debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club (Viking), have been snapped up by Amblin Partners in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 16:08:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Laugharne Weekend saved as Porter and McBride join packed line-up

​Annual literary festival The Laugharne Weekend has been saved thanks to a crowdfunding appeal and assistance from the Welsh Assembly, with this year's festival boasting a packed line-up featuring authors such as Max Porter and Eimear McBride.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 20:52:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bloomsbury wins satirical debut The Other Black Girl in six-figure deal

Bloomsbury has won Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, a satirical debut novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, for a six-figure deal following a nine-way auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:26:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this