Drawing on her panoramic reading and her experiences of the authorly life cycle, Atwood surveys her trade with a mix of seriousness and gentle fun“You may find the subject a little peculiar,” warns Margaret Atwood, before she discusses the writer’s relationship with mortality. “It is a little peculiar. Writing itself is a little peculiar.” Atwood’s survey of her profession makes this seem like an understatement: after all, she argues, writers have been placed in close company with the devil and the dead; they have secret identities and hidden doubles; they are death-defying magicians, self-erasing nobodies, even – if you want to get “murky and pretentious” – shamanistic travellers. This book prefers to stay on the side of clarity and self-deprecation, combining evidence drawn from her panoramic reading – one chapter deals with The Tempest, The Wizard of Oz and Klaus Mann’s Mephisto – with her own experiences of the life cycle of an author. She tempers the seriousness of her questions – What is a writer? For whom do writers write? – by poking gentle fun at her trade, describing the machine-like publishing industry as “cog eat cog”, and quietly mocking endless discussion panels. Yet Atwood sees her kind reflected everywhere – from Gilgamesh to The Beast With Five Fingers – and works hard on their behalf: advocate, analyst and always, writer.•To order On Writers and Writing for £7.99 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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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A new feature on Apple Books gives users Spotify Wrapped–style insights into their reading habits in 2023—a year in which Jack Carr, Prince Harry, Britney Spears, and Rebecca Yarros topped the Apple Books charts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Our Children’s Starred Reviews Annual features nearly 400 reviews of exceptional books for young readers, a selection of interviews with some of today’s top authors and illustrators, our 50 Best Books of 2023, and a cover by Vashti Harrison. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In the anthology “Critical Hits,” gamers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Alexander Chee and Larissa Pham explain what the medium means to them. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 10:00:28 UTC ]
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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 ]
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British author A.S. Byatt, who was known for award-winning works including 'Possession' and 'The Children's Book,' has died. She was 87. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-17 17:18:21 UTC ]
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“Going Infinite” may have missed the big takeaway, but it offers at least one undeniable pleasure: deep access. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-17 14:25:02 UTC ]
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Writer and editor Zeke Caligiuri joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion, a new collection of essays on class he co-edited along with eleven other incarcerated writers. The volume’s contributors include Eula Biss, Kao Kalia... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-16 09:08:02 UTC ]
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Libraries are sacred space within the unending, unrelenting madness, the profane that is Society, places where the predominant ideology is to inform. The Library of Alexandria was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; the Library of Congress is a wonderfully ( dis )organized... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-14 09:35:32 UTC ]
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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... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-11 18:00:01 UTC ]
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The bibliophiles in Christopher de Hamel’s lavishly illustrated book ensured the survival of medieval texts over centuries. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-11 10:00:39 UTC ]
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Alexandra Alter talks about her profile of the best-selling author behind “Fourth Wing” and Alexandra Jacobs discusses her review of “My Name is Barbra.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-10 18:47:36 UTC ]
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I am, primarily, a guitarist. Dabbling in keys and synths has always felt a bit unnatural from a physical standpoint. A keyboard doesn’t respond the way a fretted instrument does. This isn’t surprising, nor is it a bad thing. It’s just not what I’m used to. The better... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-10 15:00:28 UTC ]
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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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The Sonos Beam has been our top pick for compact soundbars for a while now. It offers a lot in a small package and the second-gen version also supports more immersive Dolby Atmos audio. The Beam doesn’t have any upfiring drivers though, so the impact of that spatial... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-09 18:30:45 UTC ]
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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’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 ]
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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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The bestselling author of The Power talks about her new techno-thriller, coping with grief and finding hope in the darkest of storiesNaomi Alderman, author of the bestselling novel The Power, is just getting over Covid and feeling a bit wiped out. “But don’t worry, I still seem able to talk for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-04 09:00:34 UTC ]
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Jeanne DuPrau’s “Project F,” Patricia Forde’s “The Girl Who Fell to Earth” and Donna Barba Higuera’s “Alebrijes” answer the question, Could this be the beginning of the end? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-03 09:01:10 UTC ]
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