Novelist Celeste Ng: ‘There was a period when I thought I’d never write again’

The award-winning author on how Trump, Covid and anti-Asian rhetoric inspired her latest novel, digging her way out of ‘post-book fatigue’, and learning to touch type using UlyssesCeleste Ng, 42, is the award-winning author of three novels, including Little Fires Everywhere, which was made into a miniseries starring and executive-produced by Reese Witherspoon. Her latest, Our Missing Hearts, dramatises the power of art and literature in dark times, unfolding in a nationalistic America riven by anti-Asian violence, where the authorities think nothing of snatching children from dissident parents. At its centre is Bird, a 12-year-old boy searching for his mother, an Asian-American poet who vanished years earlier. Ng lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and their son.How did Our Missing Hearts begin for you?It came from a very personal place, with me thinking about being a creative parent and that constant fear of just not being present enough if I’m daydreaming about a plot or going on a book tour. I’d had a creative mother in my last novel, Little Fires Everywhere, and her daughter is quite accepting of the art that she makes and of the sacrifices that that requires, but I started thinking: what if that were not the case? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-22 17:00:15 UTC ]
News tagged with: #reese witherspoon #missing hearts #dark times #anti-asian violence #book tour #award-winning author

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Graphic novelist Posy Simmonds wins prestigious French comics award

Award marks first time a British artist and author has won Grand Prix at International Comics festival in AngoulêmeThe graphic novelist Posy Simmonds has won the Grand Prix at France’s Angoulême International Comics festival – the first time a British artist and author has been awarded the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-24 17:52:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british artist #prestigious prize #lifetime achievement #graphic novel


Meet the 10 best new novelists for 2024

Our annual pick of the most exciting debut fiction has previously tipped Sally Rooney and Louise Kennedy, Tom Crewe and Douglas Stuart. Here the class of 2024 tell us their storiesEach year since 2014, the Observer New Review’s writers and editors have read scores of forthcoming debut novels... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-14 07:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short stories #ll love #previous years #gail honeyman #completely fine #orwell prize #jane austen #novelists


Keanu and co: how celebrities became bestselling novelists

From Richard Osman and Millie Bobby Brown to the upcoming book by Keanu Reeves, celebrity novels are everywhere. What’s behind the boom? And how do non-famous writers feel about it?I understood that if I was going to do it, I would have to put 100% of myself into it,” says Richard Osman about... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-13 09:00:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #geri halliwell-horner #paul mccartney #jamie oliver #adult fiction #celebrity author #tom hanks #including books #dolly parton #novelists #nielsen bookscan #upcoming book


Lisa Marie Presley started writing a book before she died. Riley Keough completed it

Lisa Marie Presley's posthumous memoir will hit shelves later this year, with the help of her daughter Riley Keough, who picked up the pieces. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-01-11 20:25:14 UTC ]
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Writing as an Act of Grieving

In her essay for PW, author E.L. Shen reflects on the experience of losing her father as a teenager and the catharsis of writing about grief in her forthcoming book for middle graders, 'Maybe It's a Sign.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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What Booksellers Can Teach Us About Reading, Writing and Publishing

My longtime girlfriend is a longtime bookseller. Her relationship with bookselling predates ours three times over. It is a surprisingly taxing career path—one that asks of the body, and of the mind. There are the bad days, where she brings home the classic bookseller gripes: failed hand-sells,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-01-05 09:56:55 UTC ]
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Novelist's book is canceled after she acknowledges 'review bombs' of other writers

A debut author who used fake accounts to “review bomb” other writers on the influential online platform Goodreads has been dropped by her agent and had her book deal cancelled Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-12-13 02:46:01 UTC ]
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A billionaire and a novelist offer two versions of tech's future. Who's right?

Where exactly is tech going? Joanne McNeil's debut novel 'Wrong Way' and billionaire Marc Andreessen's 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' offer some clues. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-12-12 11:00:26 UTC ]
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Why Novelists Should Embrace Artificial Intelligence

Let’s imagine, for the purpose of this essay, that the following statement is true: An AI writes a novel. Actually, forget about the imagining. This is already happening. Today’s AIs—large language models (LLMs) specifically, like GPT-4—can write. If you’ve glanced at the headlines this year,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-08 09:51:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #novelists


Would I use AI to write my novels? I'd get better results from a monkey with an iPhone | Monica Ali

I asked ChatGPT to improve my latest novel and lost no sleep over the results. But I do worry about diverse voices being crowded out This summer two worlds – literature and technology – collided. News stories began appearing about authors suing OpenAI and Meta for using their works to train... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-12-01 06:00:07 UTC ]
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Herbert Gold, Postwar Novelist of Love and Marriage, Dies at 99

He emerged in the 1950s as a promising young writer exploring the emotional lives of ordinary men and women and the complexities of Jewish identity in America. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 23:46:03 UTC ]
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Rebecca Yarros to Write Two More Romance Novels for Montlake

The 'Fourth Wing' author will pen two contemporary romances for the Amazon Publishing romance imprint, which will be published in 2025 and 2026. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rebecca yarros #romance novels #fourth wing #contemporary romances #amazon publishing


Mick Herron’s Surprise Career as a Blockbuster Spy Novelist

The author of the “Slow Horses” series says he relates more with failures. With millions of books sold and the third season of the series airing next month, he may have to wrap his head around success. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-19 10:00:58 UTC ]
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‘It is a beast that needs to be tamed’: leading novelists on how AI could rewrite the future

Novelists and poets, Bernardine Evaristo, Jeanette Winterson, Stephen Marche and others, consider the threats and thrilling possibilities of artificial intelligenceChatGPT seems to have blindsided us all. In less than a year it has proved that it can make writers redundant, which is one of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 09:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bernardine evaristo #jeanette winterson #stephen marche #writers guild #jodi picoult #creative writing #novelists


John le Carré’s son to write new George Smiley novel

Nicholas Cornwell will return his father’s best-loved spy to the page in a new novel set between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyFans of thriller writer David Cornwell – better known by his pen name John le Carré – may have thought they had seen the last of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-11-10 14:00:10 UTC ]
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Jenna Bush Hager and Her Sister Barbara Discuss Writing Their New Book

The twin sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush published their third picture book this week. They sat down to discuss fighting, writing and chosen family. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-09 10:02:26 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land on the Routine That Helped Her Write Her New Book in a Month

Stephanie Land’s new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, is out today, so we asked her a few questions about her routine, writing advice, and how she deals with writers block. Who do you most wish would read your book? Anyone who has authority over a person who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-07 09:50:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephanie land #higher education #writing advice #writers block #memoir


Writing Discipline Envy: Tracy K. Smith Wakes Early and Meditates

Tracy K. Smith’s To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul is available tomorrow, so we asked her a few questions about her readers, when she writes, and her favorite book to recommend to others. * Who do you most wish would read your book? People who are weary of the limits of […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-06 09:56:46 UTC ]
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‘I thought it was me alone’: how the Black British book festival has grown

Now in its third year, the event stepped up its ambitions and aims not only to spotlight authors but to change audiencesAs a child, Selina Brown had a Saturday routine: her mother would go shopping and leave her at the library, where she would speed her way through novels by Jacqueline Wilson... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-20 12:55:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jacqueline wilson #black girl #black authors #british book