Categorising fiction may help to sell books, but it says little about how writers write or readers readIn her Reith lecture of 2017, recently published for the first time in a posthumous collection of nonfiction, A Memoir of My Former Self, Hilary Mantel recalled the beginnings of her career as a novelist. It was the 1970s. “In those days historical fiction wasn’t respectable or respected,” she recalled. “It meant historical romance. If you read a brilliant novel like I, Claudius, you didn’t taint it with the genre label, you just thought of it as literature. So, I was shy about naming what I was doing. All the same, I began. I wanted to find a novel I liked, about the French Revolution. I couldn’t, so I started making one.”She made A Place of Greater Safety, an exceptional ensemble portrayal of the revolutionaries Danton, Robespierre and Desmoulins, but although the novel was completed in 1979, it wasn’t published until 1992 – widely rejected, as she later explained, because although she thought the French Revolution was the most interesting thing in the world, the reading public didn’t agree, or publishers had concluded they didn’t. She decided to write a contemporary novel – Every Day Is Mother’s Day – purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-27 12:30:00 UTC ]
A mix of history, memoir and biography, this book reflects on how time, perspective and stories left unwritten can shape our view of the past. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-04-24 10:00:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The editor and essayist Joseph Epstein looks back on his life and career in two new books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-22 09:03:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
When is enough enough? Ryan Chapman on wants, needs, money, and time. | Lit Hub Memoir “Resets are necessary throughout a writing life.” Julia Alvarez on falling in love with writing again. | Lit Hub Craft What does Lord Byron have in common with Che Guevara? “A revolutionary who loves poetry... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-19 10:30:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The 10 best books of April offer adventurous readers everything from a futuristic novel to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s history-laced memoir about the 1960s. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2024-04-18 11:34:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“It always says the same thing: the vast majority of writers don’t earn enough from writing to make a decent living.” David Hill reflects on writing as labor. | Lit Hub Memoir Ethel Rohan on writing about grief: “For most of my life, I’ve suffered in shame and silence while the men who hurt me […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-18 10:30:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A memoir of survival by Salman Rushdie, a Japanese thriller/mystery, a tale of four sisters in Ireland, and more round out today's list of new releases. Which ones are you adding to your list? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-04-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Clair Wills’s memoir is a timely warning that sexual morality can be enforced only with violence. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-04-12 14:46:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Russian opposition politician, who died in prison in February, completed an autobiography which will come out later this yearA memoir by the late Russian politician Alexei Navalny is due to be published this autumn, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced.The Russian opposition... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-11 16:01:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again' ranks No. 31 on our list of the best Hollywood books of all time because it's the ultimate Icarus story, unflinchingly detailing its author's descent. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-04-08 10:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Anna Shechtman’s The Riddles of the Sphinx is, so I am told, a memoir of recovery from anorexia and a group biography of the women who developed crossword puzzles. But this is a book that transcends its essential categories: it’s not just a memoir because it allows the reader to move between the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-04 08:54:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this
New novels from Emily Henry, Jo Piazza and Rachel Khong; a history of five ballerinas at the Dance Theater of Harlem; Salman Rushdie’s memoir and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-28 20:59:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It turns out that sitting down to write and stepping up to the starting block aren’t so different. Jade Song on what swimming has taught her about craft. | Lit Hub Memoir The Great Bambino wasn’t the only slugger with an unforgettable nickname. Kevin Baker introduces us to Boom-Boom,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-28 10:30:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
These historical fiction books are set during the Aztec empire, 1900s Manchuria, Meiji-era Japan, and more. Which eras do you like to rad about the most? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-27 17:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In my ayahuasca eco-memoir Mothership, I enjoy playing hopscotch along an often-overlooked spectrum, with autobiographical memoir at one end and “objective” narrative nonfiction at the other. How personal and self-revealing do I want to be in my environmental reporting? How much do I want to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-27 08:54:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“My job as a parent isn’t over until your book gets published,” my father said, years ago. I don’t remember the circumstances of this statement—where we were, what we were doing. I want to say it had something to do with his body, maybe the deterioration of his lungs to COPD, his breathing so... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-27 08:54:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Liturgy and Anxiety of Ordinary Lives: In Conversation with Rigoberto González, by Darlington Chibueze Anuonye Interviews [email protected] Tue, 03/26/2024 - 08:23 Rigoberto González / Photo by Mahsa HojjatiRecently, I scheduled a zoom call... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-03-26 13:23:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“The routine was not all that remarkable for her, but from the outside looking in, it felt momentous.” Mia Manzulli considers proximity, distance, and living next to Joyce Carol Oates. | Lit Hub Memoir “Octopuses had been known to demonstrate rudimentary intelligence, but Mather recognized this... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-23 10:30:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In the memoir “Rabbit Heart,” Kristine S. Ervin explores the human being behind sensational headlines, and our culture’s insatiable thirst for other people’s tragedy. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-23 09:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Howard Norman talks to Michael Ondaatje about his first collection of poetry in twenty-five years. | Lit Hub In Conversation “If the infant is primitive so is its earliest vice, jealousy—probably the most innate vice of all.” The late Elspeth Barker on the most human of experiences. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-20 10:30:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This trio of new novels shows real people in their natural habitats, drawn with writerly flair. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-19 15:22:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this