This year’s Desmond Elliott shortlist features all black writers.

The Desmond Elliott Prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first novel is written in English and published in the UK. Since 2007, it has supported and heralded new writers; the honor comes with a £10,000 prize. It’s heartening to see, especially right now, that this year the Desmond Elliott Prize has an all […] Continue reading at 'Literrary Hub'

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-02 17:58:53 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "This year’s Desmond Elliott shortlist features all black writers."


When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why Tim O'Brien's first novel in 20 years is about America's 'mythomania'

Tim O'Brien, author of the great novel 'The Things They Carried,' explains how COVID and Trump spawned 'America Fantastica,' his first novel in 20 years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-13 10:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Wound,’ by Oksana Vasyakina

Oksana Vasyakina’s first novel is a family history and a reflection on womanhood. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-09-05 09:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Long, Winding, Booby-Trapped, and Occasionally Rewarding Road to Publication

The road to publication for my first novel was not only long and winding, but also booby-trapped, and in places there was no road, just long empty gaps that could only be filled by time. I started L.A. Breakdown as a junior at UC Santa Cruz, in 1972. I was old for a junior at […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-23 09:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sex, Time, and Memory: Annie Ernaux’s Young Man, by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

Sex, Time, and Memory: Annie Ernaux’s Young Man, by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee Book Reviews [email protected] Mon, 08/21/2023 - 15:04   The Young Man—forthcoming from Seven Stories in September 2023—is Annie Ernaux’s first novel in English... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-21 20:04:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


When Writing a Novel Bridges a Gap Between Mother and Daughter

I was deep in the throes of a slow-moving depression, feeling frustrated with a job I had held for seven years, and reeling from the disappointment of a first novel that debuted without the critical and commercial acclaim I was afraid to admit I desired. So I called my mother. “I think I need a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-09 09:10:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


An 'alpha vagina' gets top billing in YA star Elizabeth Acevedo's first (very) adult novel

Bestselling YA novelist Elizabeth Acevedo explains why 'Family Lore,' her first novel for adults, features sex, magic and an 'alpha vagina' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-31 13:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Read W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Sixty-nine (nice, but in Elvish) years ago this week, the godfather of high fantasy, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, published the first novel in a proposed thee-volume epic “largely concerned with hobbits.” The Fellowship of the Ring has, in the decades since publication, shifted over 150 million... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 16:55:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Counterweight,’ by Djuna

The pseudonymous South Korean author’s first novel to be translated into English pits a multinational conglomerate against life on earth. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-07-09 09:00:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


By combining self-help and literature, the School of Life’s first novel does both a disservice | Alice Kemp-Habib

Billed as ‘a therapeutic novel’, the publisher’s first foray into fiction follows 29-year-old Anna’s mental health journey – with a view to helping the reader. But how useful can such clunky writing be?At 29 years old, Anna is full of self-loathing. She hates her job, her boyfriend is having an... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-07 15:45:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mavis Cheek obituary

Author of a series of comic novels that focused on the tragi-comic nature of relationships and the general absurdities of lifeMavis Cheek, who has died aged 75, was the author of a series of comic novels that cast an acute eye on middle-class marriage and relationships and marked her out as one... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-04 16:07:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rare Harry Potter bought for 30p may fetch up to £5,000

First edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone bought by UK book collector goes up for auction next weekIt is a book that has certainly lived up to its name: a rare edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone bought for 30p could fetch up to £5,000 at auction.The first novel... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-30 09:29:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Braschian Wave: All the Solitude of an Empire in a Bottle Thrown into the Sea, by Carlos Labbé

The Braschian Wave: All the Solitude of an Empire in a Bottle Thrown into the Sea, by Carlos Labbé Essay [email protected] Wed, 06/28/2023 - 14:55 Photo by Javardh / UnsplashCarlos Labbé wonders whether it is “still possible to speak of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-06-28 19:55:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In Lorrie Moore's first novel in 14 years, 2016's chaos becomes a wild metaphysical trip

Lorrie Moore's fourth novel, 'I Am Homeless If This is Not My Home,' follows a grieving man through the chaos of 2016 and some wondrous metaphysical byways. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-06-14 13:00:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


It’s Okay to Have a Love/Hate Relationship With Your Writing

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 ]
More news stories like this


With ‘And Then He Sang a Lullaby,’ a Young Nigerian Novelist Commits to ‘Queer Resistance’

With a first novel that chronicles a love affair between two young men, 23-year-old Ani Kayode Somtochukwu asserts a commitment to “queer resistance.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-05 16:02:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


William Boyd on his friend Martin Amis: ‘He was ferociously intelligent – and very funny’

He saw the world’s cruel absurdities through a comic lens, writes Boyd, who recalls his very first meeting with Amis – and explains why his unmistakable voice will never be forgotten• John Self on Amis: ‘He stamped his style over a generation’• Geoff Dyer on Amis: ‘Mick Jagger in literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-22 07:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘The Tale of Genji’ Is More Than 1,000 Years Old. What Explains Its Lasting Appeal?

The book is often described as the world’s first novel and a touchstone of Japanese literature. But some of its themes, including its take on gender and power, have echoed over centuries. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-15 09:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Granta reveals its pick of future star British novelists

The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’Granta magazine’s Best of British Novelists list, which hails the literary stars of the future, has this year expanded to include... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 07:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this