Mike McCormack: ‘If I’ve one gift as a writer, it’s patience’

The award-winning Irish author on losing his father at 18, the drawbacks of English editors and the theme of imprisonment in his workMike McCormack was born in London in 1965 and raised on a farm in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. He published his first story collection, Getting It in the Head, in 1996, followed by three novels that have marked him out as an experimentalist. Notes from a Coma (2005) interspersed its narrative with a fragmentary commentary at the bottom of each page. His work reached a wider audience with 2016’s Solar Bones, in which a lonely Mayo engineer recalls his life in one unending sentence – it won the Goldsmiths prize and was longlisted for the Booker. His latest novel, This Plague of Souls, follows a painter named Nealon as he returns home from prison and sets out to find his wife and child amid brewing global unrest. McCormack lives in Galway with his wife, artist Maeve Curtis, and their son.What sparked the new book?I started writing it in 2012, around the same time as Solar Bones, which then asserted priority. It seems that I was very interested in how worlds collapse, but coming into Covid, the focus changed from how the world collapses to how do we put it back together. Both books are about men trying to build a world – one as an engineer, the other as an artist – and both books seem to think that world building has to do with the making of family. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 18:00:01 UTC ]
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More than 300 writers and publishers sign letter opposing Policing Bill

More than 300 prominent writers and publishers including Bernardine Evaristo, Alan Hollinghurst and Malorie Blackman have signed a letter to the Times opposing the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill, which is being voted on in the House of Lords over the next two weeks.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-13 12:40:06 UTC ]
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Gay launches fellowship scheme for aspiring writers through Substack

Roxane Gay is launching a new one-year fellowship programme which will see her support three aspiring writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-12 16:04:26 UTC ]
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Romantic fiction writers creating a more diverse happily ever after

How book-loving communities on social media are helping authors break barriers to become bestsellersTalia Hibbert was rewatching a Spider-Man film and eating a meal in her living room when she received life-changing news. Her romance novel Act Your Age, Eve Brown, which she wrote at the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-30 08:00:44 UTC ]
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20 of the Best Picture Books You’ve Never Heard Of

If you want to expand your picture book horizons past the classics, pick up one of these hidden gems of the format! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-12-29 11:34:00 UTC ]
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Who was Vivian Maier? A new book explores the inspired life of the nanny with a secret gift for photography

‘Vivian Maier: Developed’ is a revealing and beautiful biography about the mysterious caregiver who left behind a trove of her own art. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones partners with Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award

Waterstones is partnering with the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award to celebrate the best emerging talent in the UK and Ireland, hosting exclusive accompanying content across all its channels.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-20 08:28:44 UTC ]
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PRH chooses eight new writers for WriteNow mentoring programme

Eight new writers have been chosen to join this year's Penguin Random House UK’s WriteNow mentoring programme, with a focus on children's writers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 07:50:03 UTC ]
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Cosy crime, cookbooks and a surprise hit: what we’ve really read in the pandemic

It was a chance to finally get around to Tolstoy or Proust, but the charts tell a different story. Which books did we actually turn to in the lockdowns? • Let us know in the comments what you were reading Back in spring 2020, when it became clear that coronavirus wasn’t going away, book lovers... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-11 09:00:06 UTC ]
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Now there’s a real-life Grinch cave, for people who’ve misunderstood the book or enjoy suffering.

Here’s something sick, deviant, and against nature: Dr. Seuss Enterprises has partnered with vacation rental management company Vacasa to create a real-life version of the Grinch’s cave—home of the Grinch, the titular role in the book about the Grinch. I’m a little perplexed by why someone would... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-10 19:05:11 UTC ]
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Festival for Working Class Writers calls for book club titles

The Festival for Working-Class Writers' team are on the lookout for books to promote as part of their new book club, which launches in 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-08 23:43:53 UTC ]
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Books make the best gifts. Here are seven surprising choices for the readers on your list.

Critic Michael Dirda’s picks include ‘Dear Highlights,’ ‘A Ray Bradbury Compendium’ and ‘American Christmas Stories’ Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-08 17:32:50 UTC ]
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Maycock wins ALCS Educational Writers' Award with 'tender' title on emotions

Sarah Maycock has won the 2021 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award for her children's book Sometimes I Feel: A Menagerie of Feelings Big and Small (Big Picture Press.) Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-07 22:38:06 UTC ]
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Nabugodi wins £10k Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award

Mathelinda Nabugodi has won the £10,000 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award for her "engaging and fascinating" work of non-fiction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-07 20:28:37 UTC ]
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Sir Paul McCartney’s memoir aims to affirm his status as a writer

The main character in “The Lyrics” is his best friend and fiercest rival, John Lennon Continue reading at The Economist

[ The Economist | 2021-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Northern Writers’ Awards open with new prize from Myers

The Northern Writers’ Awards has opened for submissions with a chance to win a share of £40,000 in development opportunities as former winner Benjamin Myers (pictured) launches a new short story category.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-03 20:45:57 UTC ]
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10 Perfect Holiday Gifts For Manga Fans

If you've got a manga reader on your holiday list, here are some fun manga-themed gifts they're sure to love.- Erika Hardison Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-12-01 11:40:00 UTC ]
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Clark and Montes win Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award

Journalist Philip Clark and novelist and essayist Javier Montes have been named as the winners of the Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award, at a reception at the British Library.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-01 10:40:51 UTC ]
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Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award shortlist revealed

Yasmine Awwad, Sophie Meadows and Mathelinda Nabugodi have been shortlisted for the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award, chosen from 983 entries this year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-01 09:27:14 UTC ]
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The London Library releases second Emerging Writers anthology

The London Library is releasing its second anthology featuring work from its Emerging Writers programme.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-01 01:29:13 UTC ]
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