The first-person essays boom: top editors on why confessional writing matters

A Slate piece on first-person writing has prompted debate in the digital media community. We asked editors at BuzzFeed, Jezebel and other leading sites to weigh in on the importance of such pieces – and why there is a gender divideOn Monday, Laura Bennett’s Slate piece on the boom of first-person essay writing sparked a fierce online debate between editors and writers: how can one best work between the vulnerability of a writer and the traffic goal of an editor? What’s the line between publishing someone’s personal experience and exploitation?In response to Bennett’s piece, we asked senior editors at several publications known for publishing first-person stories about what they value in them, how they look after their writers, and why it is that so many confessional stories seem to be written by women, and not men.This route to publication and a book/movie deal simply is not open for non-white womenAnd now Pollitt’s up at bat. Her three previous essay collections gathered brilliant commentary on welfare, abortion, surrogate motherhood, Iraq, gay marriage and health care, mostly from the pages of The Nation. But with “Learning to Drive,” she gets personal, and shameless. She has decided to wave her dirty laundry (among which she found unidentified striped panties) and confesses to “Webstalking” her longtime, live-in, womanizing former boyfriend. (Take that, you rat!) It’s hard to tell if she’s coming into her own, trying to sell more books or has lost it entirely. Or... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wall Street Journal Names Emma Tucker as New Editor

News Corp said that Emma Tucker, a longtime editor in London, would replace Matt Murray, who has led the news organization for four years. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-12-12 22:10:23 UTC ]
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Legally bookish: Reese Witherspoon and the boom in celebrity book clubs

The star has deposed Oprah Winfrey as queen of the online literary discussion groups – and plenty more A-listers are getting in on the act. Our reporter dives under the coversEvery novel I’ve ever read as part of a book club has involved a sprint to the finish. My latest group is no different,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-12-12 06:00:54 UTC ]
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LibLearnX Set to Debut In-Person Event In New Orleans

The library community is set to gather for the first-ever in-person edition of the ALA’s nascent winter event, LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, set for January 27–30, 2023, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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LibLearnX Set to Debut In-Person Event in New Orleans

The library community is set to gather for the first-ever in-person edition of the ALA’s nascent winter event, LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, set for January 27–30, 2023, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Top 10 Library Stories of 2022

PW looks back at the library stories that captivated the publishing world this year, and what they portend for 2023 Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Kindle Scribe Review: Read and Write on this Pricey Ebook Reader

You can read ebooks, write notes, or mark up PDFs on this new slate, but your wallet will feel a lot lighter. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-12-08 14:00:00 UTC ]
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What Running Has Taught Me About Writing (and Vice Versa)

I’m a daily runner. When I run varies, depending on the day’s contours, but I always lace up and head out. Earbuds in, audiobook on, running app ready to track my slow miles along semi-rural roads. Often, I don’t want to go. No matter how much I practice, I find running difficult. When I was […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-08 09:53:23 UTC ]
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Cherríe Moraga on Writing About Queer Motherhood

As a cultivated writing praxis, creative nonfiction allows for a broader panorama of experience than a genre restricted to the empirical. It is one which permits dreams to presage and queer bodies to serve as repositories of memory. With the best of intentions, I believe Waiting in the Wings, my... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-07 09:51:50 UTC ]
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Writing the Historical Mystery Novel: Jane Smiley Explains Her Process

Jane Smiley is a master of plot, with multiple awards for her novels, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle award for A Thousand Acres (King Lear as set on an Iowa farm circa 1979). She’s also distilled her years of teaching and cultural criticism into a superb writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-06 09:53:58 UTC ]
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Ada Calhoun and Maud Newton on the Revelations We Gain From Writing

The Miami Book Fair began as a two-day event in November 1984, when a small group of determined individuals—including educators from Miami Dade College, independent booksellers, and librarians—founded Miami Book Fair International. In the nearly 40 years since, Miami Book Fair has grown into one... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-22 09:51:48 UTC ]
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Toni Shiloh, Amanda Cox Win Top 2022 Christy Awards

Presented by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and taking place during the Art of Writing conference, the Christy Awards recognized the year’s best in Christian fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How Jane Austen Almost Walked Away From Writing

If you’re a literary genius, you’ve got it easy—right? Wrong. Even Jane Austen, indisputably one of the greatest novelists in the English language, spent years struggling to be published and became so dispirited that there were moments when she almost walked away. The story begins with an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-18 09:54:04 UTC ]
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The Australian’s editor Chris Dore lost his job after attending News Corp event in California

Exclusive: Key Murdoch editor was at Wall Street Journal Tech Live event at Laguna Beach last month along with top News Corp executivesFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastChristopher Dore lost his job... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-11-18 07:59:05 UTC ]
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Choosing to Bear Witness: Writing the Story of a Body

My clearest memory of my freshman year of college takes place in the emergency room of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where I was studying English Literature at Boston University and living on the eighteenth floor of Warren Towers, in Tower C, in a room with southern exposure. Despite... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-17 09:53:52 UTC ]
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These are the 10 Best Books of the Year, According to Amazon Book Editors

Here are Amazon Book Editors' top ten books of the year, as well as trends they've noticed in published in 2022. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-11-15 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Boston Globe names first woman to serve as paper's editor

The Boston Globe named Nancy Barnes as its next editor Monday, elevating a woman to serve in the top job for the first time in the newspaper’s 150-year history Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2022-11-15 00:32:36 UTC ]
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Boston Globe Names NPR’s Nancy Barnes Its Next Editor

Ms. Barnes, senior vice president for news and editorial director at NPR, has also held leadership roles at the Houston Chronicle and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-11-14 23:27:38 UTC ]
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How ‘Dead Souls’ Taught Mel Brooks What Comedy Writing Could Be

“I’d never read anything like it,” says the actor and director, whose memoir “All About Me!” is newly out in paperback. “It was hysterically funny and incredibly moving at the same time. It’s like Gogol stuck a pen in his heart, and it didn’t even go through his mind on its way to the page.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-11-10 10:00:12 UTC ]
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October Religion Bestsellers: David Jeremiah Tops in Nonfiction; ‘Deception’ Rules Fiction

Megachurch pastor and bestselling author David Jeremiah takes #1 on PW’s Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers List with his newest title, ‘The World of the End.’ In Religion Fiction, Amir Tsarfati tops with ‘By Way of Deception,’ based on real events inspired by Israel's national intelligence agency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Top 25 TikTok Book Recommendations: 2022

Load up your TBR with these top 25 tiktok book recommendations, including everything from historical fiction to thriller, YA and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-10-28 10:36:00 UTC ]
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