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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I Don’t Have To Choose Between Writing About Myself And Writing About The World

I was balancing a plate of honeydew in the green room of a book festival when I walked by a white man bemoaning the state of the publishing industry. The man wore a suit, and he spoke to a white woman; both of them looked to be in their 40s. As the man speared a […] The post I Don’t Have To... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-27 11:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #book festival #electric literature #white woman #publishing industry #green room #world appeared


From Middle Grade Novel to Graphic Novel

There’s more to adapting a chapter book into a graphic novel than just drawing pictures to go with the words. Adapters often bring a whole new level of nonverbal communication to the page. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #graphic novel #nonverbal communication #drawing pictures #chapter book #middle grade


From Middle Grade Novel to Graphic Novel

There’s more to adapting a chapter book into a graphic novel than just drawing pictures to go with the words. Adapters often bring a whole new level of nonverbal communication to the page. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #graphic novel #nonverbal communication #drawing pictures #chapter book #middle grade


Kelly Link Can’t Write Narrative Before 3pm: And Other Tips For Purposeful Writing

In her latest short story collection, White Cat, Black Dog, MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellow Kelly Link reinvents seven fairytales into modern, realist short stories about, for example, an aging billionaire choosing a successor, and a house-sitting gig that goes awry. Link is also the author of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-03-28 08:54:06 UTC ]
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Don’t write what you know, write what you feel: bestselling authors offer tips on World Book Day

Malorie Blackman advises budding authors to pick up on news stories, but Julia Donaldson warns of pitfalls – and Alan Moore says you should read terrible books as well as good onesThe key to being a good writer? It’s being a good reader, authors including Carol Ann Duffy and Alan Moore have said... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-02 15:43:52 UTC ]
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17 Novels That Would Make Great Graphic Novels

These stories, including The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, are great in prose, but they are crying out for a graphic novel adaptation to bring the visuals to life. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-26 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #graphic novel #erin morgenstern #night circus


Jane Smiley on Her Writing Process, Beloved Pets, and Writing in Paris

If you love Jane Smiley, this episode is for you. Eve and Julie are joined by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author in an interview that was recorded live for Miami Book Fair 2021. They discuss Jane’s most recent book, Perestroika in Paris, as well as Jane’s writing process, beloved pets, and what... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-23 09:51:41 UTC ]
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“Write the tale that scares you . . . I dare you.” Michaela Coel has some writing advice for us.

On Sunday night, I May Destroy You showrunner Michaela Coel won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In the context of yet another melanin-deficient awards show that had people tweeting #EmmysSoWhite, it was refreshing (and simultaneously frustrating) that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-20 16:39:44 UTC ]
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Gothic Novels I’d Like to See as Graphic Novels

Inspired by a Zoom course on early gothic literature, this comics reader recommends these classic gothic tales for the graphic novel treatment. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-04-14 10:36:03 UTC ]
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Here are the seven shortlisted debut novels for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Lit Hub is excited to announce the shortlist for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. This year’s judging panel included Tommy Orange, Emma Straub, Monique Truong, Maaza Mengiste, and Claire Messud. They are: De’Shawn Charles Winslow, In West Mills Chia-Chia Lin, The Unpassing Julia... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-26 13:59:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #first novel #claire messud #maaza mengiste #monique truong #emma straub #lit hub


How to Write the Book No One Wants You to Write

Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House is a feat—a memoir and historical narrative created amid governmental bureaucracy and resistance from some of her subjects. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-25 16:27:00 UTC ]
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How to Write the Book No One Wants You to Write

Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House is a feat—a memoir and historical narrative created amid governmental bureaucracy and resistance from some of her subjects. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-25 16:27:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #memoir #yellow house


4 Novels That Need the Graphic Novel Treatment

Not every novel can make it as a graphic novel. There are some specific criteria that have to be met plus an ineffable...thing. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-07-18 10:42:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #graphic novel


New Writing North offers TV writing placements

New Writing North, working with Channel 4, Northumbria University and Lime Pictures, is offering aspiring TV writers from the North of England 12-month placements in either soap or children’s drama production companies. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #lime pictures #northumbria university #writing north


Struggling as an author? Stop writing only what you want to write

Earning a living as a writer is as likely as winning the lottery. Instead of writing books and persuading others to buy them, find out what people want to write, then do it for themPhilip Pullman: professional writers set to become ‘an endangered species’ due to low wagesI left school with a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Bag Full of Trouble: How I Found My Way Into My Debut Novel

Some time ago–a decade at least, but it feels longer–a literary agent read a manuscript that I’d written and told me that she loved it, loved my style, but the book felt too calculated, too much like a math problem. It didn’t lack heart per se, she said, but it felt too much like a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-18 09:55:11 UTC ]
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The Secret of Great Graphic Novel Adaptations

"I tend to look for powerful, important stories that have left some space in their lines, deliberately or otherwise, as the best candidates for comics adaptation." Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-11-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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A Gastronome’s Guide to Graphic Novels

Just in time for Thanksgiving menu planning: a list for the culinarily curious among us looking to crack open a visually stimulating read alongside a cold one at the end of the day. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How a Novel by Mildred D. Taylor Helped Glory Edim Understand Being Black in the South

When I glanced out a window and noticed that the sky was turning dark outside, I poked Maurice and told him to gather up his things. I carried the well-loved hardcover of Little Women to the library circulation desk, Maurice following behind holding on to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-06 09:56:24 UTC ]
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‘Sex writing feels less cringe now’: are we entering a new era of erotic literature?

As the Erotic Review is joined by dating app Feeld’s literary magazine and Gillian Anderson’s anthology of women’s fantasies, there seems to be a fresh appetite for writing about desire‘Sexual liberation must mean freedom to enjoy sex on our terms, to say what we want, not what we are pressured... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-10-30 14:32:58 UTC ]
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