Hiding the Body: My Susan Sontag Story, by John Weir

Essay John Weir Adapted from a photo by Jake weirick on Unsplash Like a dead pop star, Susan Sontag left behind a lot of fans who claim they knew her. After the release last September of Benjamin Moser’s new biography, Susan Sontag: Her Life and Work, they were all over the internet, sharing stories. Writers, of course. Especially queer writers. Does every queer writer who lived in New York City and published a book sometime between 1960 and 2000 have a Sontag story? I do! Here’s mine: Eighteen years ago, shortly after she won the National Book Award for her fourth novel, In America, some of which she had been accused of plagiarizing, and a few months before she published, in the New Yorker, maybe the only response to the 9/11 attacks, in their immediate aftermath, that was worth considering, she was invited, along with John Updike and Norman Mailer, to read at Queens College CUNY, where I teach creative writing. Surely the most impressive trio of literary bigwigs of a certain era ever to read together in Flushing. Three idols. I had long regarded their work with awe and envy. In my early twenties, in the 1980s, in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hot and airless in summer, frigid in winter, I read—eagerly, jealously—everything they wrote. I was an aspiring writer, and they were my workshop instructors and problematic literary parents. Updike’s Couples taught me how to do a party scene. Mailer’s An American... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-07 22:09:56 UTC ]
News tagged with: #moral imperative #gertrude stein #literary community #national book award

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Hiding the Body: My Susan Sontag Story, by John Weir'


John Murray pre-empts McLaughlin stories

John Murray has pre-empted a collection of short stories and debut novel from Irish writer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john murray #short stories #irish writer


Stories About Stories (About Stories): A Reading List of Meta-Narrators

A meta-narrator has an authorial awareness of a story being told. They make their presence known, intervening when they deem necessary. In the case that they are also the protagonist (which is often) then they must be as adept as immersing themselves in the real-time story unfolding up close as... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-24 08:15:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Are All Short Stories O. Henry Stories?

The writer’s signature style of ending—a final, thrilling note—has the touch of magic that distinguishes the form at its best. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-06-28 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #signature style #short stories


Andersen Press to relaunch online story sessions with Seven Stories

Andersen Press is to relaunch its weekly online children's storytime sessions in partnership with Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-15 10:26:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #andersen press #national centre


Boston Picks Grace Talusan Story for One City Story

The Boston Book Festival has announced that a short story by Grace Talusan is the 10th annual selection for its One City One Story initiative. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short story #book festival


A Story of All Stories: On Erin Morgenstern’s “The Starless Sea”

THE STARLESS SEA, Erin Morgenstern’s sophomore fantasy novel, takes effort to read, but there are countless narratively complex works of science fiction and fantasy that amply reward such effort: N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season comes to mind as one recent, prominent example of the type. The... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-06-20 17:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #erin morgenstern #starless sea #science fiction


Viral Story of Edmund Kemper’s Audiobook Narration Tells Bigger Story

The Edmund Kemper, audiobook narrator story is sensational. The work of The Blind Project, though, is vital, important, and worth knowing. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-10-14 10:35:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook


On Body Horror and the Female Body

"The female body is a nexus of pain almost by design, but it is also potentially monstrous—an object traditionally subjugated, both for its presumed weakness and its perceived threat." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #female body


More than 'story, bonking, story': why you've never heard of Australia's best-selling authors

In pushing the romance genre aside, Australia’s publishing industry sent its most successful writers to pursue their careers abroadNalini Singh is trying to convince me to read a love story starring bears. The tiny author is tucked up under a huge scarf in a cafe on a freezing August day in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-17 22:00:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #romance genre #41st book #dystopian future #publishing industry


London Book Fair 2019: Why the Story of Our Networked World Is a Story of Upheaval

In his new book, former F.C.C. Chariman Tom Wheeler deftly explores 500 years of network revolutions, and offers an invaluable take on the challenges we now face. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


John Blake and Rosie Virgo leave John Blake Publishing

Founder John Blake and m.d. Rosie Virgo are stepping down from their roles at John Blake Publishing.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john blake


Cambridge University and First Story unveiled as BBC short story awards partners

First Story and the University of Cambridge are the new partners of the BBC’s short story awards, replacing BookTrust, in a three-year collaboration starting in 2018. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cambridge university


John Virgo memoir to John Blake Publishing

Snooker player John Virgo of BBC "Big Break" fame is publishing his memoir with John Blake Publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big break


John Smith adds York St John to its Aspire scheme

John Smith & Sons Group has done a new deal with York St John University for its Aspire Bursary Management scheme. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Paul Yoon Wins 20th Annual Story Prize

'The Hive and the Honey' is the winner of this year's Story Prize, which was presented at a ceremony March 26 at the Lotos Club in New York City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #story prize


Suzanne Herz Returns to Penguin Random House as John Grisham's Publisher

John Grisham's longtime publisher will return after a buyout to oversee the publishing strategy for the John Grisham brand, "which will now live alongside the sales and corporate marketing teams," PRH CRO Jaci Updike wrote in a memo. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #longtime publisher #john grisham #publishing strategy #penguin random house


Scholastic in $186 Million Deal with 9 Story

Scholastic has acquired 100% of the economic interest in 9 Story Media Group, a Toronto-based creator, producer, and distributor of children’s content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #scholastic


Leslie Jamison Writes A Different Kind of Love Story In “Splinters”

Leslie Jamison’s new memoir Splinters follows the aftermath of divorce and the awakening of motherhood, but it explores desire more than it does any kind of death. Jamison wants to make meaning, to connect, to love, to feel, to mother, to write, and to revise her life endlessly. There are losses... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leslie jamison #love story #electric literature #memoir


Reviving Literary Legacies: When Women’s Stories Finally Get Told

Rebecca Rego Barry, author of 'The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells,' on researching the prolific mystery author—whose name, which once regularly graced the pages of the 'New York Times' and this very magazine, has been all but forgotten. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:


Endnotes: ‘The Cemetery of Untold Stories’ by Julia Alvarez

A look at the publication process for the latest novel from the acclaimed author and poet. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #untold stories #julia alvarez #publication process #acclaimed author