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 ]

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Panel Mania: ‘Embodied’

Embodied: An Intersectional Feminist Comics Poetry Anthology offers 23 poems focused on gender, identity, and the body by an impressive selection of contemporary cis female, trans, and non-binary poets. The post Panel Mania: ‘Embodied’ appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-04-23 10:00:07 UTC ]
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Why Writing a Memoir is Like Making Kimchi

In Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner—also known as the indie-pop musician Japanese Breakfast—writes of her mother’s battle with terminal cancer and the caretaking process. The mother-daughter relationship is the beating pulse of this memoir, presented in all of its uncomfortable complexities.... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Opening the Doorways of Recognition for Native People: A Conversation with Joy Harjo, by Crystal AC Salas

Interviews Photo © Matika Wilbur For the 44th Annual Writers Week, the University of California, Riverside Department of Creative Writing, in partnership with the LA Review of Books, honored three US Poets Laureate with Lifetime Achievement... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-21 15:11:24 UTC ]
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Mike Pence’s publisher refuses to cancel memoir after staff protest

Simon & Schuster president Jonathan Karp says seven-figure book deal will go ahead, after open letter from employees accuses publisher of being ‘on the wrong side of justice’Simon & Schuster has said it will not pull out of a seven-figure book deal with Mike Pence after some of its... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-21 12:05:44 UTC ]
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‘As Africans We Must Uplift Each Other’: A Memoir of Humanitarianism

In “I Am a Girl From Africa,” the former U.N. adviser Elizabeth Nyamayaro retraces her life story from childhood starvation to NGOs. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-20 09:00:07 UTC ]
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Sheridan Smith writes first memoir for Ebury Spotlight

Sheridan Smith has written her first memoir, Honestly, to be published by Ebury Spotlight this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-20 02:37:35 UTC ]
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London, the New Capital of Middle Eastern and North African Arts, Culture, Music, and Literature, by Malu Halasa

Culture Street mural for Grenfell Tower, with poem by Ben Okri, North Kensington, London, image courtesy of IranWire and #PaintTheChange. London-based writer Malu Halasa canvasses the Middle Eastern and North African culture scene in London,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-19 19:22:28 UTC ]
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Gina Frangello: Truth and Consequences

The author of the memoir Blow Your House Down talks about secrecy, accountability, and resisting happy endings. Continue reading at Guernica

[ Guernica | 2021-04-19 13:00:21 UTC ]
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A Summary and Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Lost Decade’

‘The Lost Decade’ is one of the shortest works by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), the American author best-known for The Great Gatsby. Published in Esquire magazine in December 1939, just one year before Fitzgerald died, ‘The Lost Decade’ is one of his most powerful short stories to deal with... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2021-04-17 14:00:20 UTC ]
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Autofiction is Cheating, and You Cannot Change My Mind

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This Week's Bestsellers: April 19, 2021

Manga makes its mark: 'My Hero Academia, Vol. 27' by Kohei Horikoshi is the #6 book in the country. Plus chef Erin French's memoir finds its way onto our hardcover nonfiction list, and we spy Flynn Berry in hardcover fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 19, 2021

Pamela Dorman buys a debut novel by a longtime Knopf editor, Holt signs a memoir by Ronnie Spector, Hanya Yanagihara re-ups with Doubleday, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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President Obama, Ava DuVernay bring 'A Promised Land' to L.A. Times Community Book Club

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Brittany Higgins' memoir will join a powerful Australian collection reclaiming women's stories of trauma. Here are four

Brittany Higgins' forthcoming memoir will allow her to tell her story in her own words. She'll join a group of strong women who've done just that. Continue reading at The Conversation

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HarperCollins acquires Sharkey memoir about murderer brother

HarperCollins has acquired a book by journalist Alix Sharkey exploring his experience growing up with a brother now imprisoned for the murder of teenager Danielle Jones. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-13 19:59:28 UTC ]
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Burgled indie forced to close a day after reopening

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-13 17:09:48 UTC ]
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Haymarket Anthology 'Against Ableism' Comes Under Scrutiny

Haymarket Books has come under scrutiny in the last week over a recently announced anthology that critics say badly misjudges the wants of the disability community. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Uwaa: the sound of the feeling that cannot be spoken

An excerpt from Fifty Sounds, a memoir by Polly Barton, translator of Aoko Matsuda and Kikuko Tsumura. The post Uwaa: the sound of the feeling that cannot be spoken appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2021-04-13 02:08:24 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘On the House,’ by John Boehner

“On the House” is an anecdote-rich memoir by the former speaker of the House that fails to give readers the whole picture. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-09 13:05:40 UTC ]
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