Literary fiction conveys the human character | Letters

Helen Cross, Andy Stelman, Mark Stewart and Richard Adams respond to a recent Guardian article by Tim LottAs someone whose tiny, grimy literary novels have attracted the interest of the film industry, the truth is the opposite of what Tim Lott (Why should we subsidise writers who’ve lost the plot?, 2 January) suggests; it’s the screenwriter who needs the literary novelist. Plot is easy to learn (and even easier to flog to impressionable students excited by the supposed glamour of the writing life), but impossible to make work on the page without an ability to master what the novel can uniquely convey: the deep mysteries of human interiority. Or, as the screenwriters say, character.Helen CrossFlamborough, East Yorkshire• Tim Lott clearly has not heard of, nor read: Adam Thorpe (Ulverton), Graham Swift (Waterland and Mothering Sunday), Sebastian Barry (A Long, Long Way and Days Without End), Colm Tóibín (Norah Webster), Kamila Shamsie (Home Fire), Salley Vickers (Miss Garnet’s Angel) and many other contemporary British and Irish authors who maintain and expand a “great tradition” of fictional output.Andy StelmanBishop’s Castle, Shropshire Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #mothering sunday #sebastian barry #irish authors

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Literary fiction conveys the human character | Letters'

Italy’s Increasingly Agile Literary Agents

While relatively few literary agents work in Italy, the evolving publishing industry is making them more essential. Agent Marco Vigevani describes the scene. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Egmont acquires historical fiction debut

Egmont Press has acquired a debut historical fiction title, The Executioner's Daughter, by TV... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #egmont press

Andrew Lownie to grow fiction

The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency has appointed David Haviland to build a fiction list, with the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #andrew lownie #fiction list

A book critic's literary tour of Manhattan

New York Times critic Dwight Garner stopped at book-centered destinations throughout the Big Apple. 'I was smitten all over again,' Garner wrote after his excursion. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book critic #big apple

Hodder picks up foxy fiction

Hodder Children’s Books has acquired a new series, Foxy Fiction, by author Caryl Hart and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hodder children

Lion Hudson launches Christian fiction imprint

Lion Hudson is launching a fiction imprint “as a platform for Christian novelists from all... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lion hudson #fiction imprint

E L James as 'Publishing Person of the Year' draws outcry from literary world

Publishers Weekly faces controversy after naming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author E L James 'Publishing Person of the Year' for 2012. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing person #literary world #fifty shades

John Murray steps up non-fiction output

John Murray is planning to expand its non-fiction publishing output and has appointed Georgina... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john murray

New Women-Only Literary Prizes Created in Australia and Canada

Women-only literary prizes have been created in both Canada and Australia to help balance the attention given to work by male authors vs. female authors. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary prizes #male authors #female authors

John Lennon Letters app launched

Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Haymarket Network are launching an app of The John Lennon Letters... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weidenfeld nicolson

Firth and Fassbender to star in literary drama

Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender are to star in a film about the relationship between writer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Does the literary world need a women-only prize?

The Rosalind Prize for Fiction – named for Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' heroine – follows awards like Australia's women-only Stella Prize and the U.K.'s Orange Prize. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stella prize #orange prize #literary world

E.L. Doctorow, Michael Henry Heim Honored in 2012 PEN Literary Awards

E.L. Doctorow, Michael Henry Heim and many other poets, authors and translators were given awards and honored during the 2012 PEN Literary Awards. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Cottrell Boyce wins Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s The Unforgotten Coat, published by Walker, has won the 2012 Guardian... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction prize

Man Asian Literary Prize loses funding

The Man Group, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize, has withdrawn its support from the Man Asian Literary Prize, which will be unable to go on after this year if another sponsor isn't found. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #man group

Asian Literary Prize seeks new sponsor

The Asian Literary Prize is on the lookout for a new sponsor as Man Group plc, also the sponsor... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Women's Prize for Fiction to be 'privately funded' for 2013

Individual donors including Christopher Foyle, Joanna Trollope, ebook site Bilbary, Cherie Blair... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #joanna trollope

'Steamy' YA fiction from Piccadilly

Piccadilly Press is claiming to be the first publisher to have harnessed the 50 Shades-generated... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #piccadilly press #ya fiction

Can a White Author Write Black Characters?

When a man routinely hailed as one of America’s “greatest living writers” publishes a new novel, one hardly expects it to draw reviews posing questions along the lines of “Can he do it? Can he actually pull it off?” Because when you’re Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winner, the act of writing a... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |