“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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Rashford scores again as striker named FutureBook Person of the Year for 2021

Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford MBE, who published his first book and launched a book club with Macmillan Children’s Books this year, talks to The Bookseller after being named FutureBook Person of the Year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-05 19:06:34 UTC ]
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Religion Scholars to Meet In Person Again

AAR/SBL 2021 embraces a dual format in San Antonio, Tex. from Nov. 20-23 this year, after an on-line only meeting last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Paul Newman’s memoir—which he started writing in the 80s—will finally be released next fall.

If you’re like me and have a deep appreciation and love of classic Hollywood, then you’ll be delighted to hear that Knopf plans to publish Paul Newman’s memoir in the fall of 2022. The actor, who died in 2008 at the age of 83, began working on his memoir in the 1980s; according to the […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-03 14:46:35 UTC ]
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Writing while caring

Many people who read this month’s column will be carers. If you are not one now, you may be later and some of us will always be in this role. What does this mean? A carer (I use the NHS definition) is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-01 15:01:50 UTC ]
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Staunch Prize shortlists for flash fiction and short stories revealed

The 2021 shortlists have been revealed for the Staunch Prize’s unpublished flash fiction and short stories without violence to women, while the original book prize is on hold until 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-01 12:22:21 UTC ]
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Frankie Boyle's 'phenomenal' crime fiction debut netted by Baskerville

Comedian Frankie Boyle is making his crime fiction debut with Meantime, a “phenomenal” story set in the Scottish independence referendum's aftermath, to be published by John Murray imprint Baskerville. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-28 00:03:08 UTC ]
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“Anybody’s life could be a wonderful piece of art.” Read Maxine Hong Kingston’s best writing advice.

On this day in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston was born in Stockton, CA. Kingston, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, took the literary world by storm with her seminal work The Woman Warrior (1976), which blends autobiography and mythology. The Woman Warrior, the winner of the 1976 National Book... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-27 16:42:53 UTC ]
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‘Cairo Circles’: Featured Fiction from Doma Mahmoud

An excerpt from a debut novel that Booklist calls "enthralling" and Kirkus hailed as "an ambitious literary debut." The post ‘Cairo Circles’: Featured Fiction from Doma Mahmoud appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-10-25 10:00:55 UTC ]
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Canongate scoops personal memoir from Thomson

Canongate has scooped a personal memoir from Scottish writer and visual artist Amanda Thomson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-24 15:10:24 UTC ]
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Zephaniah writes 'powerfully moving' Windrush picture book for Scholastic

Benjamin Zephaniah is writing a “powerfully moving” picture book about the voyage of "HMT Empire Windrush" to be published by Scholastic UK in April 2022.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-23 10:30:14 UTC ]
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‘Dune’ has long divided the science fiction world. The new film won’t change that.

Frank Herbert’s magnum opus: masterful or clumsy? Denis Villeneuve’s movie continues the debate. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-10-21 13:13:42 UTC ]
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Julia Elliott and DaMaris B. Hill on Writing Rural America

Novelist Julia Elliott and poet and writer DaMaris B. Hill join hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to consider the writing and face of rural America—particularly as it might look 30 years from now. First, Elliott talks about growing up as an outsider in her own South Carolina... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-21 08:50:35 UTC ]
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10 of the Best Science-Fiction Short Stories Everyone Should Read

What are the best places to begin exploring the wonderful world of science fiction? Some of the classic novels of the genre, from Frank Herbert’s Dune to Asimov’s Foundation series (which eventually stretched to seven volumes), might appear daunting because of their sheer size and scope. Below,... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2021-10-20 14:00:25 UTC ]
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MacLehose Press signs contemporary fiction anthology by Afghan women

Quercus imprint MacLehose Press has acquired My Pen is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women, an anthology of contemporary women's short stories with an introduction by BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-19 02:58:08 UTC ]
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Hutchinson Heinemann 2022 showcase takes place in-person

One of the first in-person publisher showcases took place this week with the 2022 line-up from the recently launched Hutchinson Heinemann imprint.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-19 02:33:14 UTC ]
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A woman won a million-euro writing prize . . . then turned out to be three men.

This week, the winner of the Planeta Prize, a Spanish 1-million-euro literary award, was announced: Carmen Mola, a famously private crime thriller writer. All that was known about Mola, often referred to as Spain’s “Elena Ferrante,” is that she was a university professor in her mid-40s living in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-18 18:30:34 UTC ]
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Bluemoose launches non-fiction list

Bluemoose Books is launching a non-fiction list, starting with a book by Stu Hennigan which exposes "the abject poverty of an inner city trying to cope with the onset of the pandemic". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-18 15:13:06 UTC ]
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Sequoia Nagamatsu | 'Speculative fiction can open a dialogue'

Sequoia Nagamatsu’s bold first novel imagines how future humans might grapple with the fallout from climate change Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-15 04:56:32 UTC ]
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Fiction Drove Small Gain in Print Book Sales Last Week

Gains of 26% in both the adult fiction and young adult fiction categories combined to increase total unit sales of print books by 2% last week over the comparable week in 2020. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Picture: Reading Historical Fiction During a Global Pandemic

Historical fiction can remind us that these "unprecedented" times are anything but. Here's what they can teach us about our current crisis. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-10-13 10:38:00 UTC ]
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