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Dear Memory, expands the field of the memoir for readers to explore a full-color archive of family photos and historical documents collaged between lines of poetry and letters.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 ]
News tagged with: #human emotions #toxic masculinity #daily basis #curly hair #times book #memoir

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Charles Frazier on How the Past Converses With the Present

Charles Frazier, who will forever be known for Cold Mountain, his National Book Award winning, mega-selling 1997 first novel, opens his fifth novel, The Trackers, with an image that tells us exactly what we’re in for, and also reveals the author’s inspiration. “In a muddy black-and-white... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-04 08:53:48 UTC ]
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Finding “Enough”: A Conversation with Nicole Chung, by Renee H. Shea

Finding “Enough”: A Conversation with Nicole Chung, by Renee H. Shea Interviews [email protected] Mon, 04/03/2023 - 21:13 Writer and editor Nicole Chung is the author of the best-selling memoir All You Can Ever Know (Catapult, 2018), the story of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-04-04 02:13:03 UTC ]
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The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs wrote her debut novel about a pop star. It's not her

Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs has written a novel, 'This Bird Has Flown,' about an 'over-the-hill' one-hit wonder finding love — and it kind of rocks. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-04-03 13:00:21 UTC ]
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Writing History Showed Me a New Way to View Climate Change

Two new books, a U. K. paperback and a world first edition, were delivered to my door on the same day last week. I put the books side by side on the table. The first, suggestive of dark happenings in the past,  was The Lion House: The Rise of Suleyman the Magnificent. The second book’s […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-03 08:52:43 UTC ]
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Millie Bobby Brown's debut novel is inspired by grandma's 'very personal' WWII story

Millie Bobby Brown of 'Stranger Things' will release her debut novel later this year. 'Nineteen Steps' is inspired by her grandma's experiences during WWII. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-24 22:14:27 UTC ]
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Are Literary Agents Seeing Changes in Publishing with Increased Book Bans (A Survey): Book Censorship News, March 24, 2023

Are publishers acquiring fewer LGBTQ+ and diverse books in the wake of rising censorship? This week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-03-24 10:40:00 UTC ]
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4 Amazon privacy settings you should change right now

Like most big tech companies, Amazon collects large amounts of data on its users, in part of the purpose of targeting ads and training its Alexa voice models. Look in the right places, though, and much of this data collection can be minimized or prevented, and you can even opt out of... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-03-22 10:45:00 UTC ]
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2023 Walter Dean Myers Awards: Life Changing Literature and Book Bans

The eighth annual ​Walter​ ​Awards ​Ceremony​ and Symposium took place as a hybrid event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., and online on March 17. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Spotify debuts its TikTok-style music discovery feed

The vertical TikTok-style video feed has invaded a lot of the apps we use on a daily basis and now it's officially coming to one more. After announcing a beta test last year, Spotify will begin rolling out a new design for the Home section of its mobile app with a "more visual, dynamic" look.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-03-08 18:33:59 UTC ]
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A Debut Novel Creates a World From Pages Taken From the Past

When Alice Winn stumbled on the archives of her British boarding school’s newspaper, she discovered a world, only to see it “destroyed and dismantled” during World War I. She brought it back in her novel, “In Memoriam.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-03-05 14:54:05 UTC ]
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Obituary: Amy Schwartz

Author-illustrator Amy Schwartz, creator of more than 60 books for young readers, died suddenly on February 26 at her home in Brooklyn; she was 68. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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WI2023: Moving Past DEI Checklists to Meaningful Change

At a breakfast keynote on February 22, Loyalty Bookstores founder Hannah Oliver Depp engaged in a riveting conversation with Michelle MiJung Kim, author of 'The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-24 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Critics reject changes to Roald Dahl books as censorship

Critics are accusing the British publisher of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books of censorship after it removed colorful language from works such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” to make them more acceptable to modern readers Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-02-20 00:47:34 UTC ]
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How romance novels changed book design

With their expressive type and bawdy illustrations, romance novels turned book covers into potent advertisements. The paperback pulp romance—birthed in the 1930s, but arguably at its height during the murky cultural soup of postwar America—exists at a unique intersection of smut and chastity.... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-02-14 09:31:34 UTC ]
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Actress Chrissy Metz Talks to God in a Debut Kids' Book

Chrissy Metz, best known for her role on TV series 'This is Us,' introduces young readers to God as "a warm, safe light" in ‘When I Talk to God, I Talk About You.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Zibby Books Makes Its Debut

Leading bookfluencer and budding book business entrepreneur Zibby Owens discusses the newly launched Zibby Books; her first bookstore, Zibby’s Bookshop, which will open in Santa Monica, Calif., this month; and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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'Star Wars: Visions' Volume 2 debuts May 4th with an Aardman short

Star Wars: Visions is returning for a second 'season,' this time with a more international scope — including a studio you might not have expected. Disney has announced that Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 will premiere May 4th (aka Star Wars Day) with shorts from nine countries, including one from... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-02-02 15:41:49 UTC ]
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A Summary and Analysis of Amy Tan’s ‘Fish Cheeks’

‘Fish Cheeks’ is a short autobiographical narrative by the American writer Amy Tan (born 1952). Tan is probably best-known for The Joy Luck Club, her 1989 novel containing a series of interwoven short stories told by a number of Chinese-American women who are members of the titular club; but... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-01-29 15:00:27 UTC ]
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A Summary and Analysis of Amy Tan’s ‘Mother Tongue’

‘Mother Tongue’ is an essay by Amy Tan, an American author who was born to Chinese immigrants in 1952. Tan wrote ‘Mother Tongue’ in 1990, a year after her novel The Joy Luck Club was a runaway success. In the essay, Tan discusses her relationship with language, and how her […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-01-20 15:00:27 UTC ]
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