Patience, Perspective, and the Power of Story: An Interview with Toni Ann Johnson, by Scott LaMascus Interviews [email protected] Mon, 10/16/2023 - 13:46 Storyteller Toni Ann Johnson uses her skills as an actor, playwright, and fiction writer to tell powerful stories of race, reconciliation, and the effects of lingering racism. She is award-winning on stage and screen, most recently with her story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste (University of Georgia Press, 2022), selected for the 2021 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. When I spoke to Johnson in Los Angeles and later by email, we explored the role stories can play in our understanding of truths, including matters many would rather forget. Scott LaMascus: If you were joining the late Flannery O’Connor on her porch in Milledgeville, Georgia, what do you hope she would praise about your stories that were honored with the award named for her? Toni Ann Johnson: I wouldn’t expect Ms. O’Connor to praise my stories. Her racism would likely have prevented her from appreciating their subject matter. In her letters, she wrote: About the Negroes, the kind I don’t like is the philosophizing prophesying pontificating kind, the James Baldwin kind. Very ignorant but never silent. Baldwin can tell us what it feels like to be a Negro in Harlem but he tries to tell us everything else too. O’Connor was put off by James Baldwin’s writing because it dared to stray beyond the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-16 18:46:19 UTC ]
The Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency is expanding with the addition of two new agents this summer. Thérèse Coen will join the business as a rights agent in July, with Sarah O'Halloran joining as a literary agent in August. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of the few literary agents focusing on Arabic, Yasmina Jraissati, discusses the non-existent role of the literary agent in the Middle East. The post Why Are There No Literary Agents in the Middle East? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarah Odedina, former m.d. of Hot Key Books, is to join Oneworld in the role of children’s publisher, overseeing its Young Adult and children’s publishing. Oneworld announced last year that it would launch a YA imprint, Rock the Boat. Oneworld publisher Juliet Mabey said hiring Odedina was like... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Philip Kerr’s young adult novel The Winter Horses (Walker Books) is being developed into an animated feature film by Komixx Entertainment. Entertainment media owner and production company Komixx Entertainment Inc, the US arm of Komixx Media Group, optioned the worldwide rights to The Winter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There will be three three separate buzz panels for adult, young adult, and middle grade titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An unlikely trio—a literary agent, a singer/songwriter, and an investment banker—are bringing the first general independent bookstore in over a decade to this New Jersey city. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US publishers have reported a sales revenues rise of nearly 5% across 2014, mainly fuelled by the success of children's and young adult. Figures released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), covering the first nine months of the year, show that across publishing as a whole,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book term 'young adult' is generally disliked by both teen readers and adult fans. But is there a better alternative? The post Should the Young Adult Book Category Be Rebranded? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube star Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, shrugged off a mild ghostwriting controversy to retain the top spot of the UK Official Top 50 for the second straight week, with her Young Adult novel Girl Online (Penguin) becoming 2014's fastest selling book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Olivia Morris will be assistant editor of Pan Macmillan’s new lifestyle imprint headed up by Carole Tonkinson. Morris comes to Pan Macmillan from Simon & Schuster, where she held the role of Editorial Assistant. She previously worked as assistant to literary agent at Diane Banks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube sensation Zoe Sugg has eclipsed superstars such J K Rowling, Dan Brown and E L James to record the biggest first week sale for a début since records began. Sugg, known as Zoella on her fashion and beauty vlog, which has over five million subscribers, shifted 78,109 copies of her Young... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Children’s Books imprint Delacorte Press has acquired U.S. rights to 'Finding Audrey,' the first young adult novel from the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Claudia Wittman, literary agent and founder of the Wittman Agency in Germany, talks about how her rights business manages the massive changes in the book publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Madeleine Millburn, a literary agent from London, offers her view on which international markets offer the most opportunities and how digital publishing has impacted the rights business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his long history in Christian publishing, Steve Laube has played many roles--bookseller, editor, literary agent. Now he adds publisher to that resume, joining what seems to be an emerging trend among agents. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taryn Fagerness, a literary agent in Washington, talks about her recent success with author Matthew Dicks and how she's optimistic about the digital future of publishing. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The worldwide domination of Markus Persson's building-blocks game is a triumph for the power of human imaginationA funny thing happened on the way to this column. Browsing idly through the Publishers Weekly site, I came on the list of the Nielsen bestselling books of 2014 (so far) in the US. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary agent Marly Rusoff is re-releasing, through her publishing imprint Maiden Lane Press, a debut novel by Jonathan Odell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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U.K.-based Angry Robot Books is closing its young adult and crime/mystery imprints, effectively immediately. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sedef Ilgiç, a literary agent at the Kalem Agency in Turkey, on selling Turkish books to publishers abroad and representing international authors in Turkey. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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