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 ]
A K Blakemore has won the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize for her "stunning" historical fiction novel The Manningtree Witches (Granta Books). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-01 17:06:17 UTC ]
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Immerse yourself in history from highwaymen to Hollywood starlets with 25 of the best queer historical fiction books to get lost in. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-06-25 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Historical fiction was once considered a fusty backwater. Now the genre is having a renaissance, attracting first-rank novelists and racking up major prizes. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-06-13 09:00:02 UTC ]
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'Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch,' historical fiction about Kepler's mother, is Galchen's first novel since 2008's 'Atmospheric Disturbances.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-06-03 14:00:33 UTC ]
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New novels — by turns salty, sweeping and sweet — will transport you to 1930s Italy, 19th-century England and San Francisco a hundred years ago. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-05-27 13:55:12 UTC ]
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The arresting tale of a “lady pilot” in the mid-20th century is interwoven with the story of a modern-day Hollywood actress. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-05-03 09:40:22 UTC ]
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Every love story is built with inherently high stakes. After all, a heart can be the ultimate prize, and courtship a most dangerous risk. And love, as we all know, won’t stop for much. Our hearts pay no attention to timing or impediments, and logic falls by the wayside as we feel the anguish of... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Set in the wake of Germany’s reunification, “The Recent East” follows a country coming together and a teen-ager coming out. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-04-12 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Sari Feldman reflects on how these “wizards of the literary world” can be the key to a lifelong love of reading. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Discover the rich culture and history of Cuba with these stories, from romance to historical fiction and magical realism. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-04-01 10:30:00 UTC ]
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Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain and The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, both published by Chatto & Windus, are among titles longlisted for this year's £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-22 15:59:07 UTC ]
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Welbeck Publishing Group has acquired an epic historical fiction series by Dr Hilary Jones, the general practitioner and media doctor. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-12 01:43:04 UTC ]
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Tired of the subtweets? The peevish reviews? The [gasp] indecorous email sign-offs? Do you wish the literary world would just conduct its brawls out in the open for all to see? Well, now you can fight along at home with Street Writer, Maxwell Neely-Cohen’s absolutely wonderful literary homage to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-04 14:06:11 UTC ]
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If you enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's historical fiction about Shakespeare's son, check out these thematically similar books like HAMNET. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-02-03 11:37:00 UTC ]
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The author of best-selling books set in medieval England and Wales, she insisted that historical fiction had an obligation to the facts. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-29 22:25:25 UTC ]
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Tributes have been paid to US author Sharon Penman, a “giant” of historical fiction, who has passed away at the age of 75. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-28 04:51:02 UTC ]
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Monique Roffey has won the £30,000 Costa Book of the Year award for her “utterly original” sixth novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story, published by independent Peepal Tree Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-26 22:02:30 UTC ]
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Roffey's book, based on a Taino legend, is set in 1976 on the Caribbean island of Black Conch. Tessa Sheridan has won the Short Story Award. The post Monique Roffey Wins the UK’s Costa 2020 Book of the Year Award appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-26 21:18:00 UTC ]
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Five prominent figures from the literary world discuss the vexed debates surrounding cultural appropriation, authenticity and the growing trend for sensitivity readers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-15 06:28:34 UTC ]
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In this Read Harder Challenge post, we're recommending books for the task asking you to read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-11 11:31:00 UTC ]
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