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 ]
This is a big year. Not just in the symmetry of the number – 2020, the futuristic subject period for so many science fiction writers – but in what we already know will happen. A presidential election, prefaced by a likely Senate impeachment trial, will add new layers to an already murky... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-01-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A crowdfunding campaign to create a “feminist safe haven” bookshop in Paris has only a week left to raise the remaining £7,000 needed to secure premises, after securing two-thirds of its financial target. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 16:26:28 UTC ]
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Since I did a lot of camping in the last year, I've been noticing camping in sci-fi and fantasy all over the place! Let's take a tour. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-02 11:37:49 UTC ]
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The 1890s saw pioneering works of science fiction, detective fiction, and Gothic horror all published, by some of the greatest English, Scottish, and Irish writers of the age. In the United States, too, novelists addressed social issues, sometimes in comic ways, while social realism continued to... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2019-12-31 15:00:10 UTC ]
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In a moment where the future seems impossibly turbulent, leaving us feeling powerless, science fiction can help us get our heads around the complexity. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2019-12-31 14:00:05 UTC ]
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Science fiction writers, gazing into the future, envision space-based cargo movers and robots that may eliminate the need for humans to work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-12-31 13:53:59 UTC ]
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Science fiction writers, gazing into the future, envision space-based cargo movers and robots that may eliminate the need for humans to work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-12-31 13:53:59 UTC ]
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Science fiction writers, gazing into the future, envision space-based cargo movers and robots that may eliminate the need for humans to work. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-12-31 13:53:59 UTC ]
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Futurist and artist Syd Mead has passed away at 86 due to complications from lymphoma. Even if you don't know his name, you've probably felt his impact on Hollywood, especially on the science fiction genre. Mead designed Blade Runner's world and tech... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-12-31 13:01:00 UTC ]
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We're visiting Book Riot's Swords & Spaceships newsletter to get recommendations of 2019 standalone science fiction and fantasy novels. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-30 11:31:11 UTC ]
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Two related events shaped the last 10 years in science fiction and fantasy—the most transformative we've seen in the history of the genres. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2019-12-29 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Test your knowledge of women writers with a fun pop quiz. First Round Name the title and author of the first-ever science fiction novel. This Pulitzer-prize winner and Italian translator declared in 2015 that she is now only writing in Italian. Name this author. The 2018 Nobel laureate for... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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A Kickstarter is under way to create a 'feminist safe haven' bookshop in Paris called COVEN to offer English language books, a café and range of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-20 11:14:17 UTC ]
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When it was announced that the legendary bookshop Le Pont Traversé would definitely close down on the 31st of December in Paris, many French TV stations put in phone calls and tried to convince Josée Comte-Béalu to do a filmed interview. She refused every single one of them. “They are like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-20 09:48:10 UTC ]
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A new independent bookshop has opened in Barnsley, run by a mother and son team who became fed up watching the big chains leave their town. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-19 02:33:27 UTC ]
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George R R Martin has opened an independent bookshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-17 08:15:25 UTC ]
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The Times Literary Supplement has opened a new online shop selling books, prints of its covers and illustrations alongside branded merchandise. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-16 03:59:25 UTC ]
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From The New Yorker’s archive, pieces about science fiction and fantasy, by John Seabrook, Julie Phillips, Colson Whitehead, Margaret Atwood, and Joyce Carol Oates. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2019-12-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How William Gibson keeps his science fiction real Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker While a lot of sci-fi is obsessed with the distant future, one of the best authors of the genre takes a different approach. The New Yorker explains how William Gibson... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-12-14 17:30:00 UTC ]
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I spent most of the year living in a small town in Oregon where I read a lot of student work and finished my MFA thesis. There I read my first but not last book by Octavia E. Butler, Kindred. I borrowed Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, from a graduate... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2019-12-14 16:00:42 UTC ]
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