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 ]
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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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Jacquie Walters' debut, 'Dearest,' is a horror novel about new motherhood, including the demands of a breastfeeding infant, as well as how postpartum hormones affect a woman's psyche. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-09-16 10:00:29 UTC ]
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PW checks in with the 'Book Riot' writer, whose weekly Censorship News column tracks efforts to ban books in school and libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A party supported by pals who made it through rush hour rain was appropriate for an anthology celebrating female friendshipNervous as I am of organising parties, I could hardly have launched a book about friendship without throwing one. And so it was that last Tuesday night, I found myself in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 15:00:31 UTC ]
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An international writing organisation appeared to greenlight the use of AI, prompting anger, the resignation of four board members and an entire creative community to ask: ‘What?!’Please spare a thought for artificial intelligence (AI). It may not have feelings yet but, if it did, it would feel... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-11 10:00:07 UTC ]
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Studio advertises for British and Irish children aged 9-11 to play Hogwarts heroes in ‘decade-long’ TV adaptationsHBO has kicked off its search for the next Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, with the studio posting an open casting call for its forthcoming TV adaptation.The casting... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-10 22:39:27 UTC ]
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At the beginning of Khuê Phạm’s debut novel Brothers and Ghosts, translated by Charles Hawley and Daryl Lindsey, the narrator makes a confession: “I don’t know how to pronounce my own name.” It’s not something you hear often and something unimaginable for many. But for Kiều, the young Vietnamese... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-10 11:00:00 UTC ]
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“Wild Text Raging”: A Conversation with Threa Almontaser, by Renee H. Shea Interviews [email protected] Tue, 09/03/2024 - 14:05 Photo courtesy of the author / ThreaWrites.comThe Wild Fox of Yemen, by Threa Almontaser, received the Academy of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-09-03 19:05:24 UTC ]
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The Irish literary scene is thriving, which makes choosing just five other Irish writers likely to appeal to fans of Rooney a daunting task. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2024-08-22 11:49:16 UTC ]
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The U.S. Army combat veteran and author of the memoir 'Snapshots Sent Home: From Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine' addresses the the character, and complications, of works written in the midst of war. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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No specific category exists at the Wainwright Prize for climate-crisis books, although several 2024 shortlistees touch on the emergency. The post Wainwright Nature Writing Book Prizes: Three 2024 Shortlists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-15 20:55:02 UTC ]
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The study fits into a broader initiative by the media agency to become a hub of learning and experimentation around gen AI that’s accessible to all Omnicom clients (not just PHD or OMG) as well as the general public. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2024-08-15 04:01:00 UTC ]
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As her latest Jackson Brodie thriller comes out, the award-winning author discusses cosy crime, sniffy critics, and how she investigated her own family’s secretsKate Atkinson has an idea for a fun side-hustle: at some point in the future, when she’s done with the second world war, and with her... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-10 08:00:37 UTC ]
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Readers respond to a piece by Zoe Williams in which she reflects on reading smut and notes how attitudes have changedIn her article on reading smut, Zoe Williams focuses on the difference between romance and erotica (My weeks of reading hornily: steamy book sales have doubled - and I soon found... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-09 16:55:05 UTC ]
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Letter to Mohamed Choukri: Writing between Silence and Prattle, by Mohamed Berrada Cultural Cross Sections [email protected] Wed, 08/07/2024 - 15:25 Mohamed Choukri (left) and Mohamed Berrada / Photo courtesy the estate of Mohamed ChoukriIn the... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-07 20:25:04 UTC ]
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Queer-Feminist Writing from 1970s Turkey: A Conversation with Maureen Freely on Sevgi Soysal, by Ipek Sahinler Interviews [email protected] Tue, 08/06/2024 - 16:31 Maureen Freely (left) & Funda Soysal (right)Maureen Freely is an author,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-06 21:31:04 UTC ]
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Boubacar Boris Diop’s Un tombeau pour Kinne Gaajo: The Value of Memory, Writing, and Translation, by Marame Gueye Book Reviews [email protected] Mon, 08/05/2024 - 15:14 Photo of Diop by Gavyn Redd / Shevaun Williams PhotographyOn September 26,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-08-05 20:14:31 UTC ]
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'The Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud,' copublished by Rowman & Littlefield and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, took three decades for editor and translator Mark Solms to complete. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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At Restless Books, Black Lawrence Press, and Academic Studies Press, first-generation American editors want to hear from writers with cross-cultural stories to tell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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