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 ]
This year marks the sixth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international accord that marks the first time nearly every nation on Earth promised to tackle the climate crisis. The goals set by that agreement, however, have not been met. As the climate crisis worsens, more novelists than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 08:53:41 UTC ]
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At the Guardian, Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his newest book, Klara and the Sun, and how this latest offering echoes themes and ideas he has often explored in his previous work. “Literary novelists are slightly defensive about being repetitive,” Ishiguro says. “I think it is perfectly justified:... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 21:30:38 UTC ]
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“Like so many women novelists of previous centuries, Yezierska’s canonical status is a phenomenon of the recent past.” Catherine Rottenberg on the overdue revival of Anzia Yezierska. | Lit Hub Fashion isn’t frivolous: Francesca Granata recommends books central to our understanding of femininity,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-26 10:30:02 UTC ]
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MOST NOVELISTS WHO want to embed sophisticated ideas in their fiction resort to long stretches of dialogue. In the traditional philosophical novel, loquacious characters are the vehicles for politics or principles. Sarah Moss is different. She favors realism and interiority. In each of her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-21 13:30:51 UTC ]
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Sceptre has pre-empted Self-Made by journalist and novelist Tara Isabella Burton, a history of "self-making" from the Renaissance to the present day, promising "a brilliant contribution to the history of ideas from a blazing talent". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-11 15:03:33 UTC ]
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Over the past 20 years, industry shifts have funneled more novelists into TV rooms than ever. It's salutary in many ways — beginning with health insurance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-11 15:00:05 UTC ]
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Debut novelists performed solidly last year, despite widespread fears that they would lose out to more established authors due to 2020's pandemic-hit publishing schedules. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-14 13:16:53 UTC ]
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Aged 15 I got a Christmas job at my local bookshop in Battersea so I could save to go interrailing. My parents’ bookshelves were brimming with mostly Black writers: Chinua Achebe, Buchi Emecheta, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Chester Himes, Terry McMillan, and I was surrounded by ‘consciousness’... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-30 21:25:59 UTC ]
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Kim Cattrall has rounded off the second series of the "Women's Prize Podcast", picking books by Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood among her top titles. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-22 18:58:43 UTC ]
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Courtney Milan explains how a group of romance novelists rallied behind one of their own: Stacey Abrams. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-12-07 19:30:17 UTC ]
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'Not being Arab nor African enough,' translator Sawad Hussain writes, female writers aren't supported by Sudan's 'literary ecosystem.' The post Words Without Borders in December: Female Sudanese Novelists ‘Caught in a Limbo’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-12-02 16:34:21 UTC ]
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Sponsored by the National Book Committee, the National Book Awards honored writers in ten categories in 1974. In March, the National Book Committee announced the finalists. In poetry, the nominated books were Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich; From Snow and Rock, from Chaos, by Hayden... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-23 09:49:45 UTC ]
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One of four debut novelists among the six writers shortlisted this year, Stuart wins for 'Shuggie Bain,' also a National Book Award finalist. The post Douglas Stuart Wins the 2020 Booker Prize for ‘Shuggie Bain’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-11-19 20:23:21 UTC ]
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Every year, we ask The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Finalists to reminisce about the first book they fell in love with. This year, we asked Finalists to reflect not just on the first story that stole their heart, but the story that seeded curiosity and empathy for the plight of others... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-17 09:48:30 UTC ]
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The Nobel Prize-winning author edited as she read and alphabetized her 1,200-plus book collection by last name. The post For Sale: Toni Morrison’s Apartment and Personal Library appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-11-04 21:30:53 UTC ]
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Colm Tóibín gives the third installment to the Words Ireland Lecture Series. This modern master discusses the craft of James Joyce—and the idea of craft itself. Is craft a concept more suited to poetry? Could strict ideas around craft actually be a hindrance to novelists and short story writers?... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-04 09:48:28 UTC ]
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AS AN EXPRESSIVE MEDIUM, video games have a strange way of reducing central concepts of modernist art and theory to basic operational elements. The technical specifications of “point of view” that have preoccupied novelists since the turn of the 20th century are crudely literalized within game... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-31 17:00:02 UTC ]
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Barack Obama’s memoir is landing. So is a biography of Adrienne Rich and buzzy fiction from Jo Nesbo, Nicole Krauss and Susie Yang. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-29 09:00:34 UTC ]
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Here’s an unusual bit of adaptation news: the painter Michaela Yearwood-Dan has created a limited edition cover for the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar‘s Bazaar Art based on Margaret Atwood’s poem “Feather,” from her latest book Dearly, her first collection of poetry in over a decade. You can... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-27 15:05:11 UTC ]
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Writers Rachel Howzell Hall, Attica Locke and Ivy Pochoda talked with Times reporter James Queally for a 2020 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books event. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-24 16:06:42 UTC ]
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