Just Sayin’ by Malorie Blackman review – against the odds

The former children’s laureate shares her sometimes enraging story of rejection, determination and resilienceAt the beginning of Malorie Blackman’s engrossing and often shocking memoir, the former children’s laureate asks: “Why am I an author?” What she goes on to tell us certainly shows how she was able to succeed: absolute determination, powered by rejection and by the love and support of others.The memoir eschews a strictly chronological approach. There are five themes – Wonder, Loss, Anger, Perseverance, Representation and Love. The prose and occasional poem contain intimate, often painful and sometimes funny insights into the author’s life.Born in south London in 1962, Blackman’s parents were part of what’s now referred to as the Windrush generation – British citizens encouraged to move to the UK after the war. In Barbados, her father had been a master carpenter. In the UK he drove buses. Her mother worked in a factory, denied further education back home, since school money was saved for the boys. It was a “staggered” family – Blackman’s parents coming to England first, her older Barbados-born siblings joining them later. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-19 06:30:17 UTC ]

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Rick Moody’s New Book Takes on Marriage, for Better and for Worse

The author's second memoir is a raw and candid account of the power of committed love to combat life’s sorrows. The post Rick Moody’s New Book Takes on Marriage, for Better and for Worse appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-08-26 10:00:08 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: August 23, 2019

FALL 2019 NONFICTION PREVIEW: All this week we’ve been highlighting our most anticipated books on a variety of subjects, from history and biography to memoir and essay collections to politics and social science. The final installments: tech and science.  | Lit Hub “Everything about Jo repulsed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-23 10:30:27 UTC ]
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Susan Straight’s memoir is a letter to her daughters — and a reckoning with America’s past

“In the Country of Women” looks back at the slaves and immigrants who made Straight’s family possible. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-22 16:26:46 UTC ]
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Lit Hub’s Fall 2019 Nonfiction Preview: Essay Collections

This week we’ll be previewing the most anticipated nonfiction titles coming out this fall, covering politics, history, biography, science, tech, social science, and more. We begin today with essays, and you can find memoir over here. Lydia Davis, Essays One: Reading and Writing FSG, Nov. 12 With... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-20 08:49:53 UTC ]
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Lit Hub’s Fall 2019 Nonfiction Preview: Memoir

This week we’ll be previewing the most anticipated nonfiction titles coming out this fall, covering politics, history, biography, science, tech, social science, and more. We begin today with memoir, and you can find essay collections over here. Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House: A Memoir... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-20 08:49:13 UTC ]
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Cofounder and CEO of Food52 Amanda Hesser shares the books that inspired her to pursue a career in food

From food pioneer MFK Fisher’s timeless memoir to Zappos founder Tony Hsieh’s customer-centric mission statement, these are Hesser’s favorite books. 1. The Gastronomical Me, MFK FisherRead Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-08-20 07:00:18 UTC ]
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JT LeRoy review – a less surprising hoax the second time around

The fake author who fooled the publishing world is brought back to life in a diverting tale that treads familiar ground“Sometimes, a lie’s more truth than the truth,” drawls author JT Leroy, speaking down a crackling telephone line. This straightforward dramatisation of Savannah Knoop’s 2008... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-18 07:00:10 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Weekly: August 12 – 16, 2019

“I annoy everyone around me by observing out loud what everyone already knows.” Sarah M. Broom on coming of age—and learning to see—in New Orleans. | Lit Hub Memoir Maggie Paxson on the French village that saved hundreds fleeing Nazi persecution. | Lit Hub History From Alexander Jessup to Anna... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-17 10:30:06 UTC ]
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Urbane signs memoir from Bafta-winner Geoff Thompson

Urbane has signed a memoir from Bafta-winning screenwriter and martial arts teacher Geoff Thompson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-15 17:37:14 UTC ]
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Celebrating Women in Translation Month: New Translations by Women from around the Globe, by Kayla E. Ciardi

Lit Lists Kayla E. Ciardi For WLT’s November 2016 issue, author and translator Alison Anderson explores and explains in her essay “Of Gatekeepers and Bedtime Stories: The Ongoing Struggle to Make Women’s Voices Heard”—in an issue devoted exclusively to... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-15 14:12:27 UTC ]
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A Unique and Affecting Memoir Combines Grief and Mushrooms

In “The Way Through the Woods,” Long Litt Woon writes about diving into an obsession with learning about the fungi, and how it helped her mourn for her husband and embrace life again. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-14 16:59:06 UTC ]
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Juliet Escoria on Writing a Memoir With No Redemptive Lesson at the End

Juliet Escoria is the guest. Her debut novel, Juliet the Maniac, is available from Melville House. It was the official May pick of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club. This is Juliet’s second time on the program. She first appeared in Episode 273 on April 30, 2014. She also wrote the short story... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-14 08:47:08 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Make summer last longer with the 10 best books of August

The latest mystery from Louise Penny, a probing novel by Richard Russo, and Sarah M. Broom’s memoir of living in New Orleans, all made our list this month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-12 18:22:23 UTC ]
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Little, Brown signs Gerald Scarfe memoir

Little, Brown has signed the first memoir by cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe, alongside a lavish fully-illustrated retrospective of his six decades in the business. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-12 17:12:12 UTC ]
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Fighting Back: Spotlight on Rachael Denhollander

A powerful new memoir refuses to turn a blind eye to sexual abuse and offers survivors a way forward. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter: Cecil Woolf was generous and sociable

Cecil Woolf was indeed generous and sociable. Two years ago I visited his home and publishing headquarters off Mornington Crescent in north London, to buy some Bloomsbury Heritage monographs while researching my book Virginia Woolf at Home, on the houses she knew in London, Cornwall and Sussex.I... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-11 16:09:37 UTC ]
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