They interrupt narrative and disrupt plot – no wonder novelists have been slow to warm to mobile phones. But a new generation is putting technology at the heart of their workWhat do you call a phone when it rings in a fictional world? “Mobile” and “cell” are old, “smartphone” is almost a tautology and “phone” is so intrusive that the word seems to ring out shrilly from the page the instant you type it. This may be because we read fiction partly to escape our phones, or it may be that phones, even fictional ones, seem to demand too much of our attention. Telephones, of the kind we all keep handy, are so much a part of daily life we touch them as often as our faces. But phones in fiction require a sleight of hand: if characters use them as realism dictates, they will feel as interruptive on the page as they do at the dinner table. How can authors navigate this challenge?Like bathrooms and paid employment, it is amazing how often phones are dispensed with by many otherwise realist fiction writers. JM Coetzee famously wrote to Paul Auster (in Here and Now, the 2013 selection of their letters) that he was not prepared “to write novels in which people go around with personal electronic devices”. Because, if “everyone has access to more or less everyone else, what becomes of all that plotting?” He also lamented the impact of mobile technology on the “novel of adultery”, though surely Sally Rooney has proved there was nothing to fear. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 10:00:09 UTC ]
The Irish literary scene is thriving, which makes choosing just five other Irish writers likely to appeal to fans of Rooney a daunting task. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-08-22 11:49:16 UTC ]
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Letter to Mohamed Choukri: Writing between Silence and Prattle, by Mohamed Berrada Cultural Cross Sections [email protected] Wed, 08/07/2024 - 15:25 Mohamed Choukri (left) and Mohamed Berrada / Photo courtesy the estate of Mohamed ChoukriIn the... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-07 20:25:04 UTC ]
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Queer-Feminist Writing from 1970s Turkey: A Conversation with Maureen Freely on Sevgi Soysal, by Ipek Sahinler Interviews [email protected] Tue, 08/06/2024 - 16:31 Maureen Freely (left) & Funda Soysal (right)Maureen Freely is an author,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-06 21:31:04 UTC ]
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No Sally Rooney, one clear favourite and a novel set in space - this is a longlist of unexpected discoveries and big ideas• Three British novelists make Booker 2024 longlist among ‘cohort of global voices’It is 10 years since the Booker prize expanded its remit to include American novelists. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-30 13:04:15 UTC ]
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The 13-strong longlist for this year's 2024 Booker Prize has been announced. Among those listed are three debut novelists and several marquee names, including Percival Everett, Rachel Kushner, and Richard Powers. Six Americans made this year's list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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While reading a debut novel, oftentimes, there exists a momentary thrill of forgetting about craft. Instead, it can feel as if these writers grew up alongside their stories—in parallel lines and lives, naturally accumulating sentences with every inch they grew. There is a tender, literary... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-07-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The National Arts Club recently awarded Colm Tóibín the Medal of Honor for Achievement in Literature. Read remarks by novelists Jeffrey Eugenides and Yiyun Li, who spoke about Tóibín’s influence and friendship. Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-17 08:55:27 UTC ]
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It’s not pretty but conference calls at dawn keep us showing up. We’ve got novels to write, which is the only work we really want to doGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastWhen you work solo, peer accountability is sacred.Three mornings a week I set my alarm... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-30 00:56:10 UTC ]
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A tribute to Paul Auster, featuring Siri Hustvedt, Don DeLillo, JM Coetzee, and more. | Lit Hub “I’ve had to forgive myself for what I chose not to see. For choosing myself.” Nina St. Pierre on understanding and accepting a schizophrenic mother. | Lit Hub Memoir James Shapiro on Willa Cather and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-28 10:30:47 UTC ]
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The events will showcase writers and speakers from countries in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa to UK audiences, and feature up-and-coming UK writers selected as part of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists 2023 list.This specially selected event series brings together our work with the... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2024-05-24 10:51:02 UTC ]
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For the past two years, the novelist Alice Elliott Dark has been sending out missives on the writing and reading life via her popular weekly Substack, “Alice on Sunday.” But this March, Dark applied her platform to a curious task: recapping and analyzing old episodes of HBO’s Girls. The project... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-13 18:56:54 UTC ]
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Food is often described as a universal language that brings people together. In recent years, various content creators such as QCP have taken over social media with their food creations. Known for preparing different Italian dishes, Gianluca Conte--also known as QCP--has... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2024-05-03 18:16:20 UTC ]
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Paul Auster, the famed American postmodern writer behind 'Smoke,' has died at 77. The bestselling author was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-05-01 14:20:39 UTC ]
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The writer of The New York Trilogy, Leviathan and 4 3 2 1 – known for his stylised postmodernist fiction – has died from complications of lung cancer• Paul Auster – a life in quotes• Paul Auster – a life in picturesPaul Auster, the author of 34 books including the acclaimed New York Trilogy, has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-01 04:02:37 UTC ]
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Chloe Walsh’s ‘Taming 7,’ a new entry in her BookTok-popular Boys of Tommen YA series, debuts at #3 on our children’s fiction list. Plus novelists Salman Rushdie and Caleb Carr publish memoirs, and a memoir in Spanish by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a stateside hit. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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This week, TIME magazine published its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People of the year. Usually, when this list comes out, I complain (to the universe, I guess) that there aren’t enough novelists (“enough” meaning “more than one”) on it. Last year, though, there were four, which was a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-18 17:45:48 UTC ]
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There will be no follow-up to that AI-generated George Carlin comedy special released by the podcast Dudesy. In January, Carlin's estate filed a lawsuit against the podcast and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, accusing them of violating the performer's right to publicity and infringing... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-04-03 07:52:24 UTC ]
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Three Black women novelists make their debut with tales of inheritance, friendship, and alternate futures. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite mounting objections from within the American literary community (as well as public condemnation from two prominent novelists who recently cut ties with the organization), on Wednesday evening PEN America’s Los Angeles branch went ahead with its hosting of a conversation between stand-up... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-02 19:14:45 UTC ]
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Two prominent novelists have broken with PEN America over the organization’s decision to platform controversial actor and outspoken ceasefire opponent Mayim Bialik, as well as its relative silence on the unfolding genocide in Gaza (which so far has claimed the lives of at least 120 writers,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-01-31 20:56:06 UTC ]
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