Cultural Cross Sections Taylor Hickney In this profile, one of Marie-Helene Bertino’s students at the New School provides a personal glimpse of the author, whose new novel, Parakeet, was published June 2. On the evening of the National Book Awards, Marie-Helene Bertino strolled into our workshop ready for the after party adorned in a gold, sequined ball gown and black hoodie. There was already an electric air in the program that night, because we, her students—mostly aspiring and emerging writers—were impressed to know the faculty invited or involved in what we perceived as a night for authors who’ve Made It. Her hair had been curled—it was typically pin-straight—and accented with a rose behind her ear. She laughed and blushed at the compliments and laid her small, gold watch on the table next to her notes as she does in every class she teaches. She commands the space in a room: even with five minutes left before the start, our chitchat dies down, our attention drawn to her because she gives it back to us. Even with five minutes left before the start, our chitchat dies down, our attention drawn to her because she gives it back to us. On June 2, her second novel, Parakeet, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, hit the shelves. In the book, a soon-to-be-wed woman known only as “the bride” is confronted by her late grandmother, who takes the form of a bird. Her grandmother tells her to seek out her estranged brother, a reclusive... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-04 19:40:55 UTC ]
Publishing a debut novel is never easy. 100,000 long-form works of English-language fiction are published every year and even in normal circumstances it’s a struggle to for a first-time novelist to stand out from the pack. But the last 15 or so months have been particularly trying. Full lockdown... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-12 22:02:54 UTC ]
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The author of a debut novel about diversity in the workplace on how black people act around white people, embracing her hair, and what’s changed a year after George Floyd’s murderZakiya Dalila Harris was born and raised in Connecticut and is currently based in Brooklyn. Now a full-time writer,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-06-05 17:00:15 UTC ]
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Neither authors nor publishing houses have figured out how to turn the new president into a compelling villain. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2021-06-02 09:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Ireland has pre-empted a debut novel by award-winning actor and playwright Emmet Kirwan, to be published in 2023. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 22:53:36 UTC ]
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Lisa Taddeo, whose book "Three Women" broke the mold of immersive journalism, talks about her first novel, "Animal," and the struggle to write and live. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-05-27 13:00:06 UTC ]
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Zakiya Dalila Harris, a former editorial assistant, is making a splash with “The Other Black Girl,” her debut novel about an African-American woman navigating a nearly all-white workplace. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-05-23 20:21:45 UTC ]
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Shola von Reinhold wins the award for small publishing houses with their novel LOTE, but financial reward split among 10 publishersThe Scottish author Shola von Reinhold has won the Republic of Consciousness prize for small presses for their “dazzling” queer debut novel LOTE. But the £20,000... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-05-19 12:17:35 UTC ]
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Joel Friedlander, the author, blogger, book designer, publisher, and publishing industry consultant, died on May 7 of cancer. He was 73. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In Christine Smallwood’s debut novel The Life of the Mind, protagonist Dorothy escapes the stifled environment of an academic conference for one she finds even more depressing: the slot machines. There, she runs into her former dissertation advisor, Judith, a woman who caused her significant... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
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TJ Newman dreamt up her terror-in-the-skies novel Falling while guarding the cockpit as the pilots took a toilet break. She reveals how she kept going through furlough and 41 rejectionsFlight attendant Torri Newman was working on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York when the idea for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-05-04 05:00:21 UTC ]
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Social media is now a vital platform to promote new titles. And that means jacket designs that hit you ‘hard and quick’Last week’s big literary event was not the publication of a new book, the million-pound signing of a celebrity author or the announcement of a prestigious prize. Instead, it was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-18 09:00:04 UTC ]
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Pamela Dorman buys a debut novel by a longtime Knopf editor, Holt signs a memoir by Ronnie Spector, Hanya Yanagihara re-ups with Doubleday, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In a deal rumored to be in the seven figure-range, Knopf editor Jenny Jackson sold her debut novel to Pam Dorman, who has an eponymous imprint at Penguin Random House. 'Pineapple Street' follows three sisters who are members of a wealthy family, and is slated to be released in early 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sanjena Sathian’s debut novel Gold Diggers is set in the Indian American suburbs of Atlanta—a world of competitive debate and spelling bees, of racing to get into the most prestigious academic summer camps, of Miss Teen India pageants—all roads leading to the promised land of America’s most... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Having collected views from Black people across the publishing industry for the past year, the Black Agents and Editors’ Group has outlined 15 steps for how those in the trade can do better. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-09 07:18:36 UTC ]
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Exciting adaptation news: A24 and Rhombus Media have optioned the rights to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning debut novel about a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who serves as a communist double agent after the fall of Saigon. The novel is being developed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-07 14:34:36 UTC ]
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William Morrow preempts a debut novel by Liz Stein, Michelle Tea sells a memoir about the reproductive industrial complex to Dey Street, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The two-year-old Oakland, Calif.-based "partnership publisher" is hoping to disrupt the publishing industry's traditional models. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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"Of Women and Salt," tracking generations of Latinas, comes out of Gabriela Garcia's family story, life experience and advocacy for migrants. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-23 19:20:30 UTC ]
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Analysis: if Bertelsmann, owner of Penguin Random House, buys US publisher, writers expect smaller deals and less choice for readersUK watchdog investigates Penguin owner’s Simon & Schuster takeoverJokes circulated online when, in 2013, Penguin and Random House merged: would the new... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-03-22 23:24:23 UTC ]
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