From the shock and awe of labour to domestic isolation, a wave of recent novels captures the transformative nature of being a motherThey say nothing prepares you. Before having my baby, I approached the literature of motherhood as though I were about to sit an exam. If my studies tempered the shock of birth and early parenthood, then I didn’t notice. The sheer physical and emotive force of the experience left me profoundly shaken. Words felt insufficient. And yet I kept reading – everything I could get my hands on. I wanted answers. I wanted to feel recognised. I wanted this untranslatable experience to be translated into language. Most of all, I think, I wanted restitution for all the maternal stories that had been left untold by centuries of silencing and minimising, not just for myself, but for all of us.Books about motherhood come in waves: the recent spate only the latest in a long line of literary endeavours. In the 1950s there was Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages. The 1960s wave saw Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone and Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, alongside Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique; the 1970s The Women’s Room by Marilyn French, Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born, and In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker. In the 1980s writing about motherhood became even more transgressive and imaginative, with Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. The early 2000s saw an... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-20 11:00:01 UTC ]
Ah, yes, the good old days: when novelists lent their faces and testimonials to advertisers hoping to sell tires, or a certain kind of beer, or fancy watches. It’s something you don’t see very much anymore, because we writers have become too principled to participate in advertising campaigns.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-19 17:14:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret Atwood is marking the paperback publication of her Booker-winning novel The Testaments (Chatto) with a live streamed event via Fane Online. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 15:53:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Chris Bohjalian, Mary Kay Andrews and other novelists have turned to Zoom and Facebook Live to find their audience. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-19 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From 'islands of pain' to the 'peril of exposure,' writers have captured the fear, emptiness and despair that characterize life during the current pandemic, writes a poet and English scholar. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-08-17 12:24:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists including Candice Carty-Williams, Beth O'Leary and Jeanette Winterson are in the running for the Comedy Women in Print Prize (CWIP). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-16 13:06:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Women's Prize for Fiction has just published 25 literary works by female authors with their real names for the first time. Could we do the same for Miles Franklin and Henry Handel Richardson here? Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-08-13 06:43:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Make Russia Great Again” and “Rodham” are two recent novels that benefit from blending fact and fiction. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-06 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A brief guide to the evolution of comic book art styles, from the early days of comic strips to present day. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-08-06 10:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Gayl Jones published her first novel in 1975. It was hailed by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and John Updike. Then Gayl disappeared from the literary scene. Now she's releasing her first novel in 20 years. The post The Long-Awaited Return of Gayl Jones appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-08-05 20:30:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret Atwood is to narrate the audiobook her new poetry collection, Dearly, which publishes simultaneously with the print edition on 10th November. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-04 22:25:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Abir Mukherjee, Courttia Newland, Guy Gunaratne, Paul Mendez and Okechukwu Nzelu on why British writers of colour are left out of the conversationAfter this week’s Booker prize longlist was announced, the Times asked “Where are the new male hotshot novelists?” I was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-31 14:10:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The author’s latest collection shows how few novelists seem to genuinely love human beings the way she does. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-07-21 19:06:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Two sequels which show how the Victorian novelist's stories can be adapted to reflect post-colonial narratives. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-06-08 16:19:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The sadness, exhaustion, anger and frustration that have been expressed by Black people across social media this week have, of course, been felt for centuries.But, by living so much through our screens right now, observing video footage, scrolling through reposted statements and infographics,... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-06-05 16:46:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Although it was the nineteenth century when the novel arguably came into its own, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontë sisters writing novels that are still widely read and studied today, the eighteenth century was the age in which the novel emerged as a... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2020-05-23 14:00:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It always takes a little time for novelists to shape a real-life nightmare into a story. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-21 06:58:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Debut and veteran novelists dive into the world of digital events amid the pandemic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Hay Festival Digital will feature performances, discussions, and interactive Q&As with over 100 of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers. It will stream online from 22 – 31 May 2020.The opening gala, produced by Hay Festivals in association with the British Council, and AHRC, celebrates... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-06 14:45:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists Hilary Mantel, Maggie O'Farrell and Margaret Atwood are among the list of big-name writers and thinkers taking part in the first fully digital Hay Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-06 10:09:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Vintage has revealed the striking cover for Margaret Atwood's new poetry book, Dearly—the writer's first collection for a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-16 10:47:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this