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 ]
Find Kristen L. Berry’s successful query to agent Sharon Pelletier for her debut novel "We Don't Talk About Carol." The post Successful Queries: Sharon Pelletier and “We Don’t Talk About Carol,” by Kristen L. Berry appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-06-03 22:11:41 UTC ]
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Author says she won’t revisit the beloved character because it would seem ‘inappropriate’ to discuss her sex lifeJacqueline Wilson has said she would feel “very wary” about writing an adult novel about Tracy Beaker “because it would seem inappropriate that we would learn about her sex life”.Last... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-30 15:19:35 UTC ]
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As a teenager, I remember reading my first novel in verse. I never expected to like poetry. But just a ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-29 11:30:00 UTC ]
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Feature image © Sarra Fleur Abou-El-Haj. There are echoes of Virginia Woolf throughout Honor Jones’ masterful, exquisitely crafted first novel Sleep, which explores the ways in which a childhood trauma haunts her main character, Margaret, and those around her. The novel opens with scenes of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-27 07:15:09 UTC ]
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Thirteen years ago, my first novel was published. One of the first reviews it received on Amazon dismissed me as “just another Irish mouther of words.” I was, I have to say, more than a little bit insulted. I am circumspect to the point of obsession about the language I use when I write.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-21 08:53:59 UTC ]
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Andreas Roman is the author of the newly released The Greatest Game of All (Flare Books), his first novel in English. A native speaker and writer of Swedish, Roman wrote The Greatest Game of All in English, then assisted its translation into Swedish for publication before revising the English... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-16 08:58:34 UTC ]
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£20,000 award for writers aged 39 or under goes to story ‘tackling trauma and grief with bold and poetic moments of quirkiness and humour’A novel about a Palestinian woman who participates in a pyramid scheme reselling Birkin bags has won this year’s Swansea University Dylan Thomas... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-15 18:15:33 UTC ]
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In The Lilac People, my debut novel about trans people in Weimar Berlin and Nazi Germany, I have a side character so small, they’re downright tertiary. Dora Richter has no speaking role, nor does she have any impact on the plot. And yet she’s included because she’s important, and she was real.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-09 11:10:00 UTC ]
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“Sleep,” the debut novel by Honor Jones, moves back and forth in time between a 35-year-old mother’s present and her disturbing, unresolved past. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-05-09 09:00:05 UTC ]
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While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
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Set in the recent past, Austin Kelley's debut novel centers on a magazine underling who becomes entranced with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-04-14 10:00:06 UTC ]
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Find Ariel Courage’s successful query to agent Samantha Shea for her debut novel Bad Nature, which includes what Shea liked in the query. The post Successful Queries: Samantha Shea and “Bad Nature,” by Ariel Courage appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-04-12 16:00:00 UTC ]
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Find London Sperry's successful query to agent Lily Dolin for her debut novel Passion Project, which includes what Dolin liked in the query. The post Successful Queries: Lily Dolin and “Passion Project,” by London Sperry appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-04-09 01:30:03 UTC ]
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It wouldn’t be wrong to call Kate Folk’s debut novel Sky Daddy a marriage plot. The protagonist, Linda, has had numerous lovers, but she wants to settle down. She’s looking for a “fine gentleman” who’s sleek, strong, and ready to commit, and she already has her dream wedding planned: hurtling to... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-04-08 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The unnamed narrator of Zee Carlstrom's debut novel is full of anger at their AWOL dad, but over the course of a road trip home begins to question his certainty about their diverging views Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-04-04 10:00:40 UTC ]
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