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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Novelist Celeste Ng: ‘There was a period when I thought I’d never write again’'


To Write Her Debut Novel, Molly McGhee Had to Leave Publishing

On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
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Lauren Groff on Writing Her Own Robinson Crusoe

Books & Books recently had the pleasure of hosting three-time National Book Award finalist and best-selling author Lauren Groff, presenting her new novel, The Vaster Wilds. The New York Times calls it “a lonely novel of hunger and survival.” The brilliant Groff reads from her adventure novel... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-20 08:11:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lauren groff #robinson crusoe #vaster wilds #answers questions #best-selling author #national book award


Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books Open Submissions for the 2024 Creative Writing Awards

The awards partnership between Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books will award $60,000 in scholarships. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-18 18:22:57 UTC ]
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Tiffany D. Jackson is Writing a YA Novel About the Marvel Superhero Storm

Tiffany D. Jackson's newest book is YA novel about the Marvel superhero Storm, titled Storm: Dawn of a Goddess. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-17 15:40:54 UTC ]
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Write Who You Love: J. Ryan Stradal on Memorializing His Mother Through Fiction

Since my first novel was published, at almost every interview and live event, I get asked a version of the same question. Usually people seem just curious, but occasionally there are notes of hostility or amazement. They want to know why, and often how, I write my female protagonists. The answer... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-16 08:50:29 UTC ]
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Salman Rushdie to Write Memoir About Stabbing Attack

Rushdie, who was grievously injured onstage last year, said the forthcoming book was a way “to answer violence with art.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-11 14:10:29 UTC ]
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How to Write a Memoir While Dying

Writers are often advised to write as if we are dying. Awake to our mortality, the theory goes, we will write with urgency and acuity about what matters. We will write honestly, vulnerably, bravely without fear of judgement. We will write for the pure readers: ourselves and our loved ones. We... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-11 08:50:48 UTC ]
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‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis

The Booker winning author talks about how his most recent work was inspired by Hilary Mantel, and the way the books world has changed since his debut was published more than 40 years agoToo many people have been dying lately,” Julian Barnes reflects over the phone from his home in north London.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-16 08:00:25 UTC ]
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20 of the Most Thought-Provoking, Philosophical Science Fiction Books of All Time

Looking for a work of science fiction that will make you really think? Welcome to these philosophical sci-fi books! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-09-15 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Takeaways From the Romney Biography: Thoughts on Trump, McConnell and More

The Utah Republican’s announcement that he would retire coincided with the publication of a forthcoming book based on extensive interviews in which he slammed his party and the Senate. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-09-14 17:49:51 UTC ]
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Claire Keegan: ‘I can’t explain my work. I just write stories’

The much-acclaimed Irish author of Small Things Like These on her quietly devastating new story and why George Saunders wouldn’t read it aloud for a podcastClaire Keegan’s five books to date run to just 700 pages and some 140,000 words. “I love to see prose being written economically,” she tells... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-02 17:00:10 UTC ]
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Pidgeon Pagonis on the Urgency of Writing a Memoir as an Intersex Writer

Pidgeon and I met in the summer of 2020, the summer of sickness, and violent change. We spoke over Zoom, nearly 800 miles apart—I had been hired as a developmental editor for an intersex activist named Pidgeon Pagonis. A developmental editor is a bit of a catch-all title: we do a bit of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-17 09:20:26 UTC ]
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When Writing a Novel Bridges a Gap Between Mother and Daughter

I was deep in the throes of a slow-moving depression, feeling frustrated with a job I had held for seven years, and reeling from the disappointment of a first novel that debuted without the critical and commercial acclaim I was afraid to admit I desired. So I called my mother. “I think I need a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-09 09:10:27 UTC ]
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Paul Reubens was writing a memoir that his team is 'hoping' to publish posthumously

Paul Reubens 'finished a first draft' of a memoir about his life and career before he died, a representative for the Pee-wee Herman actor has confirmed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-01 18:13:09 UTC ]
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Actor Richard E. Grant processed his grief by writing and name-dropping

Richard E. Grant, star of 'Loki,' 'The Lesson' and much more, on how writing his memoir 'A Pocketful of Happiness' helped him grieve for his wife. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-28 19:53:27 UTC ]
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Google testing AI tool that writes news articles

Tool is said to have been pitched to several US news outlets as an aid for journalists rather than a replacementGoogle is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can write news articles, in the latest evidence that the technology has the potential to transform white-collar professions.The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-20 12:04:29 UTC ]
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Shake, rattle and write: why the music memoir is booming

From Bono to Jarvis Cocker, Bruce Springsteen to Cosey Fanni Tutti, the last decade has seen an explosion of books by artists from every walk of musical life. Why is this once-rare genre striking a chord with stars and readers alike?By her own admission, Miki Berenyi was not a woman itching to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-15 08:00:25 UTC ]
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Sarah Silverman and novelists sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for ingesting their books

Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:35 UTC ]
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Sarah Silverman and novelists sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for ingesting their books

Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sarah silverman #detailed synopsis #memoir #novelists


RIP to one of the great horny novelists of the 20th century, Milan Kundera.

I was surprised to read this morning that Milan Kundera, the eminent Czech novelist best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, died yesterday at the age of 94. Mainly because I thought he was already dead. For a generation of literary types (Gen X in particular), Kundera was the cool,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 15:34:43 UTC ]
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