‘I was told I was stupid’: Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph on his debut novel – and writing three operas

He starred in Peep Show, Green Wing and Wonka – and his first novel won an award. Now the star is making operas with 64 homeless people. Not bad going for someone who was written off by his teachersPaterson Joseph is, by his own admission, an unlikely opera librettist. He had turned 50 by the time he got round to going to one, and only went because he was in it, as the “crazy” voice of God in Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. “It’s not my world,” says the actor. But therein lies part of his mission: as a black Londoner written off by the school system, his life was transformed by the goldmine he discovered while truanting down at his local library.One of his discoveries, as “a melancholy teen”, was Pushkin’s verse novel Eugene Onegin. “I remember getting it out of the library,” he says, “just because it was a small book. And I started reading this poem out loud, at night in my bedroom. And I laughed – but I was also frightened and frustrated, weeping at the tragedy of it. When I closed the book, it was dawn.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-05-27 04:00:13 UTC ]
News tagged with: #small book #peep show #paterson joseph #green wing #teacherspaterson joseph #opera librettist #crazy voice #kurt weill #bertolt brecht #lies part #school system #melancholy teen #eugene onegin #started reading #first novel #debut novel

Other news stories related to: "‘I was told I was stupid’: Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph on his debut novel – and writing three operas"

‘I was told I was stupid’: Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph on his debut novel – and writing three operas

He starred in Peep Show, Green Wing and Wonka – and his first novel won an award. Now the star is making operas with 64 homeless people. Not bad going for someone who was written off by his teachersPaterson Joseph is, by his own admission, an unlikely opera librettist. He had turned 50 by the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-05-27 04:00:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novel #first novel #started reading #bertolt brecht

Dialogue pre-empts Paterson Joseph's 'dazzling' debut telling tale of Sancho

Dialogue Books has pre-empted actor Paterson Joseph's debut novel, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, an "illuminating and original" novel about the black writer and composer. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-29 09:06:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #secret diaries #dialogue books

Authors told to write under pseudonyms to fuel debut obsession, claims Harris

Authors are being told to write under pseudonyms to present themselves as debut writers and feed the publishing industry’s “obsession” with new, marketable voices, Joanne Harris has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #joanne harris #publishing industry #debut writers #authors told

To Write Her Debut Novel, Molly McGhee Had to Leave Publishing

On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times bestseller #electric literature #assistant editor

An annotated copy of Virginia Woolf’s difficult debut novel shows her evolution in action.

Virginia Woolf’s first novel, The Voyage Out, was published in the UK in 1915, after which she wanted to tweak some passages for the printing of the US edition. We know this thanks to the work of unsung hero Simon Cooper, a metadata officer at the University of Sydney, who found Woolf’s own copy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-24 17:39:46 UTC ]
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U.S. Book Show 2023: Debut Authors in Conversation

First-time authors Alice Carrière, Tereh Shelton Harris, and Kelsey James will discuss their forthcoming books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #forthcoming books #debut authors

Never too late: over-50s urged to write fiction with prize for debut novel

Award launched at London book fair aims to help older authors take the plunge and submit a first workLondon book fair, which concluded earlier this month, always brings with it a flurry of headlines about debut authors signing six-figure publishing deals. Most of these have at least one thing in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-23 09:00:35 UTC ]
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Writing History Showed Me a New Way to View Climate Change

Two new books, a U. K. paperback and a world first edition, were delivered to my door on the same day last week. I put the books side by side on the table. The first, suggestive of dark happenings in the past,  was The Lion House: The Rise of Suleyman the Magnificent. The second book’s […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-03 08:52:43 UTC ]
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Hachette Children's scoops Fox's 'richly told' debut

Hachette Children’s Group has acquired The Sky Over Rebecca, a "richly told" middle-grade tale of two worlds colliding from debut author and winner of the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2019, Matthew Fox. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-10 13:38:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette #debut author #bath children #hachette children

Author of 'My Monticello' on Writing a Debut Book With Buzz

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, at 50, is not the average age of a debut author. But the public school teacher describes herself as a “literary debutante” with the October publication of “My Monticello.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-28 13:06:03 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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children's book #penguin random house

Michael Joseph scoops Wilkerson's debut Black Cake

Michael Joseph has won a multi-publisher auction for Charmaine Wilkerson's “dazzling” debut novel Black Cake in a six-figure deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-30 13:42:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #six-figure deal #multi-publisher auction #michael joseph

Michael Joseph wins five-publisher auction for 'hilarious' Luckhurst debut

Michael Joseph has triumphed in a five-way auction for Evening Standard features editor Phoebe Luckhurst's “hilarious” debut novel The Lock In. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-28 12:02:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novel #michael joseph

'Major' literary debut The Hollow Sea to Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph has acquired The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby, a literary debut about grief, recovery, and identity, set to be a lead hardback for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 11:44:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hardback #michael joseph #literary debut

3BlackDot Announces 2 New Shows at NewFronts Debut

Gaming took center stage at the 2020 Digital Content NewFronts today. 3BlackDot, an entertainment studio that builds content around influencers in the gaming space, gave its first NewFronts presentation, boasting to advertisers about its far reach and various functions. The entertainment studio... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-06-26 18:17:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital content #newfronts presentation #center stage #gaming space

Rian Hughes | 'I was very keen to write something where it is essential that the story be told in this interesting graphic fashion'

Rian Highes' first foray into fiction is an extraterrestrial romp, told through narrative graphic design Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-29 13:15:42 UTC ]
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Michael Joseph snaps up 'phenomenal' debut

PRH's Michael Joseph has bought debut novel A Kindness by Regan Rose, recently pre-empted within 24 hours of submission by Penguin in the US. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-21 06:19:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael joseph

Michael Joseph nets Annabelle Williams' debut

Michael Joseph has acquired Times journalist Annabelle Williams' debut about how "the world of finance still favours men". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-23 03:47:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael joseph

Zaffre bags 'timely' reality show novel from debut author Acton

Zaffre has bagged an "unbelievably timely" debut novel from Helly Acton, which has already been optioned for TV, in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-14 12:23:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut author #debut novel #book deal #reality show

The First Batch of Facebook-Funded News Shows for Watch Is Debuting Monday

Facebook announced last month that it was funding an initiative to create news shows from 10 to 12 U.S. publishers for its Facebook Watch video platform, and the first slate of those shows will begin streaming Monday, July 16. Head of global news partnerships Campbell Brown and product manager... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #product manager #facebook announced