How to Write a Roger Federer Think Piece

It has been a bit more than nine years since David Foster Wallace delivered “Federer as Religious Experience,” the Magna Carta of what has become one of the most popular genres in sports journalism: the Roger Federer think piece. The now-classic essay, penned for the short-lived New York Times sports magazine Play, inaugurated a run of dominance virtually without parallel in modern sports writing. As the 2015 U.S. Open closes, Federer’s place as the most artfully described tennis player in ATP history is secure; his long career has inspired many, including such luminaries as Tom Perrotta, L. Jon Wertheim, Calvin Tomkins, and Julian Barnes, to exquisitely articulate his physical presence. He’s even inspired multiple acclaimed books: In addition to Wertheim’s Strokes of Genius—about a single match Federer played against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008—William Skidelsky, the former literary editor of the Observer, released a well-received book in Britain this past summer, Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession. (It will be published in the United States by Simon & Schuster in the spring.) Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #julian barnes #physical presence #rafael nadal #literary editor #past summer #simon schuster

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Indie bookshop celebrating women's writing opens in Edinburgh

An independent bookshop spotlighting women’s writing is opening in Edinburgh today (6th August), inspired by a successful book club.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 19:47:21 UTC ]
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Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing returns

The Nan Shepherd Prize is returning this month, coinciding with the publication of Small Bodies of Water by the prize's inaugural winner, Nina Mingya Powles.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 18:40:15 UTC ]
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Octavia Butler’s 1979 bio is an object lesson in writing author bios.

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Review of Books published a fairly wild essay by Miguel Esteban who, at the tender age of 14, commissioned a now-famous essay on race in science fiction from Octavia Butler. The whole piece is worth a read (the gall of teenage boys! the grace of Octavia!) but... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-07-26 13:40:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #octavia butler #object lesson #tender age #teenage boys #science fiction


ALA Welcomes SUCCESS Act, Proposed Federal Funding Increases for Libraries

“Congress is getting the message that libraries of all kinds are key to the vitality of communities,” said ALA president Patty Wong in a statement. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Prince Harry to Write a Memoir

Penguin Random House said the book, tentatively coming in 2022, would be “an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-07-19 20:26:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #heartfelt memoir #prince harry #memoir #penguin random house


Prince Harry agrees publishing deal to write his memoirs

Penguin Random House announces book is expected in late 2022 with proceeds going to charityThe Duke of Sussex has agreed a publishing deal to write his memoirs and said he would do so “not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become”.The global deal for his “literary memoir” was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-19 18:37:55 UTC ]
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Lauren Child | 'It felt like a time to write about what we wish for'

Lauren Child's latest story focuses on Christmas in a Clarice Bean story that is full of empathy and hope Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-17 02:08:43 UTC ]
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Write to roam: why armchair travelling is back in fashion

Reissued tales of classic journeys are being snapped up as Britons long for escape while having to stay at homeSome will go on a “great trudge” from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Others will explore the canyonlands of Utah or the mountains of Iran. But there is one idiosyncrasy they will all... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-04 07:30:15 UTC ]
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Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival apologises for absence of female writers of colour

The organisers of the 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival have apologised for not including any female writers of colour in the programme . Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-02 16:32:23 UTC ]
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Roger Bennett spent his British boyhood fixated on ‘Miami Vice’ and the Chicago Bears — then lived his own American Dream

Bennett’s new memoir, “(Re)Born in the USA,” traces an offbeat journey from obsession to proud citizenship. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-01 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker launches third children's sports writing competition

Walker Books is launching its third Young Sportswriter of the Year competition, in partnership with the Guardian and the Football School series of books. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-10 01:41:47 UTC ]
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Battacharya wins Spread the Word Life Writing Prize

Santanu Battacharya has won Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize 2021, with "The Nicer One", hailed by judges as a "gut-punch of a piece". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-09 14:59:56 UTC ]
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The Advantages of Failure: What Thoreau Taught Me About Journal Writing

I have known plenty of failure in my writing life. Inspired partly by Henry David Thoreau, I set out to be a writer after college. Which effectively meant that I worked part-time as a carpenter and bookseller for the next dozen years without publishing a word. My current day job is as a teacher... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-06-04 08:49:40 UTC ]
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But what if I want to write about mangoes?

Here I am. Writing about mangoes, while eating a mango. I am a stereotype dream come true. “I try to avoid any mention of mangoes, of spices and monsoons,” said writer Jeet Thayil, in an NPR interview a few years ago. Yes, these are the stereotypes that we are often pigeonholed in. I debated and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 09:09:52 UTC ]
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Writing an Old Friend: Spotlight on J. William Lewis

The teenage protagonist in J. William Lewis’s debut novel, The Essence of Nathan Biddle, seeks to answer life’s biggest questions. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Kirstin Innes on Scotland's exciting female writing

Writer Kirstin Innes talks to The Bookseller about some of the most exciting and experimental Scottish female voices being published today. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-15 00:01:08 UTC ]
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Harriet Evans | 'I want to write about things that interest me'

On the sunny spring morning that we speak, Harriet Evans has been going through the page proofs of her 12th novel, The Beloved Girls, with a forensic eye—long before she was a bestselling author, Evans was a highly regarded editor—and it has not met her exacting standards. “I’m actually... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-14 16:27:00 UTC ]
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Everyone wants a piece of Bluey – even the Morrison government is falsely claiming credit | Amanda Meade

Paul Fletcher makes the hit children’s TV show part of his budget announcement. Plus: News Corp lets go of its last photographersBluey, the Emmy award-winning children’s television show, is a smash hit for ABC Kids and has won the hearts of families Australia-wide. Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-14 06:34:16 UTC ]
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex writes debut children's book for PRH

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has written a children's book for Penguin Random House called The Bench, about the “special bond between father and son as seen through a mother’s eyes”.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-04 02:52:11 UTC ]
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Paris Lees | 'I grew up feeling like I wasn’t good enough, so to feel respected for my writing is really moving'

A contributing editor for British Vogue, Paris Lees made her name as the UKs first high-profile transgender woman to break into the mainstream when she was named top of the Pink List of the most influential LGBT people in Britain, and became the first “out” transgender woman to appear on BBC... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-01 02:56:30 UTC ]
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