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 ]
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Georgina Henry's kind but firm encouragement to go below the line on my pieces has transformed my life as well as my idealsFor a wide-eyed, wannabe writer, being cast into the Cif lions' den induced fear and pride in equal measure. The chance to contribute to such a paradigm-shifting project was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist Eleanor Catton and her editor Max Porter's alliance shows how much more than wielding a blade goes into this relationshipHenry James called editing "the butchers' trade". But he also said, "I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort," so you can see how the old anglophile... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Dickens's day, serialized novels were all the rage. Rooster aims to revive that trend, making it easier than ever to find good books (and the time to read them).In the age of abbrevs., sitting down to read a novel can feel like gearing up for a marathon, no matter how much you love books. The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to fit real-life information into your story without sacrificing or slowing down the story. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Past winners include Stephen King, Anne Rice, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ray Bradbury. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Little Friendly Orgy and other porn stories have been sold as work by the author of The Eagle Has LandedReaders fancying a journey into the world of the bestselling thriller author Jack Higgins may be getting a different kind of thrill, courtesy of another writer selling erotic novels under... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'HaganThe ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken his silence to describe his months working with the WikiLeaks founder, which culminated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A digital publishing house is conducting a semi-legal, large-scale search for the next great incarcerated author. The reaction from authorities isn't what you'd expect.Jack London, Ken Kesey, William Burroughs, Oscar Wilde, Malcolm X, Voltaire, Cervantes, E.E. Cummings, Martin Luther King, Mark... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There is no need to turn to the US for great writers, the publisher of one of the Folio Prize-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While authors have appeared in person, via Skype or via telephone at book clubs before, Book the Writer has the clubs pay for the author's appearance. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The anonymous figure behind the Twitter handle is reported to be releasing a book titled 'Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance and Excess in the World of Investment Banking' this October. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Advocates for women writers – working to counter what is seen as bias towards males in the literary community – suddenly seem to be everywhere. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Digital Book World survey revealed that 54% of “traditionally-published” authors (and nearly 80% of self-published authors) earn less than $1,000 a year. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-21 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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Figures show the vast majority of authors, both traditionally and self-published, are struggling to make a living from their workThe publishing industry has never been so sharply divided. In the week when the erotica writer Sylvia Day signed a staggering eight-figure two-book deal with St... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Scribd executive acknowledged the problem of pirated content on Scribd and also outlined the company's efforts to prevent unauthorized uploads. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Perspectives' #EtherIssue debate on the allegedly slowing ebook market reveals apparent contradictions in self-publishing interests. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (2011), Profile Books will publish fundraising collection... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie publishing via online writing communities and ebooks can provide valuable feedback, and even set you on the path to mainstream successNews that a quarter of the top 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com are from indie publishers doesn't surprise me. I started out writing online. Fed up with the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Science fiction has a long tradition in North Korea and SF authors enjoy greater freedom to explore edgy subjects, such as crime and violence, than their counterparts. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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