“When I Write Fiction, I’m in My Body as a Different Person”

Two decades ago, Arundhati Roy released her first novel, The God of Small Things. The response was pretty much everything an author could hope for from a debut. (It was a huge best-seller and won the Booker Prize.) But in the past 20 years, Roy has followed a different path than one might have expected, composing essays and books about India, where she was born in 1961, and establishing herself as arguably the most outspoken commentator on Indian politics. She has written about the role of India’s military in Kashmir and tribal areas, and spoken out against the rise of the Hindu right wing, including the current prime minister, Narendra Modi. Over the years, Roy has been threatened and even accused of sedition; she has also been the subject of debate in liberal circles, with some accusing her of being simplistic in her anti-capitalist rhetoric and naïve in her support for India’s Maoist uprisings. (She has also been a consistent critic of American foreign policy; in 2015, she met with Edward Snowden in Moscow, along with John Cusack and Daniel Ellsberg.) Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2017-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Danyel Smith’s ‘Very Personal History’ gives Black women of pop music their due

In this Washington Post Live conversation from May 4, author Danyel Smith explains why she wanted to give Black women their due in “Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-10 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Science fiction, fantasy, thriller? Books we love but can’t define.

Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi’ is one great book that’s hard to categorize. What hard-to-classify novels do you enjoy? Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-07 12:00:25 UTC ]
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We Are in a Golden Age of Historical Fiction for People of Color

“The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.” I’ve always found these words by E.L. Doctorow a compelling argument for the unique power of fiction to enliven the past. Yet when thinking about the lives of people of color in America, you can’t count on... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-29 08:49:53 UTC ]
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Best Mystery Writers Honored at In-Person Edgars Ceremony

The mood was celebratory as mystery publishers and authors honored the best in the genre, live and in-person, for the first time since 2019 at a ceremony last night at New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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What is it Like to Be a Blind Writer Writing for Sighted Readers?

What is it like to be blind in an industry overwhelmingly dominated by sighted individuals? Jessica Powers, founder and publisher at Catalyst Press, spoke to George Mendoza and Kristen Witucki about crafting stories for sighted readers, finding community and release in fiction, and battling... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-28 08:58:13 UTC ]
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Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Sequoia Nagamatsu on Affirming and Subverting Pop Culture in Fiction

Fiction writers Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Sequoia Nagamatsu join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, where they talk about pop culture in the literary sphere, the blurring of the line between literary and popular fiction,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-28 08:56:36 UTC ]
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Not meant to soothe: How the truths of fiction can challenge and stir

Iranian American author Azar Nafisi explores fiction as a means of engaging with the world, rather than retreating from it in “Read Dangerously.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-04-27 19:45:22 UTC ]
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How Tolkien and Lord of the Rings inspired the commercial and artistic success of the fantasy fiction genre

The Lord of the Rings paperback edition could be said to have sparked the commercial fantasy genre as we know it. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2022-04-18 19:57:13 UTC ]
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An eye-opening portrait of bin Laden, drawn from his personal files

Based on documents recovered from his compound, Nelly Lahoud argues that al-Qaeda and its leader were greatly diminished after 9/11. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-15 12:00:38 UTC ]
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“I Trust Nothing But Music.” Valzhyna Mort on the Patient Listening of Writing Poetry

My first encounter with Valzhyna Mort’s work was Collected Body, her second book of poems released in America, which I picked off a shelf in a bookstore in Upstate New York. As its title suggests, the collection explores the body as a conflicted site of desire and repulsion, mythology and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-13 08:51:54 UTC ]
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Conservative lawmaker writes children’s book in praise of solidarity and collective action.

Does the following really sound like contemporary American conservatism to you?  Dawn of the Brave, which is aimed at children age 6 to 10, helps readers recognize that everyone has strengths and weakness, but teamwork allows people to come together for the greater good. I am… confused. Dawn of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-11 14:24:51 UTC ]
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Delia Ephron writes rom-coms. Then her life turned into one.

The author behind such favorites as “You’ve Got Mail” shares her own made-for-Hollywood tale in “Left on Tenth” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-09 12:00:29 UTC ]
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New Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels 

These new science fiction and fantasy novels feature Icelandic horses, memory removal and romance in the multiverse. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-04-04 09:23:07 UTC ]
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Jennifer Egan wants to save literary fiction from itself

Jennifer Egan walks and talks — about 'The Candy House,' her sequel to 'A Visit From the Goon Squad,' and why she still believes in fiction and humanity. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-03 12:00:47 UTC ]
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“I Write about People Whose Lives Are on Fire”: A Conversation with Sandra Cisneros, by Emily Doyle

Interviews   Sandra Cisneros’s success as a poet, short-story writer, novelist, and essayist is tied to her determination to write about others with awareness and love. Her work is populated by powerful people—powerful in their pain, joy, and hunger for... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-04-01 16:29:13 UTC ]
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Make money turning your short fiction… into a video game?

Are you tired of getting your short stories rejected by literary magazines with weird names like Ploughshares, The Paris Review, and, lol, The New Yorker? Do you, a writer of a searing, minimalist narratives of longing and loss amid the ruins of late capitalism, need to eat?  Sure you do! Well,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-17 16:16:55 UTC ]
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Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan on the Freedom of Writing Anonymously

How’s this for fun? Take 27 incredible writers—including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, PEN Awards, Women’s Prize for Fiction, Edgar Award, and more—and invite each of them to write an erotic short story. Then publish the collection in one steamy anthology with the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-17 08:50:16 UTC ]
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Stephen King, Janelle Monáe and more: Let’s talk about speculative fiction to read this year

2022 is turning out to be a great year if you love science fiction, fantasy and horror books Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-15 11:00:26 UTC ]
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Quiz: What Should Your Next Historical Fiction Read Be?

Share a little bit about historical eras you wish you were part of and get your next historical fiction read. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-03-15 10:38:00 UTC ]
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Rare Thoughts on Writing From Cormac McCarthy in This Unlikely Interview

Knopf announced March 8 that it will publish two novels by Cormac McCarthy this fall, his first in 16 years, but don’t expect a book tour. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author lives an entirely private life. “He doesn’t give interviews, doesn’t give lectures, and doesn’t do book signings,” Michael... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-15 08:55:34 UTC ]
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