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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Richard E. Grant, star of 'Loki,' 'The Lesson' and much more, on how writing his memoir 'A Pocketful of Happiness' helped him grieve for his wife. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-28 19:53:27 UTC ]
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Tool is said to have been pitched to several US news outlets as an aid for journalists rather than a replacementGoogle is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can write news articles, in the latest evidence that the technology has the potential to transform white-collar professions.The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-20 12:04:29 UTC ]
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From Bono to Jarvis Cocker, Bruce Springsteen to Cosey Fanni Tutti, the last decade has seen an explosion of books by artists from every walk of musical life. Why is this once-rare genre striking a chord with stars and readers alike?By her own admission, Miki Berenyi was not a woman itching to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-15 08:00:25 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:35 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:31 UTC ]
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I was surprised to read this morning that Milan Kundera, the eminent Czech novelist best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, died yesterday at the age of 94. Mainly because I thought he was already dead. For a generation of literary types (Gen X in particular), Kundera was the cool,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 15:34:43 UTC ]
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For years I refused to read historical fiction. It seemed to me that there was something artificial—dishonest, even—in summoning a time and place that hadn’t been experienced firsthand. I couldn’t see past the affected dialogue, the funny hats, and my suspicion that the author was making it all... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 08:51:46 UTC ]
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The Czech-born writer, who spent his most creatively productive years in exile in France, was known for his light, philosophical touch and acerbic views of men and women, most notably depicted in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Remember the early days of the AI hype train, when everyone spent their time making stupid images using text prompts? If you want to recapture the nostalgic haze of, uh, late 2022, Picsart has got you covered. The popular image editor just launched an AI-powered animated GIF generator.The major... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-03 17:59:35 UTC ]
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The influencer and Slay in Your Lane co-author talks about her journey via Twitter to become a writer, and channelling her experience of social media into debut novel The List“Honestly, I’m a better painter than I am a writer,” says Yomi Adegoke, cackling, as she takes a sip of prosecco.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-01 08:00:07 UTC ]
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Lamya H’s powerful memoir Hijab Butch Blues is an honest grappling with what it means to be queer, to be a devout hijabi Muslim person who resists gender normativity, to love faith and community. Seeking other queer women in Islam as a young person, H wonders if Maryam, whom no man has touched,... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-06-29 11:12:00 UTC ]
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As a fiction writer, I’ve always felt compelled, memoir style, to pore over my life’s timeline. But in a novel, I can erase, revise, smash, crash, reconstruct, and transfigure that squiggly narrative. A novel has no obligation to mirror or represent anything familiar, recognizable, or real. And... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-28 08:52:54 UTC ]
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Tom Rachman's 'The Imposters,' about an aging novelist spinning alternate histories, bears faint echoes of his acclaimed debut, 'The Imperfectionists.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-06-26 13:00:23 UTC ]
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Community-produced newsletters informed newcomers of the local shops, clubs and bars that were most welcoming to Caribbean migrants. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-06-19 09:17:46 UTC ]
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Barbara Kingsolver and others are no longer oppressed – they dominate book salesThere is a point at which all special treatment becomes patronising. And we have reached that point, I think, when it comes to giving women a leg-up in the business of writing fiction.Genghis Khan sacked and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-18 06:31:35 UTC ]
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-06-16 17:42:27 UTC ]
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Ohio State University professor emeritus Harvey J. Graff praises a new wave of very young authors all trying to change the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Before I dedicated my life to taking pot-shots at the nature of the universe—I mean, before I became a science fiction writer—I was a frightened child. Death scared me, but living was the constant terror. My father told me I had chosen this. I had come to him in a dream before I was born […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-14 08:53:04 UTC ]
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One of my moments of greatest relief as a writer—equal, perhaps, to the swell and crest of learning that my first novel would be published—was when, decades ago, my Intro to Creative Writing professor assigned Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and I arrived at this passage: “Very few... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-06 08:53:36 UTC ]
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