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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Dolly Parton to publish her first novel in 2022

The country music superstar has teamed up with the novelist James Patterson to write Run, Rose, Run, which will be published in MarchFirst globally successful entertainer, then heroic sponsor of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, and now novelist … Dolly Parton seems determined to prove that there... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-08-11 16:27:28 UTC ]
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Allison & Busby bags 'haunting' debut novel from Loesch

Allison & Busby has acquired the "rich and haunting" debut novel The Porcelain Doll by Kristen Loesch. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-11 11:30:12 UTC ]
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Rep. Madison Cawthorn's Tweet About 'Great Fiction Novel' '1984' Gets Mocked Into Oblivion

"This is how I used to start book reports when I couldn’t find the CliffsNotes," one critic tweeted. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2021-08-11 06:45:20 UTC ]
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Pan Mac signs Spencer's 'joyful' debut novel in two-book deal

Pan Macmillan has signed In a New York Minute from podcaster, comedian and debut novelist Kate Spencer in a two-book deal Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-11 02:47:56 UTC ]
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Andersen Press scoops first middlegrade novel from Burgess

Andersen Press will publish the first middle-grade novel from Carnegie Medal-winner Melvin Burgess, to be illustrated by Chris Mould. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-09 17:02:51 UTC ]
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Author and astrologer Judy Hall dies aged 77

Author and astrologer Judy Hall has died aged 77, her publisher Octopus has announced.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-09 06:06:31 UTC ]
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Dana Spiotta’s ‘Wayward’ is much more than a midlife crisis novel

Sure, this is a tale of a 50-something woman seeking change, but it is also a biting social and political critique. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-08 13:00:00 UTC ]
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OWN IT! lands Godfrey's 'intoxicating' debut novel

Independent publisher OWN IT! is to publish Sean Godfrey's "magnetic" coming of age debut novel, A Brown Girl in the Ring. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-07 10:14:24 UTC ]
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Indie bookshop celebrating women's writing opens in Edinburgh

An independent bookshop spotlighting women’s writing is opening in Edinburgh today (6th August), inspired by a successful book club.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 19:47:21 UTC ]
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Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing returns

The Nan Shepherd Prize is returning this month, coinciding with the publication of Small Bodies of Water by the prize's inaugural winner, Nina Mingya Powles.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 18:40:15 UTC ]
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Oneworld in five-figure pre-empt for McGowan's middle-grade novel

Oneworld children's imprint Rock the Boat has landed a “thrilling and heart-wrenching” new middle-grade novel from 2020 Carnegie award-winner Anthony McGowan in a five-figure pre-empt deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 16:47:19 UTC ]
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Mona Awad’s struggles with chronic pain and the health-care system fuel her new novel

‘All’s Well’ is a darkly comic tale of a suffering theater professor and a troubled production of Shakespeare. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-06 14:00:00 UTC ]
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In Dolly Alderton’s witty new novel, a woman gets ghosted, but she’s haunted by much more

“Ghosts” considers the difficulty of finding Mr. Right while taking care of an ailing parent. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-05 15:44:54 UTC ]
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HarperCollins buys three crime novels from McTiernan in seven-figure deal

HarperCollins has bought three standalone crime novels from Irish author Dervla McTiernan in a seven-figure deal, to be published by HarperFiction in the UK, William Morrow in the US and HarperCollins Australia in March 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-05 14:26:31 UTC ]
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Doubleday scoops 'exhilarating' novel-in-verse by Reid

Doubleday has scooped an "exhilarating" novel-in-verse by Louisa Reid, the YA author's adult debut. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-05 01:08:00 UTC ]
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UCLan snaps up bookseller Clapham's first teen novel

UCLan Publishing has acquired the “funny and heart-warming” first teen novel from author and bookseller Katie Clapham. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-01 09:31:26 UTC ]
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Influx Press launches first novel prize for Black British women with Black Ballad

Independent publisher Influx Press is launching a new fiction prize for Black British women, in partnership with lifestyle platform Black Ballad. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-27 19:32:32 UTC ]
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Niall Leonard is E.L. James’s husband, but his new novel shows he’s more than a plus-one

Leonard’s ‘M, King’s Bodyguard” is an atmospheric, tightly plotted mystery set in Edwardian London Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-27 07:00:00 UTC ]
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Octavia Butler’s 1979 bio is an object lesson in writing author bios.

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Review of Books published a fairly wild essay by Miguel Esteban who, at the tender age of 14, commissioned a now-famous essay on race in science fiction from Octavia Butler. The whole piece is worth a read (the gall of teenage boys! the grace of Octavia!) but... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-07-26 13:40:52 UTC ]
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S&S Children's picks up graphic novel series from Abdo and Patterson

Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has acquired a three-book graphic novel series, Barb The Brave, by animators and childhood friends Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-19 22:30:30 UTC ]
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