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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Prince Harry to Write a Memoir

Penguin Random House said the book, tentatively coming in 2022, would be “an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-07-19 20:26:00 UTC ]
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Prince Harry agrees publishing deal to write his memoirs

Penguin Random House announces book is expected in late 2022 with proceeds going to charityThe Duke of Sussex has agreed a publishing deal to write his memoirs and said he would do so “not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become”.The global deal for his “literary memoir” was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-19 18:37:55 UTC ]
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Picador to publish Mandel's 'perceptive and poignant' sixth novel

Picador has acquired Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, a "novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment." Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-19 00:13:35 UTC ]
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Lauren Child | 'It felt like a time to write about what we wish for'

Lauren Child's latest story focuses on Christmas in a Clarice Bean story that is full of empathy and hope Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-17 02:08:43 UTC ]
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Graeme Macrae Burnet | 'In order to immerse yourself in a novel I think you have to feel that it is real'

Graeme Macrae Burnet was picked out by the literary spotlight when his second novel, His Bloody Project, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016. Published by small indie Saraband, it tells of a brutal triple murder in the remote Scottish Highlands in 1869 via witness statements, a memoir... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-16 17:48:55 UTC ]
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10 Thrilling African Noir Novels

T. L. Huchu, author of the new novel 'The Library of the Dead,' picks 10 of his favorite crime novels from Africa. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A ’50s mom finds her calling as a spy in the captivating novel ‘A Woman of Intelligence’

Based on a true story, Karin Tanabe’s new book is a mid-20th-century period piece, but oh, how familiar it seems. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-15 07:00:00 UTC ]
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Katie Crouch’s ‘Embassy Wife’ is an antic novel about expats in Africa

It’s hard to say what’s comical and what’s in earnest — but there’s enough of both to keep a reader happily engaged. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-13 15:31:08 UTC ]
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The Best New Manga and Light Novels to Pick Up in 2021

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[ Book Riot | 2021-07-13 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Barack Obama’s summer reading pick ‘Intimacies’ is an unsettling novel about moral dilemmas

Katie Kitamura’s new novel follows an interpreter in The Hague who’s involved with a married man. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-13 05:17:24 UTC ]
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Laura Lippman’s suspense novel ‘Dream Girl’ takes its cue from Stephen King

In Lippman’s 25th novel, a bedridden novelist is haunted by a woman who claims to be one of his characters. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-11 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Write to roam: why armchair travelling is back in fashion

Reissued tales of classic journeys are being snapped up as Britons long for escape while having to stay at homeSome will go on a “great trudge” from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Others will explore the canyonlands of Utah or the mountains of Iran. But there is one idiosyncrasy they will all... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-04 07:30:15 UTC ]
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S.A. Cosby’s new crime novel is provocative, violent — beautiful and moving, too

“Razorblade Tears” tells a powerful story of two fathers bound by a crime against their sons. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival apologises for absence of female writers of colour

The organisers of the 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival have apologised for not including any female writers of colour in the programme . Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-02 16:32:23 UTC ]
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Corsair scoops 'dazzling' Goon Squad 'sibling novel' by Egan

Publisher Corsair has scooped a "dazzling" new novel from Jennifer Egan, described as a "sibling novel" to her Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad (Corsair). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-01 10:30:59 UTC ]
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A Flight Attendant Drafted Her Novel on Cocktail Napkins. It Took Off.

T.J. Newman received a seven-figure advance for “Falling,” her debut book imagining what could happen in not-so-friendly skies. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-06-30 15:05:08 UTC ]
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Paramount Options Rediscovered Wright Novel for Seven Figures

The rediscovered, initially unpublished, novel by Richard Wright, 'The Man Who Lived Underground,' has been optioned by Paramount in a seven-figure deal. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-06-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Fifty Years Later, a New Novel Emerges

The winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, Soyinka is coming out with his first novel in almost 50 years, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth. The post Fifty Years Later, a New Novel Emerges appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-06-24 09:59:45 UTC ]
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Skybound to Launch YA, Middle Grade Graphic Novel Imprint

Skybound Comet, a new imprint from Skybound Entertainment, will publish original graphic novels aimed at teens and middle grade readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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James Ellroy’s new novel is an unabashedly retro tale of Hollywood’s sordid side

“Widespread Panic,” a pulpy noir, features a cameo of ’50s stars, including Liz Taylor, James Dean and Liberace. Continue reading at The Washington Post

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