Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean islandLast week, Trinidadian writer Lisa Allen-Agostini’s novel The Bread the Devil Knead landed a coveted spot on the Women’s prize shortlist. As a fellow Trinidadian writer, this is both exciting and unsurprising. These days Trinidad is producing world-class female writers hand over fist. Allen-Agostini’s shortlisting comes on the heels of the announcement, two weeks ago, that Trinidadian writer Amanda Smyth had made the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction shortlist, the only woman on the list, and the first Caribbean writer ever to be chosen. Meanwhile, Celeste Mohammed has become the fifth woman (and third Trinidadian woman) to win Trinidad’s regional OCM Bocas prize.Something has happened in Trinidad, in our small but dense hothouse of a literary world. Perhaps it’s 12 years of the Bocas literary festival, or five waves of feminism, or maybe it’s to do with the internet opening up opportunities for those from developing countries, but in the last decade Trinidad has produced a host of outstanding female writers. It’s a trend that anyone in Caribbean literary circles knows about. Myself, Smyth, Allen-Agostini, Mohammed and others are part of a “lit-boom”, and most of this boom is female. We are finding ourselves on the global stage, on prestigious shortlists in North America and the UK. This huge generational and gender shift would have been... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-03 13:03:34 UTC ]
The sudden death of Oscar Hijuelos at age 62 in October 2013 was a shock to the literary world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, has died. Trewin was diagnosed with cancer in October last year. His death today (8th April) was announced by the trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation. Jonathan Taylor, chair of the trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation, said:... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martin Amis, Sarah Waters and Jessie Burton have made the 15-strong longlist for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The longlist has been released for the first time following a 40% increase in entries this year. Amis is longlisted for his dark love story set in a Nazi... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cutting out the middlemen of the literary world can lead to the discovery of acclaimed authors such as Andrea BennettPublishers are playing literary agents at their own game, seeking out new talent for themselves and cutting out the industry’s powerful middlemen.Executives within HarperCollins,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It was a big shock when Andre Kassu and Marcos Medeiros, leading executive creative directors at Brazil's renowned Almap BBDO agency, suddenly quit to do a startup with CP&B seven months ago in Sao Paulo. With a third partner, Vinicius Reis, they used the Fasano luxury hotel as a temporary... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors such as Phil Klay and Valeria Luiselli were selected by past National Book Award winners as rising stars in the literary world. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Ice Bucket Challenge, created to raise awareness of ALS, was taken by such book world figures as author Stephen King, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and author and indie bookstore supporter Stephen Colbert. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This month, Dan Kois, David Haglund, and New York Times Book Review editor Parul Sehgal discuss My Struggle: Book One, the Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six-book autobiographical epic. Can the endless accretion of detail a masterpiece make? Would people respond differently to this... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, the chair of Irish PEN, outlines how Ireland continues to punch above its weight in the literary world. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Europa Editions UK has acquired its first title by a British writer, a historical fiction novel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a cycle seemingly as old as the literary world itself, Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is now the subject of criticism after first experiencing major success. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mabel Normand, who came to fame at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios, was one of the top comedy stars of the silent era. Besides appearing in several shorts with Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle, Normand also wrote, produced and directed these slapstick comedies. She's the subject of "Mabel and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Setting up Wednesday's #EtherIssue debate on Twitter, Porter Anderson looks at recent writing on perceptions of elitism in the literary world. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Xiaolu Guo warns that English-language mainstream has warped a broader 'reading habit', on panel with Jhumpa Lahiri and Jonathan FranzenAmerican literature is "massively overrated", the award-winning author and film-maker Xiaolu Guo told the Jaipur literature festival – and fellow panellist and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN American Center's report "Chilling Effects," offers some disturbing data about the effect of government surveillance on free expression and self-censorship in the literary world.PEN American Center’s report “Chilling Effects,” officially released Tuesday morning, offers some disturbing data... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Eat, Pray, Love' author Elizabeth Gilbert plunges into historical fiction with a creative passion in the novel 'The Signature of All Things.'With a charming, flawed heroine straight out of Jane Austen, a Dickensian rags-to-riches story and thwarted romances that hark back to the Brontës,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The finalists for the 2013 German Book Prize range from historical fiction to explorations of contemporary love and a brutal future for planet Earth. Find out the winner on October 7 in Frankfurt. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers need to work more closely with academic libraries in developing countries, a report by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After winning the highest honor in the literary world, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners have seen sales increases – but so far the numbers are pretty tiny. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Weekly faces controversy after naming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author E L James 'Publishing Person of the Year' for 2012. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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