War, Trauma, and Human Courage: A Conversation with Zhang Ling, by Yan Lu Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/22/2024 - 16:20 Zhang Ling is the author of ten novels, including A Single Swallow (trans. Shelly Bryant) and Where Waters Meet, the first two novels in her Children of War trilogy. Focusing on war, trauma, and human courage, her work fights against collective oblivion and fosters empathy and understanding. Yan Lu: The trilogy Children of War is your first focused attempt at the subject of war. You have completed the first and second novels of the series, A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet, both revealing the enduring impact or what you call the “spillover” of war on ordinary people that lasts beyond wartime and generations. When did you begin to plan out the trilogy, and what inspired you to embark on this subject? Zhang Ling: For the past decade, I have been planning to write a trilogy called Children of War. As the first two parts of the trilogy—i.e., A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet—have been completed and published, I am now in the research stage for the third and final part. These three books have completely independent storylines, and none of the characters are spin-offs from previous books. However, they share a common theme of war, trauma, and human courage. Before becoming a full-time writer, I worked as a clinical audiologist for seventeen years. At different points in my audiologist career, I... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2024-07-22 21:20:19 UTC ]
Author Stuart Evers recently collaborated with U.K. folk trio Daughter, writing three short stories that provide the visuals for three music videos promoting Daughter's second album. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the French city of Grenoble, there are unusual vending machines that don't dispense soda or snacks -- they print out short stories that look like paper receipts instead. These machines were built by a publishing company called Short Éditi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elena Ferrante—the mysterious Italian writer whose Neapolitan novels have captivated the literary world with their portrait of a lifelong female friendship—has been asked many times why she keeps her identity private. She has responded with many variations on the answer that she gave Vanity Fair... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A little time alone can go a long way in spurring your creative thinking and strengthening relationships.I recently got back from a week of solitude in a house off Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. I was there to focus on finishing my book of short stories without distraction, conversations,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram has seen its share of photo essays, profiles and short stories. But no one has used the image-sharing network to publish an entire novel - at least not until Matilda and Harry. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When sickly Bostonian Edward J. O'Brien put together the first "Best American Short Stories" anthology in 1915, short stories were considered junky pop culture. He was hoping that his project would elevate the short-story form. He had no idea he was launching a series that would last a century... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Tramp Press asked authors submitting manuscripts to name the writers who inspire them, only 22% were female - pointing again to ‘the larger issue in the industry: our habitual dismissal of women’An Irish publisher has stoked the flames of the gender debate currently running in the literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing sector has the lowest level of illegal downloads in the entertainment industry, with book piracy at half the rate of copyright theft in film and musicFor publishers, fresh from winning a landmark ruling forcing internet service providers to block illegal ebook download sites in Russia... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer Jane Gardam is to be awarded the Charles-Chichester Award for a Lifetime's Excellence in Short Fiction at a special event held at this year's Charleston Small Wonder Short Story Festival. Gardam, who is the author of short stories as well as novels including the Old Filth trilogy, will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee’s unexpected companion novel to To Kill a Mockingbird has bookshops readying for huge salesRead the first chapterListen to an extract read by Reese WitherspoonFirst chapter review: A beguiling journey into the pastSix months ago, it was a book the literary world would have laughed off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welsh writer Carys Davies [pictured] has won the €25,000 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for her collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, published by the independent Salt Publishing. The award is the single most lucrative prize in the world for a collection of short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short stories are gaining ground in the UK, but authors working within the format are finding it more difficult to break into the public consciousness than novelists, writers have told The Bookseller. Awards that cover all forms of fiction such as The Folio Prize, won in 2014 by George... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small press And Other Stories will produce no books by men in 2018 in answer to Kamila Shamsie’s call for direct action to beat gender bias in publishingSmall press And Other Stories has answered author Kamila Shamsie’s provocative call for a year of publishing women to redress “gender bias” in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The sudden death of Oscar Hijuelos at age 62 in October 2013 was a shock to the literary world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Serpent's Tail has signed two books from Orange Prize-winner Valerie Martin, a novel and a collection of short stories. Commissioning editor Rebecca Gray signed UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Peter Straus at RCW, on behalf of Molly Friedrich at the Friedrich Agency. Short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired a book of short stories by Daisy Johnson at auction. Editorial director Alex Bowler signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two books by Johnson from Jack Ramm at Eve White Literary Agency. Johnson is a 24-year-old prizewinning graduate of Oxford University’s Fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, has died. Trewin was diagnosed with cancer in October last year. His death today (8th April) was announced by the trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation. Jonathan Taylor, chair of the trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation, said:... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood's first stand-alone novel in 15 years will be published in September, alongside a new collection of short stories. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cutting out the middlemen of the literary world can lead to the discovery of acclaimed authors such as Andrea BennettPublishers are playing literary agents at their own game, seeking out new talent for themselves and cutting out the industry’s powerful middlemen.Executives within HarperCollins,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catherine Aird has been awarded the Crime Writer’s Association Diamond Dagger award. The Diamond Dagger winner is chosen by the CWA committee from a shortlist of writers judged worthy by their peers. Shortlisted authors must have sustained excellence in their careers and made a significant... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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