Essay “Literature was a vast minefield occupied by enemies,” Roberto Bolaño, who enjoyed accruing enemies in the pantheon of Latin American letters, writes in the short story “Meeting with Enrique Lihn” (New Yorker, December 22, 2008): except for a few classic authors (just a few), and every day I had to walk through that minefield, where any false move could be fatal, with only the poems of Archilochus to guide me. It’s like that for all young writers. There comes a time when you have no support, not even from friends, forget about mentors, and there’s no one to give you a hand; publication, prizes, and grants are reserved for the others, the ones who said “Yes, sir,” over and over, or those who praised the literary mandarins, a never-ending horde distinguished only by their aptitude for discipline and punishment—nothing escapes them and they forgive nothing. Aptitude for discipline and punishment Bolaño himself had aplenty, too. And in spite of his precarious health, he had stamina. At a young age, he had made up his mind he would die. Who cared if he annoyed others? His mission, as is clear from The Savage Detectives (1998), was to upend that tradition, to take it by the neck and expose its platitudes. What is the use of sacred cows if not to be desecrated? Indeed, every tradition needs an enfant terrible, maybe more than one. When was the last time a rabble-rouser came along in Latin American literature? As Bolaño put it in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-28 21:05:10 UTC ]
Efforts raise questions about the far right’s place in the broader culture wars waged by the Trump administration The far right US publisher Passage Press is now part of Foundation Publishing Group and it is connected via a Foundation director, Daniel Lisi, to Network Press, whose only title to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-06-03 10:00:33 UTC ]
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These six creepy science fiction recommendations are perfect for when you're in the mood to be deeply unsettled. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-21 10:30:00 UTC ]
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The science fiction legend’s dystopian masterwork has been adapted into a timely graphic novel by Damian Duffy and John Jennings. A nine-page excerpt. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-05-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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AI is changing how we work, live, and create, and marketers are defaulting to the familiar visual codes of science fiction to capture it. Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2025-05-13 06:00:00 UTC ]
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These elements of ‘Star Wars’ stories might seem like science fiction but are actually real. Just 48 short years ago, movie director George Lucas used the phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” as the opening to the first Star Wars movie, later labeled Episode IV: A New Hope. But at... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2025-05-04 08:30:00 UTC ]
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Now we’re seeing cozy science fiction and fantasy, and even cozy horror. So what exactly does "cozy" mean? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-04-30 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Down the belly of the whale, a submerged world of gods and myth, rival bookshop owners, and more of today's best book deals. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-04-29 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Sam Weller on Ray Bradbury’s underappreciated classic: “The Martian Chronicles is a serious book about serious human themes. It is science fiction as a reflection of modernity.” | Lit Hub Criticism Milo Todd on tracing and preserving trans history while writing historical fiction. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-04-28 10:30:04 UTC ]
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A new take on Lady Macbeth, anonymous fantasies, a science fiction thriller on a space ship, and more of today's best book deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-04-07 15:37:09 UTC ]
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Elon Musk said he borrowed the name from a 1960s science fiction novel, but another AI startup applied to trademark it before xAI launched its chatbot. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2025-03-31 09:30:00 UTC ]
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Here are the finalists for this year's Nebula Awards, honoring the best in science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-03-13 14:16:15 UTC ]
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J.D. Beresford’s The Hampdenshire Wonder is generally considered to be the first fictional treatment of superhuman intelligence, or “superintelligence.” This is a familiar trope for readers of science fiction today, but when the novel was originally published in 1911 it was anything but. What... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-03-06 09:59:31 UTC ]
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My friend and former work colleague Simon Welfare, who has died aged 78, was a writer and pioneering TV producer whose programmes aimed to make science accessible to all.Together with the science fiction author Arthur C Clarke and a fellow producer, John Fairley, in 1980 he cooked up the format... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-02-24 11:07:52 UTC ]
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Matthew Teller, whose books include Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the society’s response to the event which saw two leading booksellers detained was ‘an abject failure’A writer has left the Society of Authors (SoA) in protest after the UK’s largest writers’ body made a statement on a recent... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-02-20 17:34:09 UTC ]
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Regular bookstores might be dying—but bookstores dedicated to romance novels are thriving thanks to TikTok and a desire for third places. Throughout Harvard Square, there are many bookshop brimming with the latest literary fiction and intellectual memoirs, patronized by scholarly types. But in... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2025-02-13 10:30:00 UTC ]
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Industry organizations and publishers are condemning the detention of two Palestinian booksellers by Israeli police, who raided the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem on February 9, seizing books that they alleged incited terrorism. The booksellers were confined to house arrest this morning. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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