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 ]
Over the weekend, the winners for this year’s Locus Awards were announced. For a little otherworldly, escapist fiction, read on! (Also, can we talk about this rocket-shaped trophy? The winners must be over the moon!) * SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL Charlie Jane Anders, The City in the Middle of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-29 15:20:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Stack your Pride TBR with these hopeful, queer science fiction and fantasy novels where queer characters are celebrated and highlighted. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-29 10:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy has long been one of the great unadaptable science fiction works (read more on that here, along with a catalogue of Asimov’s awful serial harassment of women), but after 50 years, it has finally made it to screens. Starring noted tall man, Lee Pace (along with... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-23 14:28:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
THE STARLESS SEA, Erin Morgenstern’s sophomore fantasy novel, takes effort to read, but there are countless narratively complex works of science fiction and fantasy that amply reward such effort: N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season comes to mind as one recent, prominent example of the type. The... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-06-20 17:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Publishing, including books, newspapers and magazines, could see a £7bn fall in revenue and 51,000 jobs axed due to Covid-19's effect on bookshop closures and print sales, a report claims. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-17 06:06:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Will browsing be allowed, or will we have to judge a book by its cover? With Waterstones and some indie shops set to open on 15 June, Alison Flood finds out what the plan isMelissa Davies had planned to fulfil a lifelong dream and open her independent bookshop, Pigeon Books, in Southsea, at the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-12 06:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Bernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge take No 1 slots in wake of anti-racist demonstrations, as Waterstones staff ask chain to support causeBernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge have become the first black British women to top the UK’s fiction and nonfiction paperback charts, in a week where... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-10 13:46:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Children's bookshop Button & Bear in Shrewsbury is to close blaming the "fickle" high street and customer expectations on price. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-08 23:59:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this
IN 1984, George Ramsden, a 30-year-old British bookseller who had never read anything by Edith Wharton, bought her personal library for $80,000. He kept the books in a room above his bookshop where he would invite select visitors to view them by asking if they wanted to come up and see “Edith.”... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-06-08 12:30:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Many years ago, I heard a teacher of mine, the late John Gardener, once say that there are only two plots in all of literature: you go on a journey or a stranger comes to town. Or, as Stanley Elkin put it even more succinctly (in reference to science fiction), you go there or they […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-08 08:47:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It’s never too early to learn that racism is wrong and we should be doing something about it. These books will help show our kids how, writes publisher and bookseller Aimée FeloneDo the work: Layla F Saad’s anti-racist reading list The weight of the world seems heavier than ever right now. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-04 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Get to know the fantastic and thrilling world of the DINOSAUR TRAIN series, a shining example of science fiction for early readers. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-02 10:35:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Penguin Classics is to launch a new series of world science fiction "to challenge stereotypes about the genre". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-28 09:00:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A NUMBER OF RECENT ESSAYS and articles have revisited classic literary texts that depict disease pandemics, scouring them for ideas and strategies that might prove useful in our current predicament. An essay in The Boston Review examines Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353), which emerged out of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-05-27 19:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Nestled in the heart of Melbourne's city laneways, Leonardo Art Shop - also known as Nibbi's - provided inspiration and education to a generation of young artists. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-05-21 20:00:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Robin Sloan, the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, discusses his new short story for The Atlantic. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2020-05-15 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For about two months in 1970, ITV aired episodes of a bonkers science fiction comedy series based (oh so very loosely) on Miguel de Cervantes’ literary classic Don Quixote. The show, entitled The Adventures of Don Quick, follows an astronaut named Don Quick (Ian Hendry) and his sidekick, Sam... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-12 17:39:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Looking for your new favorite science fiction podcasts? We've got you covered, from sci-fi podcast dramas to podcasts about science fiction books. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-05-11 10:39:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The pandemic has thrown publishing and booksellers into crisis – and left customers struggling to obtain books when they most want them. But some in the industry sense an opportunity to drag it into the 21st centuryOn 18 March, Emma Corfield-Walters received the news that for the second year... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-10 08:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Survey shows 60% expect the impact of the pandemic may put them out of business, prompting calls for concerted helpMore than half of the UK’s small publishers fear they could be out of business by the autumn as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research by the Bookseller, which... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-07 15:02:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this