Most diverse Booker prize shortlist ever is also almost all American

With no room for Hilary Mantel’s conclusion to her Wolf Hall trilogy, the six finalists also include four debutsHilary Mantel will not win a third Booker prize with the final novel in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, after American writers made a near clean sweep of this year’s shortlist.With four writers of colour among its six authors, the shortlist, announced on Tuesday, is the most diverse line-up in the prize’s history. Four debut novelists – Diane Cook, Avni Doshi, Douglas Stuart and Brandon Taylor – are up against the acclaimed Zimbabwean Tsitsi Dangarembga, and the Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste for the £50,000 award. Related: Booker nominee Avni Doshi: 'Women feared my ambivalence towards motherhood' Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-09-15 12:21:07 UTC ]

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Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling add lots to auction for global vaccine rollout

Fundraiser running until 21 May also includes chances to consult with star agent Jonny Geller and have a character named after you in a Sarah Pinborough novelA literary auction raising money to help vaccinate the world against coronavirus has made more than £23,000 so far, as book lovers bid to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-18 12:13:19 UTC ]
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How women conquered the world of fiction

From Sally Rooney to Raven Leilani, female novelists have captured the literary zeitgeist, with more buzz, prizes and bestsellers than men. But is this cultural shift something to celebrate or rectify?In March, Vintage, one of the UK’s largest literary fiction divisions, announced the five debut... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-16 06:00:48 UTC ]
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Review: Two iconic novelists, Adichie and Lahiri, step off their pedestals

Two big novelists take sharp turns in new books: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie mourns in "Notes on Grief"; Jhumpa Lahiri writes a novel, "Whereabouts," in Italian. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-30 14:00:38 UTC ]
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UK book sales soared in 2020 despite pandemic

New figures from the Publishers Association show fiction and audiobooks did particularly well, with value of consumer sales up 7% on 2019 despite bookshop closuresFiction sales in 2020 soared by more than £100m for UK publishers, as readers locked down at home made their escape into books, with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-26 23:01:49 UTC ]
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Christian Publishers Tap into Grittier Side of Fiction

Novelists no longer shy away from tough issues readers are facing such as mental illness, racial inequity, sexual harassment and abuse, trafficking, and domestic violence. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne – the ‘modern Jane Austen’?

This excellent cradle-to-grave biography of a much loved novelist who goes in and out of fashion captures her alarming habits and tormented love affairsIn 1971 the author Barbara Pym was at her day job at the International African Institute when she noticed “Mr C” laboriously attacking his... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-08 06:30:07 UTC ]
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James McBride has won the inaugural Gotham Book Prize for literature that celebrates NYC.

Last year, when New York City was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in America, Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson decided to create a new annual award, the Gotham Book Prize, as part of an effort to “honor New York City and support the novelists who best captured the spirit of our city,” as... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 13:00:34 UTC ]
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Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo writing memoir about 'never giving up'

Manifesto will chart the first Black Booker prize winner’s 40-year journey to literary centre-stage and encourage others to pursue creative fulfilmentBernardine Evaristo, the first Black woman to win the Booker prize, is writing a memoir about how she “moved from the margins to centre stage”... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-03-27 09:00:08 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: March 24, 2021

“By relearning his grandmother’s old style of storytelling, Márquez began telling a story unlike any before.” Angus Fletcher on what Gabriel García Márquez understood about rediscovery. | Lit Hub Criticism Are climate change novels a form of activism? Seven novelists weigh in, including Pitchaya... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 09:30:49 UTC ]
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How Contemporary Novelists Are Confronting Climate Collapse in Fiction

This year marks the sixth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international accord that marks the first time nearly every nation on Earth promised to tackle the climate crisis. The goals set by that agreement, however, have not been met. As the climate crisis worsens, more novelists than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 08:53:41 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Burnt Sugar,’ by Avni Doshi

“Burnt Sugar,” a debut novel by Avni Doshi, depicts a particularly intense mother-daughter relationship — from the tormented daughter’s point of view. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-03-02 10:00:08 UTC ]
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Kazuo Ishiguro on the Joys of Repetition

At the Guardian, Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his newest book, Klara and the Sun, and how this latest offering echoes themes and ideas he has often explored in his previous work. “Literary novelists are slightly defensive about being repetitive,” Ishiguro says. “I think it is perfectly justified:... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 21:30:38 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 26, 2021

“Like so many women novelists of previous centuries, Yezierska’s canonical status is a phenomenon of the recent past.” Catherine Rottenberg on the overdue revival of Anzia Yezierska. | Lit Hub Fashion isn’t frivolous: Francesca Granata recommends books central to our understanding of femininity,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-26 10:30:02 UTC ]
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Sarah Moss’s Anxiety Chronicles

MOST NOVELISTS WHO want to embed sophisticated ideas in their fiction resort to long stretches of dialogue. In the traditional philosophical novel, loquacious characters are the vehicles for politics or principles. Sarah Moss is different. She favors realism and interiority. In each of her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-21 13:30:51 UTC ]
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Shuggie Bain among Scotland Translation Fund recipients

This year's Booker Prize-winning novel, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, is to be translated into Turkish, Serbian, Portuguese and Arabic, following grants from the Publishing Scotland Translation Fund.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-19 02:04:43 UTC ]
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Novelists are writing for TV more than ever. How it's changing the industry

Over the past 20 years, industry shifts have funneled more novelists into TV rooms than ever. It's salutary in many ways — beginning with health insurance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-11 15:00:05 UTC ]
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Bernardine Evaristo: the forgotten black British novels everyone should read

The Booker-winning novelist is relaunching a series of neglected novels by black British writers. She explains why they deserve a new readership In today’s culture, it’s as though black British literary history began relatively recently, and new books are published without reference to or... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-01-30 11:00:07 UTC ]
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Debut fiction did well in pandemic-hit 2020

Debut novelists performed solidly last year, despite widespread fears that they would lose out to more established authors due to 2020's pandemic-hit publishing schedules.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-14 13:16:53 UTC ]
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Lit fest The Coast is Queer returns in 2021 with Stuart and McDermid

Douglas Stuart, the 2020 Booker Prize winner, is among confirmed speakers for Brighton & Hove’s LGBTQ+ literature festival, The Coast is Queer, returning after its inaugural year in 2019 in digital form from 5th-7th February 2021.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-10 21:17:07 UTC ]
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“Romance Is Political”: The Unlikely Fundraising Effort That Raised $400,000 for the Georgia Senate Runoff Race

Courtney Milan explains how a group of romance novelists rallied behind one of their own: Stacey Abrams. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-12-07 19:30:17 UTC ]
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