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purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels.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 ]
An “exhilarating and insightful” memoir of life as a fighter pilot from Commander Paul Tremelling has been signed by Penguin Michael Joseph. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-14 01:50:19 UTC ]
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“‘High-Risk.’ Was I that? What did those words even mean?” Edgar Gomez on sex, desire, and going on PrEP. | Lit Hub Memoir David Hollander considers how fiction can save us from despair. | Lit Hub “The true story of the diary’s composition reveals how much thought and effort Anne put into... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-13 11:30:16 UTC ]
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Nita Prose’s novel whisks you to a luxury hotel, while Jamie Raskin’s memoir is a reminder of what really matters: home, family and democracy. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-13 10:00:02 UTC ]
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Hodder Studio has landed Letters from Brenda by Emma Kennedy, a memoir that explores the author's relationship with her mum, inspired by the discovery of 75 lost letters. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-12 23:00:44 UTC ]
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Also, remembering Sidney Poitier and discussing Lost & Found: A Memoir with author Kathryn Schulz. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2022-01-12 10:05:00 UTC ]
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In “Mala’s Cat,” Mala Kacenberg describes her time hiding out in the forest during World War II after losing her family. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-12 10:00:02 UTC ]
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Taylor Harris discusses 'This Boy We Made,' her memoir on seeking answers about her son, the anxieties of Black parenting and her evolving faith Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-01-11 14:00:41 UTC ]
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In “I Came All This Way to Meet You,” the novelist reveals how far she’s traveled — and how many obstacles she’s cleared — to get where she is now. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-11 10:00:05 UTC ]
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In “Lost & Found,” Kathryn Schulz explores the confluence of death, love and hope. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-11 10:00:05 UTC ]
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At the Guardian, Jami Attenberg, author of the recent memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You, reflects on how a key moment of rejection allowed her to carve out her own path as a writer. “I’m old enough to realise that there is one more important part to carving out your creative life: … The... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-01-10 21:30:10 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of the memoir "Lost and Found" unpacks the meaning and importance of joy and grief — and conjuctions. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-01-10 14:00:30 UTC ]
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A messay is a combination of memoir and essay. But something beautiful happens when you smash these words together. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-10 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Canbury Press has landed the first memoir by a Uyghur survivor of China’s "re-education" camps. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-10 06:03:11 UTC ]
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Bernstein’s memoir “Chasing History” is a personal and affectionate look at the past, when journalism was thriving. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-07 20:51:59 UTC ]
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Interviews Victoria Chang’s new collection, Dear Memory, expands the field of the memoir for readers to explore a full-color archive of family photos and historical documents collaged between lines of poetry and letters. It prompts us to ask, with her,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-05 19:50:39 UTC ]
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Kathryn Schulz’s memoir places the totalizing experience of loss on a continuum with the summons of romantic and even religious love. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-01-04 20:12:44 UTC ]
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Looking for great new reads in the new year? Add these 2022 historical fiction books to your TBR right now, including The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-04 11:30:00 UTC ]
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For those of us who want to become real writers—whatever that means—the countless resources available can feel a bit dry and uninspired, ranging from tired but true clichés to well-lauded craft books (Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir on Craft sits dustily on my shelf). Many of us find... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-12-31 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Telling your story in a book is hard enough. But what if it ends up on screen? Adam Kay, writer of This Is Going to Hurt, and Dolly Alderton, who penned Everything I Know About Love, relive the shocksMore cultural highlights of 2022Most people find seeing themselves on screen distinctly... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-29 14:00:23 UTC ]
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The unsparing observer of US culture, politics and public life won huge acclaim for her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking• Read Alex Clark’s interview with Joan Didion from February 2021• Obituary: Joan DidionJoan Didion, the eminent journalist, author and anthropologist of contemporary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-23 17:19:56 UTC ]
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