Why All Americans Should Read “Celestial Bodies”

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi won the Man Booker International Prize this year for its beautifully rendered portrayal of a family’s tangled history in the village of al-Awafi in Oman. The novel was the first book translated from Arabic to win the prize, and more surprisingly, it was the first novel by an Omani woman […] The post Why All Americans Should Read “Celestial Bodies” appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-26 11:59:00 UTC ]

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A Black Father Illustrated the Importance of “The Talk” in His Graphic Memoir

Darrin Bell didn’t set out to write his much anticipated graphic memoir, The Talk. He’d initially sold another project delving into the lives of three generations of men in his family, all descendants of an enslaved man named Addison Bell, in a two book deal to Henry Holt and Co. But as he was... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Myriam Gurba Isn’t Afraid of Being a Disruptor

In Myriam Gurba’s latest essay collection Creep, the Mexican American author interrogates both those who deceive, exploit, and oppress others as well as the culture that enables them. “People who hurt other people can be charming,” Gurba notes in the title essay. “It works in their favor.” In... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Quiet Author’s Written Rebellion: An Interview with Ananda Devi, by Dinah Assouline Stillman

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When a Book Deal Feels Like ‘Winning the Middle-Age Lottery’

Dann McDorman, the executive producer of “The Beat With Ari Melber,” gave up writing fiction in his 20s. Now, he’s publishing his first novel at age 47. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-24 09:02:04 UTC ]
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To Write Her Debut Novel, Molly McGhee Had to Leave Publishing

On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
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8 Queer Historical Fiction Books Set Around the World

When you hear the phrase “queer history,” how far back does your mind go? For many, there’s a sense that LGBTQIA+ history is fairly recent, starting with Marsha P. Johnson or maybe Oscar Wilde. Beyond that, we start to get into murky territory: stories of “lifelong bachelors” and “happy... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How a Collective of Incarcerated Writers Published an Anthology From Prison

It would make sense that any history would begin at Stillwater Prison, where so much of the story and mythology of prison in Minnesota also begins. It is where Cole Younger of the famous James-Younger gang did their time, and where they spent their own money to start the Prison Mirror, the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Teju Cole Talks About His New Novel, “Tremor”

“Tremor,” his first novel in over a decade, is set in Massachusetts and Lagos, and came from a desire to capture the last moments of a pre-Covid world. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-16 09:00:22 UTC ]
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Write Who You Love: J. Ryan Stradal on Memorializing His Mother Through Fiction

Since my first novel was published, at almost every interview and live event, I get asked a version of the same question. Usually people seem just curious, but occasionally there are notes of hostility or amazement. They want to know why, and often how, I write my female protagonists. The answer... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-16 08:50:29 UTC ]
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When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
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When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
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An Epidemic of Loneliness In A Constantly Connected World

Athena Dixon’s The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays opens on New Year’s Eve of 2021, with Dixon alone in her apartment in Philadelphia, thinking about death during a year fraught with pandemic fear. The first pieces explore her fascination with women who died on their own and, because they... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Tim O'Brien's first novel in 20 years is about America's 'mythomania'

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8 South Asian Novels About Falling in Love

My introduction to romance novels came when my high school crush handed me a book written by his mother’s friend under a pen name. It was all very hush hush, no one knew what the author’s real identity was, but he trusted me with this big secret (which might have been the first grand romantic... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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16 New Books by Indigenous Authors You Should Be Reading

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[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Safiya Sinclair’s Journey to Finding Her Own Power

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[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
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8 Novels Using Television As a Plot Device

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[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
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15 Small Press Books to Read This Fall

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[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-26 11:15:00 UTC ]
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9 Historical Novels by 20th-Century Queer Writers

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In Times of Environmental Collapse, Storytelling is a Form of Repair

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