The Story of the Impossible Island

To read a Helen Oyeyemi novel is to willingly enter a tangled wood, where the paths wander and circle, and the way out isn’t always clear, but the scenery is full of an alarming and brilliant beauty. A one-time prodigy (the British daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she published her first novel, The Icarus Girl, in her teens), Oyeyemi has always been interested in how people, especially women, arrive at their identities, a journey shaped by relationships that define and, more often than not, confine them. The fairy tale is the native language of this theme: Its princesses, stepmothers, witches, and yes, even its princes and shoemakers, are facets of a single questing psyche. But while fairy tales have a sequestered inward-looking quality, Oyeyemi’s novels are wide-ranging. She browses the globe in search of motifs and milieus; her fiction has drawn on Yoruba legends, Emily Dickinson, Cuban folklore, American race relations, and ghost stories. She currently lives in Prague, and her splendid, witty new novel, Gingerbread, has a distinctive flavor of Mitteleuropa. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2019-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #fairy tale #fairy tales #ghost stories

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The Big Book Publishing Stories of 2016

The ouster of Barnes & Noble's CEO, the sale of Perseus, and Follett's purchase of Baker & Taylor were the big publishing stories of 2016. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW’s 10 Most-Read Religion Stories of 2016

From the ever-changing terrain of Christian fiction to a preview of religion books getting big-screen adaptations, here are PW’s most-read religion and spirituality stories of 2016. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Weekly’s Top Comics Stories of 2016

Here are the ten most popular stories about graphic novels and comics published on publishersweekly.com in 2016. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jack Reacher short story collection coming in June

Transworld is publishing a collection of Jack Reacher short stories in June 2017, set to be the first time all Lee Child's shorter fiction featuring Jack Reacher has been collected into one volume.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Midnight Gang strikes six as Brexit Island looms on the horizon

David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins) has clocked up its sixth week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, while Five on Brexit Island (Quercus), soared 47% in volume week on week to secure second place. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp’s Domain pornography story is ‘gutter’ journalism, Fairfax says

Report in the Australian says property portal is buying ad space on pornographic and illegal download websites to inflate its audience figuresFairfax Media has accused News Corp of gutter journalism after the Australian claimed the company placed advertising for its property portal Domain on... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Best of the week: Twitter’s woes and Snapchat Live Stories doubts

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[ Digiday | 2016-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nicholas Allan donates archive to Seven Stories

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible offers strike relief with free Philip Pullman story

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short stories smuggled out of North Korea given PEN Translation award

A story collection smuggled out of North Korea - and translated by Man Booker International Prize-winner Deborah Smith - has been selected to receive a PEN Translation award from English PEN. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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2016 Costa Short Story Award: public vote opens

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Instagram recruits college football teams to market Stories

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[ Digiday | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cover Story: 'The Girl Who Knew Too Much'

When Jayne Ann Krentz decided to take her 19th century Amanda Quick mysteries into the 20th century, the look of the novels needed a thoroughly modern update. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small Stories, Big Picture

Why a new era of multimedia storytelling, fueled by smartphones and powerful digital tools, means change for libraries and publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks StoryTime app narrates children's stories on your Apple TV

To encourage parents and kids to read together, Apple has debuted a new app for tvOS. The iBooks StoryTime app features "Read-Aloud" tool that narrates books and flips pages automatically. For the times when you'd rather read to your child yourself,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tramp, Daunt and New Island presses longlisted for Republic of Consciousness Prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom McCarthy rewires Satin Island with live coders

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Story of The Songaminute Man to HQ

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's New App, Rapids, to Offer Children's Stories

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Profoundly moving' story of neuroscientist's brain disorder to Transworld

Transworld is to publish the "extraordinary" story of neuroscientist Dr Barbara Lipska’s own brain "going awry". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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