The author of a debut novel about diversity in the workplace on how black people act around white people, embracing her hair, and what’s changed a year after George Floyd’s murderZakiya Dalila Harris was born and raised in Connecticut and is currently based in Brooklyn. Now a full-time writer, she previously worked in book publishing, an experience she draws on in her highly anticipated debut novel, The Other Black Girl, which combines thriller with social satire to tell the story of Nella, the only black employee at a fictional publishing house, until Hazel joins the company. The book charts how the two become frenemies, explores the challenges of surviving in a systemically racist workplace, and was the subject of a 15-way auction prior to publication in the US.What were your own experiences in publishing and how have they played into the book?I worked in publishing for two and a half years. I was an editorial assistant then promoted to assistant editor. I felt fortunate, as a part of me enjoyed editing and I felt I was good at it, but it’s also an exhausting job for an entry-level person in terms of the pay. I was also one of the very few black people in the company – it wasn’t as bad as Nella in the book, but I was the only black woman in editorial in a full-time position for a while. I thought: why does it feel like we’re living in 1955 still, in terms of what we value? Publishing is such a rich, easily spoofable world.Code-switching is the act of switching up how... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-06-05 17:00:15 UTC ]
Forty years ago, VC Andrews’ novel about incest, rape and murder-by-doughnut was declared ‘deranged swill’, but new books under her name still sell. Why?Forty years ago this month, Flowers in the Attic, the debut novel of one VC Andrews was published. A review in the Washington Post didn’t mince... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-14 14:02:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Arrow will publish a "breathtaking" debut novel by Paula Greenlees, inspired by the three years she lived in Singapore. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-13 19:37:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Shannon Pufahl’s “On Swift Horses” weaves an entanglement of attractions in postwar California. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-11-05 10:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From meditations on the d/Deaf experience to short stories blurring the mythic and the gothic with the everyday, from mixing the personal and political to a young woman uncover the truth about her family’s past – four outstanding writers have today been named on the shortlist for The Sunday... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-11-04 12:55:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this
You go to a coffee shop in order to focus on your craft. What do you order? A. A black coffee. B. An almond milk matcha. What is your critically acclaimed debut novel about? A. A man getting stuck on a subway train and revisiting the weight of all of the mistakes he’s made in […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-01 11:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Oneworld has bought a debut novel from Irish writer Frances Macken, billed as “a major voice in contemporary fiction”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-30 07:19:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We chatted with Rena Barron about her debut novel KINGDOM OF SOULS, the process of writing it, the story and the excitement behind it. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-10-29 10:40:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
WHEN YA PUBLISHER Houghton Mifflin Harcourt put out Ariel Schrag’s Adam in 2014, it felt predetermined that this debut novel would eventually become a movie. Indeed, the promotional materials included a trailer for an imagined film, a digital elevator pitch. Moreover, as a preexisting YA... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-26 17:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While all fiction writers can pull characters from their imaginations and commit them to the page, most readers can’t do what Charley Sutherland can: pull characters from the page and commit them to the real world. Sutherland’s fantastical ability is at the center of H.G. Parry’s debut novel The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-10-25 08:46:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Granta Books has snapped up the debut poetry collection and debut novel of Betty Trask and Eric Gregory award-winning poet and writer Daisy Lafarge. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-23 10:48:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Legend Press has bagged a “warm and poignant” debut novel exploring identity, race and mental illness by writer and painter Alex Morrall. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-22 16:25:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this
W&N has landed the "virtuoso" debut novel from poet Sam Riviere in a multi-publisher auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-18 05:10:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Head of Zeus imprint Zephyr has pre-empted the debut novel from Aardman Animations creative director Finbar Hawkins in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-11 03:38:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The debut novel ‘A Kindness,’ which literary agent Helen Heller received a little over a week ago after responding to an unsolicited pitch letter, is gaining pre-Frankfurt Book Fair buzz after being preempted in the U.S. by Pamela Dorman for high six figures. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Transworld has scooped the debut novel from performer, writer and Faber Academy alumna Helen Paris in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 13:58:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Indie press Louise Walters Books has signed a "very British" novel by debut author S J Norbury in a one-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 13:20:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this
AN ADOLESCENT NAMED Adam Gordon is the protagonist of Ben Lerner’s new novel, The Topeka School. He shares this name with the narrator of Leaving the Atocha Station, Lerner’s debut novel from 2011. Leaving the Atocha Station was about the quarter-life crisis of a talented misanthrope;... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-09 12:30:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Pan Mac imprint Mantle has landed the Shipping Forecast-inspired debut novel from Sue Teddern in a two-book deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 03:27:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Older Brother in Mahir Guven’s debut novel drives for a ride-sharing service in Paris while his Syrian-born father is an old-school taxi driver. Their Uber politics conflict is further sullied by their religious divergence. Into this, Guven adds a Younger Brother, a talented nurse who could... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-10-08 11:00:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Doubleday has made a “substantial” six-figure pre-empt on a debut novel by academic and comedian Marianne Cronin about two women who meet at an art class. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-04 09:03:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this