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 ]
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Oh dear. Earlier this month, Publishers Weekly reported on romance readers’ increased appetite for books with “cinnamon rolls” and “golden retrievers” as their leading men—categories that are exactly what they sound like: “sweet, supportive, and kind” (CR) and possessed of “a warm, floppy energy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-22 14:24:03 UTC ]
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The Four Corners of the Heart was discovered by her son after the death of the French author, best known for Bonjour Tristesse, written when she was just 18A novel by the French author Françoise Sagan has been published posthumously – but, despite the suggestion that a novelist such as Leïla... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-22 12:23:44 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-06-16 17:42:27 UTC ]
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Ohio State University professor emeritus Harvey J. Graff praises a new wave of very young authors all trying to change the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Lorrie Moore's fourth novel, 'I Am Homeless If This is Not My Home,' follows a grieving man through the chaos of 2016 and some wondrous metaphysical byways. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-06-14 13:00:25 UTC ]
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Before I dedicated my life to taking pot-shots at the nature of the universe—I mean, before I became a science fiction writer—I was a frightened child. Death scared me, but living was the constant terror. My father told me I had chosen this. I had come to him in a dream before I was born […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-14 08:53:04 UTC ]
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Author’s decision to remove The Snow Forest from publication because of Russia-Ukraine war sparks intense debateMixed reactions have met the decision by the US novelist Elizabeth Gilbert to withdraw her forthcoming novel The Snow Forest from publication after receiving criticism for its Russian... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-13 13:48:07 UTC ]
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I’ve always loved art that leans into its medium: literature that resists film or television adaptation, theater that breaks the fourth wall. The economy delights me, no piece out of place, not only structure but form a major pillar of the work. What can one art form do that another cannot? How... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-13 08:52:52 UTC ]
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While many authors and critics condemned Elizabeth Gilbert's choice to pull her forthcoming novel 'The Snow Forest' from Riverhead's publishing schedule, two contrary statements from PEN America and the Authors Guild show there is no consensus over the controversy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sammy Harkham's epic graphic novel took 14 years to create and captures a Los Angeles — and a movie business — that no longer exists. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-06-08 13:00:48 UTC ]
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Most actors make terrible novelists – but writing the ‘cracking thriller’ Deadly Game was life-affirming for the veteran star, so never mind the finished productGod spare us another millionaire actor who fancies themself as a bestselling author –unless the actor is Michael Caine, in which case... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-08 12:30:07 UTC ]
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One of my moments of greatest relief as a writer—equal, perhaps, to the swell and crest of learning that my first novel would be published—was when, decades ago, my Intro to Creative Writing professor assigned Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and I arrived at this passage: “Very few... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-06 08:53:36 UTC ]
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The American author talks about growing up queer in a family of ‘wolves’, poverty and class in the US, and the 19th-century writers who inspired his latest novelBrandon Taylor writes quickly. “I can type almost as fast as I can think,” he says. The first draft of his debut novel, the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-03 10:00:28 UTC ]
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Author tells Hay literary festival he needs to ‘get past’ the knife attack he suffered before writing anything elseSalman Rushdie is writing a book about being stabbed on stage in New York last year, an attack which left him without sight in one eye, the author told the Hay literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-01 20:20:47 UTC ]
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For 17 books, Luis Alberto Urrea has highlighted the joys and sorrows of life along the U.S.-Mexican border, a territory which moves with its peoples, no matter the walls we build on the land and in our hearts. Through his memoir Nobody’s Son, novels like The House of Broken Angels, his essay... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
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This week on The Maris Review, Rita Chang-Eppig joins Maris Kreizman to discuss Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea, out May 30 from Bloomsbury. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts. * Maris Kreizman: Rita, your debut novel is not the typical debut novel that I usually... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-25 12:53:16 UTC ]
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A who's who of comics writers and graphic novelists—and a surprising number of hip hop legends—joined the U.S. Book Show on May 23 to discuss this year's most exciting forthcoming books in the comics format. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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We were enamored with the Kindle Scribe when we reviewed it, but we weren't blind to its shortcomings, including its limited editing capabilities. Now, Amazon has rolled out an update for the device, which solves some of the issues we had with it and makes it a much better option for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-05-23 05:17:53 UTC ]
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Haymarket Books is establishing a writing fellowship program that emphasizes mentorship and professional development to support the work of incarcerated individuals and others impacted by the criminal legal system. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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He exploded into the tweedy world of literature, a young, pouting and outrageously brash crusader for prose. Our writer remembers her encounters with the novelist, whose smarts and chutzpah confounded his peers‘You’ll be reading me every now and then at least until about 2080, weather... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 05:00:48 UTC ]
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