What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most of whom identify as female, living in London. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through my reading and seeing how their lives are linked or overlap in different ways. What I found particularly interesting about this book is how each character responds in their own way to the universal questions of self and identity, particularly the tensions between personal, public and political gender discourse and the effect it has on the relationships the characters have with others. This feels like a very important book, and a must-read if you’re interested in what’s happening in UK fiction today.Rachel Stevens, Director LiteratureCommon People - An Anthology of Working-class Writers (ed Kit de Waal). An exceptional collection of essays, poems, memoir and short stories celebrating working-class life, culture and literature. There are many highlights, but I especially recommend Lisa McInnery’s essay ‘Working Class: An Escape Manual’, which considers how working-class writers and artists are co-opted into other identities when they achieve success. Debut author Adam Sharp’s ‘Play’, a memoir of his relationship with a substance-addicted father, is poignant and deftly handled - he’s a writer to... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – October 2019"


Liz Truss book enters bestseller list in 70th place with 2,228 copies sold

Former PM’s first-week sales compare with 21,000 for David Cameron’s memoir and 92,000 for Tony Blair bookLiz Truss’s book about her 49-day stint as prime minister sold 2,228 copies in the UK during its first week on sale, after a wall-to-wall promotional media blitz.Ten Years to Save the West:... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-26 15:49:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 26, 2024

“I yearned for a bigger life and was sure it would come for me.” Aaron Hicklin on how the novels of Lynne Reid Banks helped him see himself. | Lit Hub Memoir “The more pertinent question than what we can write is what we who are Black authors can write about that a publisher will […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-26 10:30:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of April 29, 2024

Putnam lands Jill Santopolo’s long anticipated sequel to The Light We Lost, Gallery signs a memoir by late fashion designer Kate Spade’s best friend, and more Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Week’s Bestsellers: April 29, 2024

Chloe Walsh’s ‘Taming 7,’ a new entry in her BookTok-popular Boys of Tommen YA series, debuts at #3 on our children’s fiction list. Plus novelists Salman Rushdie and Caleb Carr publish memoirs, and a memoir in Spanish by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a stateside hit. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Interview: Steve Gleason, the author of the A.L.S. memoir ‘A Life Impossible’

The former N.F.L. player has been living with A.L.S. for more than a decade. Sharing “the most lacerating and vulnerable times” in “A Life Impossible” was worth the physical and emotional toll, he says. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-04-25 09:00:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rebel Wilson memoir to be published in UK with Sacha Baron Cohen passages redacted

Australian actor’s book Rebel Rising will have allegations of incident on set of Grimsby that left her ‘feeling bullied, humiliated, and compromised’ struck outThe UK edition of Australian actor Rebel Wilson’s memoir will be published with redacted passages relating to her experience on set with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-24 12:50:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Doris Kearns Goodwin and husband Dick Goodwin lived, observed, created and chronicled the 1960s

A mix of history, memoir and biography, this book reflects on how time, perspective and stories left unwritten can shape our view of the past. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-04-24 10:00:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Oakland’s Poet Laureate Receives Rainin Arts Fellowship, Plans Anthology with New Indie Press

Ayodele "WordSlanger" Nzinga, honored for her theater innovation, is co-editing a bilingual anthology with Oso Perezoso Press, launched by indie publisher J.K. Fowler. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: Joseph Epstein’s New Memoir and Book of Essays

The editor and essayist Joseph Epstein looks back on his life and career in two new books. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-04-22 09:03:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 19, 2024

When is enough enough? Ryan Chapman on wants, needs, money, and time. | Lit Hub Memoir “Resets are necessary throughout a writing life.” Julia Alvarez on falling in love with writing again. | Lit Hub Craft What does Lord Byron have in common with Che Guevara? “A revolutionary who loves poetry... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-19 10:30:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Monitor’s 10 best new books of April

The 10 best books of April offer adventurous readers everything from a futuristic novel to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s history-laced memoir about the 1960s. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2024-04-18 11:34:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 18, 2024

“It always says the same thing: the vast majority of writers don’t earn enough from writing to make a decent living.” David Hill reflects on writing as labor. | Lit Hub Memoir Ethel Rohan on writing about grief: “For most of my life, I’ve suffered in shame and silence while the men who hurt me […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-18 10:30:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Summary and Analysis of John Cheever’s ‘The Worm in the Apple’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The short stories of John Cheever (1912-82) are among the greatest American short stories of the twentieth century. His Collected Stories runs to 900 pages and contains tales which are by turns realist, borderline magic-realist, and downright... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2024-04-17 14:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Spin | Behind the scenes at Wisden: 161 years old and still going strong

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack remains a bestseller and headline-grabber, because it acts as the conscience of cricketThe commission came by post, which was unusual even in 1994. We don’t pay very well, it said, but we can offer you “a sliver of immortality”. Only the editor of Wisden could... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-17 09:53:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


5 Questions for Ethel Rohan, by Michelle Johnson

5 Questions for Ethel Rohan, by Michelle Johnson Interviews [email protected] Tue, 04/16/2024 - 08:28 Ethel Rohan’s second novel, Sing, I, was published by TriQuarterly Books on April 15. The novel’s heroine, Ester Prynn, works in a convenience... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-16 13:28:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Twisty-Turny Tales That Blur the Line Between Fantasy and Reality in Black Life

In WEIRD BLACK GIRLS, Elwin Cotman delivers seven short stories that go long on the absurdity and anxiety of modern Black life. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-04-16 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Best New Book Releases Out April 16, 2024

A memoir of survival by Salman Rushdie, a Japanese thriller/mystery, a tale of four sisters in Ireland, and more round out today's list of new releases. Which ones are you adding to your list? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-04-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


7 Short Story Collections Set in Nigeria

I have always loved the versatility of the short story, how it can so easily take on the forms of other things. There are playlist short stories, recipe short stories, diary and epistolary-style short stories. There are flash fiction stories, short short stories, and long short stories that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Invitation to Participate in WLT’s 2024 Readership Survey, by The Editors of WLT

Invitation to Participate in WLT’s 2024 Readership Survey, by The Editors of WLT News and Events [email protected] Fri, 04/12/2024 - 16:29 Every few years, we formally ask readers to take a few minutes to tell us about themselves and to share their... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-12 21:29:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Country That Tried to Control Sex

Clair Wills’s memoir is a timely warning that sexual morality can be enforced only with violence. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2024-04-12 14:46:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this