In “The Edge of Water,” A Prophecy Unravels a Nigerian Family’s Pursuit of the American Dream

Olufunke Grace Bankole’s debut novel The Edge of Water opens with a prophecy: “A storm is coming.” The order of things, the Iyanifa tells us, will be disrupted by a soul who defies her fate.  What follows is the story of three generations of Nigerian and Nigerian American women: Esther, who dreams of a different […] The post In “The Edge of Water,” A Prophecy Unravels a Nigerian Family’s Pursuit of the American Dream appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2025-02-04 12:00:00 UTC ]

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Subverting Traditional Narratives of Love and Happiness

When CJ Hauser published “The Crane Wife” in The Paris Review, an essay about repressing her needs in a relationship, calling off a wedding, and going to study whooping cranes on the Gulf Coast, it quickly became a viral hit. Three years later, her 17-piece memoir in essays of the same name... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-14 11:00:00 UTC ]
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2022 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize Winners Announced

The winners of the fifth annual Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes have been announced, with five publications, including 'Electric Literature' and 'Zyzzyva,' taking home a combined total of $144,000 in funding. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Historical Fiction Novels Set in the Pacific Northwest

The Northwest, where I live and where my novel is set, is a big place and it is a lot of things. It is the damp, mossy woods of the coast, the high desert, and the snowy, jagged mountain ranges that divide the two. It is home to weird and real creatures like giant octopuses, […] The post 7... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Stories About Growing Up on the Reservation

Morgan Talty’s The Night of the Living Rez is a searching and honest collection of short stories following a young Penobscot character named David and his coming of age on the rez, where community, family, and tradition are as fraught with colonial entanglement as they are forces for healing. ... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Definitive Power Ranking of the Sexiest Book Covers

Designing a book cover is challenging, even more so when the work contains a raunchy subject matter. How do you convey, in a single glance, that the book is sensual, even sexy, without falling for pornographic tropes?  My debut novel, Little Rabbit, is about a sub/dom relationship between a... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-06-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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10 Books About Young Women in (and Out) of Love

The best literary fiction is in some ways a simple character study. It is a roadmap into the interiority of a specific character: the way they think, how their identity impacts their relationships, and what decisions get made in response to the socio-political pressures shaping their lives. But... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-06-24 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: ‘Nightcrawling,’ by Leila Mottley

Leila Mottley’s debut novel about a teenager’s serial abuse is based on a true story. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-06-07 09:00:12 UTC ]
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Podcast | Tice Cin

‘Careful when you turn your eyes towards someone, you allow them the chance to turn theirs on you.’ Tice Cin on her debut novel Keeping the House. The post Podcast | Tice Cin appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2022-06-03 13:00:57 UTC ]
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The new Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman features a Black Loman family.

Death of a Salesman is returning to Broadway! In 1949, Arthur Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for this play, a critique of the futility of chasing the American Dream. Willy Loman has spent so much of his life on the road as a traveling salesman; upon returning home, he comes to the shattering... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-01 15:31:43 UTC ]
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Imagining More: Women Writing Worlds in Crisis

I wrote the bulk of my debut novel between 2016 and 2020, years of intense political tension and heightened concern for our planet and the people we love. My debut novel, Walk the Vanished Earth, is a speculative exploration of what it means to be both a parent and a child at the mercy of […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-01 08:51:21 UTC ]
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Register Today for AAPI Communities in Conversation #6 Featuring Malaka Gharib, author of I Was 'Their American Dream'

The sixth installment in the AAPI Communities in Conversation series, featuring Malaka Gharib, author of 'I Was Their American Dream,' is now set for Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at 1:00 pm ET. Register here. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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An Anthology That Gives Voice to the Realities of Reproductive Freedom and Abortion

Shelly Oria’s new collection, I Know What’s Best for You: Stories on Reproductive Freedom, is the latest in a string of new anthologies that reclaim and challenge the conversation surrounding reproduction. The collection deals with the choice of whether or not to have children, and also explores... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: “The Shore,” by Katie Runde

Katie Runde’s debut novel takes readers on a stroll down a sandy boardwalk and into a family facing a big loss. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-05-24 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Summer Reading BSuggestions

A book for “White Lotus” fans, a coming-of-age story in the Canary Islands, Werner Herzog’s debut novel (yes, it’s grim) and more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-05-21 09:00:17 UTC ]
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A Portrait of an Angry Young Woman Set in Contemporary India

Naheed Phiroze Patel’s debut novel Mirror Made of Rain follows Noomi Wadia, an indignant young woman raised in a Parsi family in India, through a world that is keen to control women and safeguard long-established pecking orders. Since her childhood, Noomi has had a difficult relationship with... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-19 11:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s Time to Destigmatize Talking Openly About What’s Going On Down There

When I started reading Chloe Caldwell’s new book, The Red Zone, a memoir about identity, love, health, and pain, all told through the lens of her relationship to her period, I didn’t think I had period hang-ups of my own to work through. I do have pudendal neuralgia, a nerve pain condition that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-12 11:05:00 UTC ]
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‘Probably Ruby’ offers an authentic portrait of transracial adoption

Lisa Bird-Wilson's debut novel revolves around a Métis girl adopted by a White family. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-10 22:14:37 UTC ]
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Bud Smith on the Quintessential “Road Trip” Novel

Okay here we go. I’m about to get in my car and drive 14 hours. Rae has picked out twenty albums for us to listen to. All this driving is because my debut novel Teenager is coming out. I have to drive around America a little bit and read it to some nice people. Fittingly, […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-10 08:52:01 UTC ]
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Children’s Books Edition: The UK’s Branford Boase Award 2022 Shortlist

The Branford Boase program annually awards a debut novel for children–and the winning author's editor is honored, too. The post Children’s Books Edition: The UK’s Branford Boase Award 2022 Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-05-06 19:55:39 UTC ]
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11 Books by Filipino American Authors You Should Be Reading

The first time I read a book about a person who even minorly resembled me, I was 19 and teaching at a creative writing summer camp. My coworker Sophie Lee’s YA novel What Things Mean tells the story of a young Filipina girl named Olive who uses reading to cope with feelings of loneliness and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
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