What Is Autobiography? A Conversation with Debut Memoirist Victoria Chang, by Amy Wright

Interviews Victoria Chang’s new collection, Dear Memory, expands the field of the memoir for readers to explore a full-color archive of family photos and historical documents collaged between lines of poetry and letters. It prompts us to ask, with her, What composes a life and what makes of life art? What makes of memory history, and whose history, and how do we survive loss? We might expect the author of five books of poetry and two children’s books to incorporate the lyric in her first book of nonfiction, but Chang goes further. If her memories arrive at times as poetry, she denies them the protection of a poem. For instance, at the end of a letter that begins, “Do you remember those Fridays in gym class . . . ,” she realizes that memory may be “the exit wound of joy.” Such insights pierce us before we can register surprise. Elsewhere, she covers her mother’s mouth with three Mandarin characters in the photo on her certificate of naturalization, inserting her reservation into the official record along with her daughter’s grief. I reached out to Chang, moved by this book’s innovative form. “It was always my goal as a writer to be able to make whatever I want,” she told me via Zoom video hosted by the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University, which she directs. The winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the PEN Voelcker Award, a Sustainable Arts Foundation... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-05 19:50:39 UTC ]
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How OpenAI's ChatGPT has changed the world in just a year

Over the course of two months from its debut in November 2022, ChatGPT exploded in popularity, from niche online curio to 100 million monthly active users — the fastest user base growth in the history of the Internet. In less than a year, it has earned the backing of... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-11-30 14:00:50 UTC ]
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Amy Schneider is More Than A Jeopardy! Champion

Amy Schneider’s new memoir is honest and so very reasonable. The Jeopardy! winner shares insight and experiences in her new memoir. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2023-11-08 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholars Chart Religious Changes

New books address cultural changes and America’s shifting religious demographics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Alexandra Chang Turns the Pain of a Friendship Breakup Into a Short Story

“The world here beats faster than a hummingbird’s wings,” writes Alexandra Chang in her new collection Tomb Sweeping. Chang, the author of Days of Distraction and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 recipient, writes poignantly about tenuous connection. In these stories, a wealthy housewife... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How Has Big Publishing Changed American Fiction?

A new book argues that corporate publishing has transformed what it means to be an author. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2023-11-01 10:00:00 UTC ]
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To Write Her Debut Novel, Molly McGhee Had to Leave Publishing

On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
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3 Ambitious Debut Novels Out This Week

These new debuts—an exploration of power and technology, an odyssey through an imagined metropolis, and a clever murder mystery—announce the arrival of three fiction writers to watch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Crooked Media Founders Announce Debut Book with Zando Imprint

Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, who host the popular politics podcast 'Pod Save America,' will publish their debut book with their Zando imprint, Crooked Media Reads, next June. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zando imprint #jon lovett #tommy vietor #debut book


Answering the 'Why' of the Bible: Jacob L. Wright

While so much has been asked about what the Bible says, Hebrew Bible scholar Jacob L. Wright explores ‘Why the Bible Began’ in his new book, arguing that the Good Book is much more than a moral code. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Showing Up Every Day: A Conversation with Dewaine Farria, by Matt Gallagher

Showing Up Every Day: A Conversation with Dewaine Farria, by Matt Gallagher Interviews [email protected] Tue, 10/10/2023 - 15:38 Dewaine Farria belongs to the world. As a US Marine, he served in Jordan and Ukraine, and spent much of his... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-10 20:38:06 UTC ]
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Literary magazines can be life-changing – but they need more support

The UK’s literary magazine scene is crumbling due to rising print costs. But I’ll keep printing my own magazine, which gives writers of colour a voice, for as long as I canTen years ago, Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland, which describes itself as Australia’s only radical literary magazine, wrote... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-10 10:30:07 UTC ]
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Exclusive: See the (sexy) cover for C. Michelle Lindley’s debut novel, The Nude.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for C. Michelle Lindley’s debut novel, The Nude, which will be published by Atria in June. Here’s a little bit about the book from the publisher: A gripping, provocative, and sensual debut novel about an art historian who journeys to a Greek island to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-03 14:00:04 UTC ]
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The New PublisHer Stand Makes Its Frankfurt Debut

The new PublisHer stand, first seen at this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair, will be in Hall 5.1 at Frankfurter Buchmesse. The post The New PublisHer Stand Makes Its Frankfurt Debut appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-02 21:30:40 UTC ]
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'Jeopardy' vet Amy Schneider runs the board on drugs, polyamory, transphobia and more

Schneider's memoir 'In the Form of a Question' mines the 'Jeopardy!' star's life — acid trips, polyamory, fame, fears and how Leo DiCaprio didn't do it for her. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-09-30 15:38:29 UTC ]
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A journey of discovery and identity formation: The Dictionary of Lost Words makes its wonderful stage debut

Verity Laughton’s stage adaptation of Pip Williams’ best-selling book is a a very clever realisation. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-09-28 05:05:12 UTC ]
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New Religion Books for Kids Aim to Start Big Conversations

Forthcoming titles from religion and spirituality publishers aim to get families talking about right-to-life messaging, sex trafficking, climate change, houselessness, gender roles, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Exclusive: See the cover for Amy Lin’s Here After.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Amy Lin’s debut memoir Here After, which will be published by Zibby Books in March. Here’s a bit more about the book from the publisher: Here After is an intimate story of deep love followed by dizzying loss; a stunning, taut memoir from debut... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-20 14:00:02 UTC ]
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'Big Bang of Numbers' – The Conversation's book club explores how math alone could create the universe with author Manil Suri

A book-length thought experiment uses math to investigate some of life’s big questions. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-09-18 12:19:43 UTC ]
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‘I didn’t think it was possible to be a novelist’: Julian Barnes on literature, loss – and his late friend Martin Amis

The Booker winning author talks about how his most recent work was inspired by Hilary Mantel, and the way the books world has changed since his debut was published more than 40 years agoToo many people have been dying lately,” Julian Barnes reflects over the phone from his home in north London.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-16 08:00:25 UTC ]
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