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 ]
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Montalbano says farewell in the lovably quirky novel ‘Riccardino’

In his final book, published two years after his death, Andrea Camilleri inserts himself into the narrative Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How Much Can You Make Writing Romance?

Romance is the biggest selling book genre, but how does that translate to those who write it? How much can you make writing romance? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-10-08 10:38:00 UTC ]
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Wait's 'stiletto-sharp' literary novel landed by riverrun

Rebecca Wait’s "stiletto-sharp story of sibling misunderstandings” has been picked up by riverrun.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-08 05:58:59 UTC ]
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10 years of the Stella: how Australia’s women’s writing prize changed a nation’s literature

Publishers speak of the profound effect the prize has had on Australia’s book industry in the decade since its establishmentOn International Women’s Day in 2011, a group of Australian women writers and editors appeared at a literary salon and spoke about their frustration at the male-dominated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-10-07 01:56:57 UTC ]
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Hamish Hamilton scoops debut novel by Pine

Hamish Hamilton has scooped the debut novel by academic and critic Emilie Pine, author of international bestseller Notes to Self (Tramp Press and Hamish Hamilton).  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-05 16:47:02 UTC ]
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Jonathan Franzen’s ‘Crossroads’ represents a marked evolution in a dazzling career

“Crossroads” explores the spiritual costs of hatred and humiliation among a family of five. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Tributes to author Paul Reizin after death, aged 67

Tributes have been paid to author Paul Reizin, who has passed away at the age of 67. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-05 06:01:52 UTC ]
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Atticus Lish’s new novel is about manhood, but don’t expect to find any social commentary

‘The War for Gloria’ is a plainspoken tale of a man finding his way the tough way Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-04 16:11:35 UTC ]
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Toby Jones reads audiobook of le Carré’s final novel Silverview

Bafta-winning actor Toby Jones will read the audiobook of John le Carré’s final novel, Silverview, which publishes on 14th October 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-28 22:01:16 UTC ]
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Here is the shortlist for the 2021 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

The Center for Fiction has just announced its shortlist for the 2021 First Novel Prize. The seven titles were selected from a longlist of twenty-seven debut novels, all published in the US between January 1 to December 21. The prize, first established in 2006, celebrates the best debut fiction... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-28 17:25:35 UTC ]
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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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NASA's AR graphic novel is meant to recruit a new wave of astronauts

NASA clearly needs more astronauts if programs like Artemis are to be successful, and it thinks it has a clever sales pitch: a tech-savvy comic. The space agency has released an augmented reality graphic novel, First Woman, that tells the tale of the fictional Callie Rodriguez as she becomes... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2021-09-25 20:49:55 UTC ]
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Word Up! Three Picture Books and a Graphic Novel Celebrate the Power and Joy of Language

“Thao,” “Otto: A Palindrama,” “My Monster Moofy” and “The Wordy Book” explore myriad worlds within words. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-24 17:09:23 UTC ]
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Rosie Jones | 'I wanted to write the book I needed as a child'

Comedian Rosie Jones has added another string to her bow by authoring a children’s book series—the sort of titles she says she needed as a child Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-24 00:06:18 UTC ]
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‘Astronauts check our scripts!’: inside the new age of sumptuous sci-fi TV

With clone emperors in haute couture and exotic wolf-lizards poised to attack, Foundation and For All Mankind herald a new era of ravishing spectaculars. Can they do for sci-fi what Game of Thrones did for fantasy?Dynastic infighting, the decline and fall of a mighty empire, tyrannical rulers... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-23 15:57:15 UTC ]
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'At long last, Idunit!' Wole Soyinka on his first novel in nearly 50 years

The Nigerian writer, the first sub-Saharan winner of the Nobel Prize, discusses 'Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-23 13:00:36 UTC ]
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Ian Rankin took on the challenge of finishing his mentor’s book. The result is a darkly beautiful novel.

“The Dark Remains” captures perfectly the voice of the late William McIlvanney, master of Tartan Noir. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-22 06:11:08 UTC ]
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Richard Osman’s second book is one of the fastest-selling novels since records began

The Pointless presenter’s second crime novel, The Man Who Died Twice, has sold 114,202 copies in its first week on saleRichard Osman’s follow-up to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, has become one of the fastest-selling novels since records began.Published on 16 September, The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-21 14:37:39 UTC ]
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The German Book Prize’s 2021 Shortlist: Six ‘Artistically Outstanding Novels’

Said to demonstrate 'an immense delight and expertise in storytelling,' the German Book Prize shortlist will yield to a winner on October 18. The post The German Book Prize’s 2021 Shortlist: Six ‘Artistically Outstanding Novels’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-09-21 12:15:56 UTC ]
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In Richard Powers’s New Novel, Hope for a Grieving Kid and Planet May Lurk in the Human Brain

The Pulitzer Prize winner’s latest book, “Bewilderment,” features a widowed father whose troubled son is transformed by a novel neurofeedback therapy with profound implications for the human race. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-21 09:00:08 UTC ]
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