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 ]
Don't miss exploring the magical cities of these fantastic urban science fiction and fantasy books hitting the shelves this year. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-26 10:41:17 UTC ]
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We’ve already brought your attention to the ways you can help bookstores (and bookstore workers) during the coronavirus pandemic, and here’s another one: a collective of recently laid-off booksellers has started an online storefront at Bookshop.org (in case you missed it, Bookshop is the new... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-25 15:14:23 UTC ]
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I often talk about how I created A Phoenix First Must Burn, my anthology of fantasy stories by black women authors, for my younger self, a girl who loved fantasy and science fiction and so desperately wanted to see herself in those worlds. It’s a strange experience to create the thing you wanted... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-03-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The impact of the coronavirus has seen the Booksellers Association issue a rallying cry to the trade, as many publishers enforce home working to safeguard staff. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-19 23:39:55 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK has announced a new partnership between its audio division and Rebellion, a publisher of comic books, fiction and video games, in response to increasing demand for science fiction audio. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 22:09:16 UTC ]
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Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon that shares proceeds from book sales with independent bookstores, will give more money to those stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on small businesses. Bookshop announced today that it would increase bookstore partners’ affiliate... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-18 15:09:12 UTC ]
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Fall into the matriarchal worlds of these science fiction and fantasy books for Women's History Month and beyond. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-16 10:34:17 UTC ]
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N.K. Jemisin’s science fiction novel wastes no time with preliminaries. It’s a ferocious parable of modern race relations. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-03-12 21:01:56 UTC ]
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N.K. Jemisin’s science fiction novel wastes no time with preliminaries. It’s a ferocious parable of modern race relations. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-03-12 21:01:56 UTC ]
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N.K. Jemisin’s science fiction novel wastes no time with preliminaries. It’s a ferocious parable of modern race relations. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-03-12 21:01:56 UTC ]
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‘The Man in the High Castle” and other alternative-history novels make us wonder. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-12 16:00:00 UTC ]
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These excellent science fiction and fantasy books about ambitious women prove that ambition doesn’t have to be a bad word. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-10 10:34:33 UTC ]
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OLIVER MORTON’S The Moon is a masterpiece of science journalism that throws fresh light on its eponymous subject. Morton mines fields as diverse as aerospace science, history, astrobiology, mythology, geology, and science fiction in pursuit of lessons the Moon can teach us about space... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-03-06 20:00:57 UTC ]
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The book is a sumptuous scrapbook of photographs, magazine covers, artwork and hundreds of articles. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-04 17:19:27 UTC ]
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Indie bookshops are cashing in on a pre-order boom for Hilary Mantel’s new book and are hosting everything from midnight openings to silent discos this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 15:13:26 UTC ]
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THE WORMWOOD PLANT is ornamental and used as an ingredient in absinthe. The plant is enticing to smell and adamantly bitter to taste. It will refuse to leave your tongue even after you try to chase it away with sweeter flavors. It will stay with you, like a curse. The science fiction Wormwood... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-29 20:00:42 UTC ]
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Ruth Jones will be embarking on a UK tour to celebrate the publication of her new novel Us Three in a collaboration between Fane and Transworld. The tour, combining a Fane-produced theatre tour with bookshop events organised by Transworld, will comprise seven dates across the UK. It begins at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-28 11:07:04 UTC ]
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Button & Bear children’s bookshop in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been forced to close today (Wednesday 25th February) owing to rising floodwaters. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 14:31:43 UTC ]
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EPIC IS THE WAY: "The Mandalorian" has proven to be a big hit for Disney and its streaming service, Disney+ – and a Cary company helps make the magic come to life on the screen. Epic Games is helping Lucasfilm produce what design, tech and science fiction site Gizmodo called "real-time digital... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-02-24 18:26:44 UTC ]
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Congratulations to the finalists for the annual Nebula Awards! Presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, these awards have been celebrating writers working in the genres for the past fifty-five years. (Past recipients include N. K. Jemisin and Jeff VanderMeer.) This year’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-20 20:54:28 UTC ]
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