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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Story of the Impossible Island'


NYT boss attacks Bloomberg for saying it shouldn't publish anti-China stories

Mark Thompson says New York Times journalism will remain impartial and won't be swayed by commercial considerationsMark Thompson, the chief executive of the New York Times, has hit out at rival Bloomberg for saying it shouldn't have published investigative news stories criticising China, because... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newspaper ill-advised to let police post their own online story

A newspaper that allowed its local police force to publish an article directly on to its website should be wary of celebrating the initiative.Torbay police posted a "story" on the site of the Torquay Herald Express, headlined "Who is this man?" over a picture of the said gentleman in a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Where did the story of ebooks begin?

Peter James's Host, published on two disks, was an early example – but exactly where the medium started life is surprisingly tricky to identifyWhat was the first ebook? Debate rages … When Peter James published his thriller Host on two floppy disks, in 1993, it was billed as the "world's first... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion Children's Books gets Keith Richards story

Rolling Stone Keith Richards is to publish a picture book with illustrations by his daughter.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saunders Wins 2013 Story Prize

The author's "Tenth of December" was fittingly the tenth winner of the short fiction award, which came with a $20,000 prize. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How "Frozen" Director Jennifer Lee Reinvented The Story Of The Snow Queen

Frozen didn't click until the main characters were reimagined as sisters with a complicated relationship. Co-director Jennifer Lee talks with Fast Company about the collaboration that resulted in the highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time.The fact that Jennifer Lee is a woman isn't... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Allison Pataki: Revising a Traitor’s Story

Allison Pataki, daughter of former New York State Gov. George E. Pataki, grew up gazing across the Hudson River at West Point Academy and hearing about the life of Benedict Arnold, the most notorious turncoat in American history. But when Pataki uncovered a forgotten romantic triangle and the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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StoriesAlive Offers Interactive Children’s Stories

Launched in October of 2013, StoriesAlive is an app and subscription service offering access to a library of multimedia-rich, interactive childrens’ stories for $7.99 a month for the iPad and Android tablets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pocklington Post makes a virtue of parish pump stories written by readers

Pocklington - nicknamed Pock - is a small market town in the Yorkshire Wolds, about 13 miles (or 21 kms) from the city of York.Its population of 8,337 is served by a weekly newspaper, the Pocklington Post, which was chosen by its owner, Johnston Press, to pioneer the publishing of user generated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pulitzer Prize winners on Sunday Times short story longlist

Two Pulitzer Prize-winners and a Man Booker-shortlisted author are among the 16 people longlisted... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Six finalists chosen for Costa Short Story Award

Two of the writers shortlisted for last year's Costa Short Story Award have made the final... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New story collection from Mantel

A new collection of contemporary short stories by Man Booker Prize-winning Hilary Mantel –... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Maverick backs bedtime story app

A new story reading app will launch later this month with nine picture books from publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polar vortex takes us back to the coldest story in American literature (+video)

The unnamed protagonist in Jack London's 'To Build a Fire' gets into trouble while hiking in the frozen Yukon with his dog. Widely considered to be London’s best short story, 'To Build a Fire' captures the cold with painful accuracy. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jack london #coldest story #unnamed protagonist #frozen yukon #widely considered #short story #painful accuracy


Polar vortex takes us back to the coldest story in American literature

The unnamed protagonist in Jack London's 'To Build a Fire' gets into trouble while hiking in the frozen Yukon with his dog. Widely considered to be London’s best short story, 'To Build a Fire' captures the cold with painful accuracy. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jack london #coldest story #american literature #unnamed protagonist #frozen yukon #widely considered #short story #painful accuracy


How can we make sense of the world without reading stories? | Rachel Cooke

Last week, Ruth Rendell claimed that reading novels is a dying art. Sadly, she might have a pointNo one can say precisely why John Williams's novel Stoner has become a bestseller almost 50 years after its first publication. After all, plenty of books, "forgotten" or otherwise, are recommended by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW's Top 10 Library Stories of 2013

For libraries, 2013 was an eventful year. PW takes a look back at the top 10 library stories of the year, and a look ahead to what might be on the horizon in 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Byliner Publishes New Elmore Leonard Stories

The two stories were written in 1958 while the late writer was working at a Detroit-based advertising agency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Slate’s Most Viral Stories of 2013

Last week I shared the 10 most popular Slate stories from 2013, a list that paints with a broad brush about the stories our readers loved the most. Now it’s time to dig deeper to reveal which pieces were the most popular on our three strongest social networks: Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. As... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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These Stories Dominated Digital Media in 2013

Digital media is thriving. Online advertising is growing faster than any other medium. The Web is hot. Except for the fact that the Web has had all sorts of growing pains. And major business challenges. And it changes constantly, sometimes quite radically. It's certainly never boring, and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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