In 2013, I was one of the chosen 20. Today, I still question the accolades and gimmickry around making the gradeIn 2013, the fourth Granta Best of Young British Novelists (BYBN) list was published, and I was among the 20 writers selected. I was 39 and had published four novels and received several award. To what extent I was chosen or was a “ready-made” for the judges, I don’t know. When the 2003 list came out, my debut, Haweswater, had been published and The Electric Michelangelo was in manuscript form. Living in North Carolina, agentless and clueless about the industry or submission process, I doubt I was under consideration.In compiling these once-in-a-decade lists, Granta’s judges and influencers claim to foresee “big names” in the future British literary scene. A writer must be under 40, resident or citizen and have published a literary novel or be about to. I wasn’t registering the 2013 list. Some writers live in a dim cave, some anticipate calendars, some network. When the news came, I was pleased. It’s nice to be spotlit, validating to have work endorsed by critical experts, especially other novelists. Then things became uncomfortable. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-16 10:00:08 UTC ]
‘When I was put on Granta’s first Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983, no novel of mine had been published.’ The post On Writing ‘Blind Bitter Happiness’ appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-04-12 15:52:21 UTC ]
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Hay Festival is the world’s leading festival of ideas across literature, bringing readers and some of the brightest thinkers of our time together to inspire, examine and entertain. This international celebration of literature, music, and the arts is set to take place in the stunning Welsh... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2023-04-11 14:44:07 UTC ]
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Caryl Phillips on being chosen as a Best of Young British Novelists in 1993 and the nascent culture of literary celebrity. The post On Literary Celebrity appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:41:47 UTC ]
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A.L. Kennedy on being chosen for, and judging Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. The post On Judging <em>Granta</em>’s Best of Young British Novelists appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:32:41 UTC ]
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Ned Beauman on his translation into Assamese, and where being named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists took him. The post On the Anxieties of Translation appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:24:19 UTC ]
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The American novelist, whose latest work is a fake biography of an avant-garde artist, on growing up in Mississippi and why her fiction has ‘never actively involved cellphones or the internet’Catherine Lacey, 37, is the author of three previous novels, including The Answers, currently being... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-01 17:00:01 UTC ]
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‘The issue was the first of its kind. Trust me, it said. I know what I am talking about. These young writers are the future of literature. Watch. History will prove me right.’ A history of the list, with reflections from Bill Buford and other editors. The post <em>Granta</em>’s... Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-03-21 19:02:26 UTC ]
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For decades now we’ve become accustomed to tossing all sorts of things into the recycling bin, like glass bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard. One category, however, that still isn’t on everyone’s list is consumer electronics. Over a billion phones were purchased in 2022, and that’s just one... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-03-21 13:15:24 UTC ]
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What is it about campus novels that makes us love them so? The campus has inspired many novelists over the years: Michael Chabon, Kazuo Ishiguro, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elif Batuman, Nabokov, to name just a few. Readers love these stories, too; “the campus novel” has become its own literary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-14 09:53:34 UTC ]
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I kind of love acknowledgement pages. When I was trying to find an agent for my first novel, I would go to the local Borders (it was a lifetime ago) open to them often to discover which agents and editors novelists worked with, which MFA programs they’d attended, who their early readers were. My... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-18 09:56:43 UTC ]
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Russell Banks, who has died at age 82, carried on the legacy of great American novelists probing big themes through the small lives of heroic underdogs. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-09 21:54:28 UTC ]
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If you’re a literary genius, you’ve got it easy—right? Wrong. Even Jane Austen, indisputably one of the greatest novelists in the English language, spent years struggling to be published and became so dispirited that there were moments when she almost walked away. The story begins with an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-18 09:54:04 UTC ]
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‘She saw and felt things us ordinary mortals missed,’ her agent says of Booker prize-winning author who died on Thursday• Hilary Mantel remembered: ‘She was the queen of literature’• ‘The pen is in our hands. A happy ending is ours to write’: Hilary Mantel in her own wordsThe Booker... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-09-23 11:29:23 UTC ]
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Held in person for the first time since 2019, the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) 2022 conference brought over 300 authors, agents, publishers, and aspiring novelists together in St. Louis, Mo. from September 8-11. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by A.M. Homes, author of The Unfolding. Find more Keen On... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-06 08:56:16 UTC ]
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While other future novelists were discussing iambic pentameter and leitmotifs, Gina Chen immersed herself in computer science. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-08-25 09:00:11 UTC ]
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A Black Muslim leader is bringing his life story and work to Broadleaf; novelists Tosca Lee and Marcus Brotherton are joining forces on a WWII story coming from Revell, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Six of the 13 writers in contention for the prestigious British literary award are from the United States, with novelists from Britain, Ireland and Zimbabwe also on the list. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-07-26 14:51:57 UTC ]
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Ms. Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the 1619 Project, had said she was considering legal action against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-07-15 22:45:50 UTC ]
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Libraries from California to North Carolina to Utah to New York have seen their Pride displays challenged or removed this month. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-06-30 10:41:00 UTC ]
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