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purely to get published; A Place of Greater Safety emerged only when she contributed to a Guardian piece about writers’ unpublished first novels.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 ]
Historical fiction is dominant (?), the Non-Fiction Finalists for the National Book Award, and Salem's Lot is set to scare. All in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-12 21:35:54 UTC ]
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With a memoir, a Broadway turn in 'Moulin Rouge!,' a planned tour and new music, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque is back in control of her career. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-09-12 10:00:34 UTC ]
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Questlove, best known as one of the more famous drummers to ever live and co-founder of The Roots, released a memoir this month called Hip-Hop is History. Co-written with his regular collaborator, Ben Greenman, this personal narrative builds on a growing canon of hip-hop lit. Fans will be... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-11 17:25:37 UTC ]
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A medieval heist, a Halifax murder, a Dutch wartime winter and a daring 1939 journey to Shanghai provide egress for any taste. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-09-11 12:42:39 UTC ]
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Best Historical Fiction of the Century, New YA out this week, Neurodivergent romance novels, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-09 16:08:01 UTC ]
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“I’ve never felt the presence of my own death so close to me,” writes Nahil Mohana while chronicling the toll of living with endless displacement and fear in Gaza. | Lit Hub Memoir Shannon Bowring asks, “How do you create a written world that honors the spirit of the place that inspired it while... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-05 10:30:24 UTC ]
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Get into the life of a Civil Rights icon when she's still a girl, learn about Nigerian women protesting, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-04 15:35:00 UTC ]
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Giving the Monash Oration in Sydney, Kim Williams says truth and democracy suffers every time a job in journalism is cut Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe chair of the ABC has quoted the memoir of US vice-presidential candidate JD Vance while discussing the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-04 11:02:26 UTC ]
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The Supreme Court justice’s memoir is deeply personal and full of hope, and highlights a fairy-tale marriage to her college boyfriend. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-09-03 09:04:29 UTC ]
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His memoir Mamaskatch won the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction in 2018 Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-08-30 22:42:46 UTC ]
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One Signal acquires ‘Science’ journalist Charles Piller’s book on the search for a cure for Alzheimer’s, former Lakers star James Worthy sells a memoir to Avid Reader Press, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Books that break the fourth wall, a major lawsuit goes after book banes, historical fiction set in Hawaii and more today on Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-29 16:05:10 UTC ]
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Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die, the debut memoir by Arianna Rebolini, which will be published by Harper on April 29, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. After a decade of therapy and a stint in a psychiatric ward to treat suicidal... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-08-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Adam Nimoy, son of Leonard, has published a memoir that centers on the distance he felt from his father and the quest for reconciliation. We talk with Adam ahead of a double screening and talkback in Los Angeles this weekend. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-08-28 19:48:37 UTC ]
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August book clubs read historical fiction set during the Vietnam War, historical mysteries based in Black American and Jewish neighborhoods, dragon-filled romantasies, time traveling romance, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-28 15:40:00 UTC ]
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Esmeralda Santiago’s book When I Was Puerto Rican debuted 30 years ago. This memoir introduced us to Negi (Santiago), a pre-teen with a captivating voice who chronicles her life in rural Puerto Rico in the 1950s. In Santiago’s own words, the memoir captures a world that no longer exists in... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-08-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Hannah Silva examines the (not so) shocking similarities between quantum physics and queer dating. | Lit Hub Memoir August brought some great book covers, and a lot of them were slippery. | Lit Hub Design “I had been writing my diaries on the notepad app of my phone, when it went the way of so […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-28 10:30:20 UTC ]
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Exploring the Burning Questions: A Conversation with Cara Lopez Lee, by Susan Blumberg-Kason Interviews [email protected] Tue, 08/27/2024 - 15:32 I first came across Cara Lopez Lee on a listserv group (remember those!) for authors who write about... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-27 20:32:44 UTC ]
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A new memoir by the onetime national security adviser shows how the former president’s insecurities and weaknesses harmed U.S. foreign policy. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-08-27 09:03:11 UTC ]
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New novels by Sally Rooney and Richard Powers, a memoir by the first Black woman on the Supreme Court — and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-08-27 09:01:50 UTC ]
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