The Presence of the Past in Good Night, Irene: A Conversation with Luis Alberto Urrea, by Renee H. Shea Interviews [email protected] Fri, 05/26/2023 - 13:30 The author’s mother, Phyllis Irene McLaughlinAward-winning writer Luis Alberto Urrea describes Good Night, Irene (Little, Brown, 2023) as “the book I have spent most of my life preparing to write.” This novel is inspired by his mother, Phyllis Irene McLaughlin, and by Jill Pitts Knappenberger for their work in World War II as part of the American Red Cross Clubmobile Service. Known affectionately as the Donut Dollies, these women were in the midst of combat as they drove their trucks from one site of battle to another. Urrea was aware that his mother had been one of the 250 Clubmobile women, but not until after she died did he learn that her war buddy Jill was still living and the keeper of an extensive archive. Years of conversations with Jill, research into the Clubmobile corps, and travel to key places of the European theater led to Good Night, Irene’s fictional tribute to Urrea’s mother and her friend Jill as well as other overlooked but heroic women who served in World War II. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for The Devil’s Highway, Urrea (b. 1955) is the author of numerous other works of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, including the national bestsellers The Hummingbird’s Daughter and The House of Broken Angels (see WLT, Nov. 2022, 6). A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow,... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-05-26 18:30:53 UTC ]
I’ve been reading from outside of Phoenix, where there have been over 120 days of 100 degree temperatures as summer comes to a close. With Hurricane Helene devastating the Southeast and war spreading in the Middle East, the uncertainty about our collective futures—whether it is from climate... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-10-11 11:05:00 UTC ]
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Literature in translation has long been reliant on indie presses to bring work such as the South Korean author’s to wider audiences• South Korea’s Han Kang wins 2024 Nobel prize in literature – as it happenedThe announcement of the South Korean writer Han Kang as the 2024 Nobel Literature... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-10 17:04:48 UTC ]
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Forty years after the publication of Leaving the Land, Pulitzer Prize finalist Douglas Unger returns with his fifth novel, Dream City, an excoriating tale of hope, greed, and betrayal in Las Vegas. C.D. Reinhart is Unger’s fatally flawed protagonist, a failed actor bent on self-improvement who... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-10-08 11:05:00 UTC ]
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A hip-hop musical about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury didn’t exactly scream global phenomenon when it launched on Broadway in 2015. But Lin-Manuel Miranda had such a clear vision for Hamilton that it became exactly that, winning a Pulitzer Prize along the way. Miranda’s boundless... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-09-24 12:31:42 UTC ]
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When I started to write about motherhood a decade ago, the topic still carried a tinge of shame. Writers tended to fear motherhood would push them into some unsightly box, as if they’d succumbed to something less serious than the laudable material of their (non-mothering) peers. In the Los... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-18 11:05:00 UTC ]
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Check out this year's winners of the Ignatz Awards, honoring the best in small press comics and graphic novels. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-09-17 13:00:00 UTC ]
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It was a good night for Canadian comics publishers at the Ignatz Awards ceremony, held at Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, Md., on September 14, with Drawn & Quarterly taking home three awards and Pulping Collective taking home two. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer prize winner on uniting Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton in her new novel, her unfathomable dreams, and how she went from ‘blabbermouth’ to writerPulitzer prize winner Elizabeth Strout, 68, has wooed readers and critics alike with a string of bestselling novels set in Maine, where... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-07 17:00:22 UTC ]
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The Californian small press celebrates 30 years of independent publishing in 2024. Red Hen puts out 27 titles annually in fiction and poetry—including the poems of Percival Everett—across seven imprints. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The new small press, launched by two congressmen-turned-authors alongside former American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher, will work directly with independent booksellers to help curate and market a small list of titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Donald Trump sued the Pulitzer Prize Board over its 2022 statement reaffirming its decision to award a prize for coverage of the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-21 22:14:57 UTC ]
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The Fort Smith, Ark.–based small press is committed to publishing books by Mid-South writers that are accessible to readers everywhere. Publisher Casie Dodd hopes that its newly inked distribution deal with IPG will help make this goal a reality. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A little more than three months after Small Press Distribution abruptly closed, leaving some 400 indie publishers without a trade distributor, publishers and distributors both are finally moving forward—even as damage assessment continues. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Paris, June 1930. At 3.00 in the morning, Nancy Cunard quickly writes a letter to her friend Louise Morgan, American journalist and editor at Everyman magazine: We found a poem, a beauty, by a poet—so much so that it must be printed by itself. Irishman of 23, Ecole Normale here, that’s all I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-26 08:56:36 UTC ]
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Before he began to write, John Cheever put on a three-piece suit and took the elevator from his Manhattan apartment down to the basement, where he took off his jacket and tie, and then began. Hemingway famously needed a drink to loosen him up. Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver has said,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-24 08:55:40 UTC ]
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Robert Winnett’s departure is the latest of the news outlet’s woes. The Washington Post said Friday that newly named editor Robert Winnett has decided not to take the job and remain in Britain instead, another upheaval at a news outlet where a reorganization plan has gone disastrously wrong.The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2024-06-21 14:48:23 UTC ]
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Working for The Associated Press, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his sequence of photos showing the president being struck by a bullet while three others fell wounded. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-05 00:19:24 UTC ]
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After 11 years, Jason Pinter's small press fell under the weight of a host of issues all too familiar to indie publishers. But his elegance under the pressure of handling the collapse—including the rehoming of 60% of Polis's 171-title backlist—stands out. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent Publishers Group and Itasca Books have both signed former SPD clients to new distribution deals. IPG has taken on nine new publishers, while Itasca has picked up five. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his Washington Post columns about Russian politics and society — all of which he wrote in prison. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-05-08 19:11:21 UTC ]
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