Jonathan Escoffery: ‘I was trying to write novels aged nine’

The If I Survive You author on the suspense of the Booker ceremony, Americans’ warped view of the Caribbean, and writing his next novel on the roadJonathan Escoffery, 43, was born in Texas and lives in Oakland, California. His debut, If I Survive You, about a second-generation Jamaican in Miami, where Escoffery grew up, was shortlisted for last year’s Booker and is currently on the shortlist of the Gordon Burn prize, announced on 7 March. The novelist Rumaan Alam has called it “a reminder of what fiction can do... It’s truly a feat that a book of short stories tackling such big stuff – family, love, violence, race – could be so damn funny.”What did it mean to be shortlisted for the Booker prize?It felt like I’d arrived in the UK for the first time, even though the book had been out for months. I’d already connected with readers outside the US because the book is partly set in Jamaica and talks about the African-Caribbean diaspora, but suddenly I was hearing from people in India and Australia. I’d watched the ceremony when Marlon James won with A Brief History of Seven Killings in 2015. I loved what that book did for Jamaica and to see it honoured in such a massive way was beautiful. I felt like that novel was capturing a history of tumultuous politics and rising crime I’d grown up hearing in a very matter of fact way from my parents: “This is what was happening in the 70s, this is why we left.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-27 18:00:42 UTC ]
News tagged with: #booker prize #jonathan escoffery #short stories

Other news stories related to: "Jonathan Escoffery: ‘I was trying to write novels aged nine’"


Why the World’s Greatest Brain Cartographer Wrote a Novel

In A River Divided, scientist George Paxinos addresses the climate crisis through the eyes of two strangers with a unique genetic inheritance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #climate crisis


8 Witchy Graphic Novels To Spellbind You

These eight spellbinding witchy graphic novels include manga romances, kids' comics, and epic fantasy comics. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-24 10:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #manga


When a Book Deal Feels Like ‘Winning the Middle-Age Lottery’

Dann McDorman, the executive producer of “The Beat With Ari Melber,” gave up writing fiction in his 20s. Now, he’s publishing his first novel at age 47. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-24 09:02:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #book deal #first novel #writing fiction #ari melber #executive producer #dann mcdorman


Marie Ndiaye on a Novel’s Many Twists and Turns

Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Marie Ndiaye has had the attention of the French literary world since she published her first novel, As to the Rich Future, at seventeen. Born in Pithiviers, the daughter of a French school teacher mother and a Senegalese father, she won the 2001 Prix Femina... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-24 08:20:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #literary world


Lauren Groff on Writing Her Own Robinson Crusoe

Books & Books recently had the pleasure of hosting three-time National Book Award finalist and best-selling author Lauren Groff, presenting her new novel, The Vaster Wilds. The New York Times calls it “a lonely novel of hunger and survival.” The brilliant Groff reads from her adventure novel... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-20 08:11:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #national book award #best-selling author #answers questions #vaster wilds #robinson crusoe #lauren groff


Marianne Moore and AI Helped Make Sean Michaels' New Novel

The author of 'Do You Remember Being Born?' explains how he created a "Moorebot" to generate the verse in the novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


3 Ambitious Debut Novels Out This Week

These new debuts—an exploration of power and technology, an odyssey through an imagined metropolis, and a clever murder mystery—announce the arrival of three fiction writers to watch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #fiction writers


Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books Open Submissions for the 2024 Creative Writing Awards

The awards partnership between Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books will award $60,000 in scholarships. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-18 18:22:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #random house #penguin random house #diverse books


New York Comic Con 2023: Manga, Graphic Novels Keep Comics Biz Kicking

This year's ICv2 Insider Talks celebrated the 50th anniversary of the direct market sales channel, even as it acknowledged graphic novels—and particularly manga—as the primary driver for growth in the comics business today, and by a significant margin. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #comic con #significant margin #primary driver #graphic novels


Teju Cole Talks About His New Novel, “Tremor”

“Tremor,” his first novel in over a decade, is set in Massachusetts and Lagos, and came from a desire to capture the last moments of a pre-Covid world. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-16 09:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #first novel


Write Who You Love: J. Ryan Stradal on Memorializing His Mother Through Fiction

Since my first novel was published, at almost every interview and live event, I get asked a version of the same question. Usually people seem just curious, but occasionally there are notes of hostility or amazement. They want to know why, and often how, I write my female protagonists. The answer... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-16 08:50:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #first novel #female protagonists #live event


Why Tim O'Brien's first novel in 20 years is about America's 'mythomania'

Tim O'Brien, author of the great novel 'The Things They Carried,' explains how COVID and Trump spawned 'America Fantastica,' his first novel in 20 years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-13 10:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #first novel


8 South Asian Novels About Falling in Love

My introduction to romance novels came when my high school crush handed me a book written by his mother’s friend under a pen name. It was all very hush hush, no one knew what the author’s real identity was, but he trusted me with this big secret (which might have been the first grand romantic... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #book written #electric literature #romance novels #love appeared


Salman Rushdie to Write Memoir About Stabbing Attack

Rushdie, who was grievously injured onstage last year, said the forthcoming book was a way “to answer violence with art.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-11 14:10:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #memoir #answer violence #salman rushdie


How to Write a Memoir While Dying

Writers are often advised to write as if we are dying. Awake to our mortality, the theory goes, we will write with urgency and acuity about what matters. We will write honestly, vulnerably, bravely without fear of judgement. We will write for the pure readers: ourselves and our loved ones. We... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-11 08:50:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #memoir


September Religion Bestsellers: Jonathan Cahn Returns; ‘The Stranger’ Stays

Biblical prophecy author Jonathan Cahn’s latest title, ‘The Josiah Manifesto,’ takes #1 on PW’s Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers list. In fiction, ‘The Stranger in the Lifeboat’ by Mitch Albom remains at the top. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #takes #1 #latest title


Book Review: ‘Joanna Russ: Novels & Stories’

A new collection of her novels and stories is a showcase for a science fiction pioneer. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-08 09:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #science fiction #book review


Exclusive: See the (sexy) cover for C. Michelle Lindley’s debut novel, The Nude.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for C. Michelle Lindley’s debut novel, The Nude, which will be published by Atria in June. Here’s a little bit about the book from the publisher: A gripping, provocative, and sensual debut novel about an art historian who journeys to a Greek island to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-03 14:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #debut novel #greek island #art historian #literary hub


Michael Gambon, star of Harry Potter and The Singing Detective, dies aged 82

The Olivier award-winning actor, whose major film roles included Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, has died• ‘An actor who let his heart and soul crack open’: David Jays on Michael Gambon• A life in pictures – gallerySir Michael Gambon, whose extraordinary acting career took him from... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-28 11:39:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #harry potter #painful time #screen roles #laurence olivier #michael gambon


8 Novels Using Television As a Plot Device

Writing about pop culture and current technology is always a gamble, pitting critique of the present against longevity, a story that will still feel relevant after we’re gone. But for novelists (present company included) who were exposed to the Real World before the, um, real world, reality TV... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #novelists #electric literature #reality tv #real world #pop culture