Zakiya Dalila Harris: ‘Publishing is such a spoofable world’

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 ]

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This Week's Bestsellers: September 16, 2019

‘Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum’ is the #9 book in country, and one of three new titles at the top of our picture book list. Plus ‘This Tender Land’ sells well in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, and debut novel ‘The Secrets We Kept’ gets the nod from Reese’s Book Club. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador snaps up Scottish author Armstrong's 'blistering' debut

Picador has snapped up a "blistering" debut novel about youth culture, violence and gang life in Scotland by Graeme Armstrong. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-11 13:33:42 UTC ]
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Shanker Out, Litterick In as CEO of EnsembleIQ

[caption id="attachment_170775" align="alignright" width="150"] Jennifer Litterick[/caption] EnsembleIQ's board of directors has appointed Jennifer Litterick as the company's next CEO, effective immediately, marking the third leadership change at the Chicago-based B2B publisher since its... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2019-09-09 19:33:28 UTC ]
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S&S UK lands fashion insider's debut novel

Simon & Schuster UK will publish the debut novel of former fashion insider Sara-Ella Ozbek, pitched as “a filthier, more candid The Devil Wears Prada” and aimed at fans of “Fleabag”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-02 21:57:13 UTC ]
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A Debut Novel Reimagines the C.I.A.’s Efforts to Promote ‘Doctor Zhivago’

In Lara Prescott’s “The Secrets We Kept,” young women participate in a covert plan to influence the Cold War using Boris Pasternak’s censored love story. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-09-02 18:51:54 UTC ]
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Rewriting the ‘Boy Genius’

Caitlin Horrocks’s debut novel builds on a rich tradition of women writers who complicate the myth of male virtuosity until it crumbles. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-01 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Meredith Corp. Makes Digital-Side Promotions | People on the Move

Meredith Corp. announced several promotions within its Digital Content Group this week:  [caption id="attachment_170397" align="alignright" width="150"] Jessica Plautz[/caption] Jessica Plautz was promoted to the director of content operations, succeeding Ron Kelly, who departed the company in... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2019-08-29 18:50:41 UTC ]
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A Handbook for Fighting Racism in America

Ibram X. Kendi opens his latest book with his worst memory as a high school student competing in an oratorical contest. Having spent his short lifetime internalizing negative messages about Black people from Black people, from white people, and from the media and culture at large, Kendi... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-08-28 11:00:52 UTC ]
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‘The Ventriloquists’: Featured Fiction from E.R. Ramzipoor

An excerpt from a debut novel that Booklist calls a "compelling historical thriller." The post ‘The Ventriloquists’: Featured Fiction from E.R. Ramzipoor appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-08-27 19:00:55 UTC ]
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“Wicked Fox” is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

Kat Cho’s debut novel “Wicked Fox” is a little complicated, but the poignantly rendered family relationships and fantasy drama are worth the ride. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-22 23:52:56 UTC ]
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‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

Kat Cho’s debut novel “Wicked Fox” is a little complicated, but the poignantly rendered family relationships and fantasy drama are worth the ride. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-22 23:52:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

Kat Cho’s debut novel “Wicked Fox” is a little complicated, but the poignantly rendered family relationships and fantasy drama are worth the ride. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-22 23:52:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

Kat Cho’s debut novel “Wicked Fox” is a little complicated, but the poignantly rendered family relationships and fantasy drama are worth the ride. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-22 23:52:00 UTC ]
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A Nigerian American in Utah Strives to Be ‘A Particular Kind of Black Man’

Tope Folarin’s debut novel is all at once a search for identity, an immigrant story, and a bildungsroman. A Particular Kind of Black Man follows Tunde Akintola, a Nigerian American in a small town in Utah. Torn between the culture of his Nigerian parents, and the white Mormon culture of Utah,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-08-21 11:00:12 UTC ]
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John Murray signs Gallen's 'darkly comic' debut

​John Murray will publish Michelle Gallen's "darkly comic" debut novel set on the Irish border.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-20 14:25:46 UTC ]
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Shaun Hamill Has a Scary Story to Tell You

His debut novel ‘A Cosmology of Monsters’ is both a horror novel and a rich love story, told with tenderness and brimming with darkness. The post Shaun Hamill Has a Scary Story to Tell You appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-08-16 10:00:38 UTC ]
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Revisiting ‘The Tiger’s Wife’ and the Balkan Wars

In Téa Obreht’s 2011 debut novel “The Tiger’s Wife,” a young doctor untangles the peculiar circumstances of her grandfather’s recent death. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-16 09:00:01 UTC ]
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O'Keeffe debut goes to Coronet

Coronet has snapped up the “big-hearted” debut novel from journalist Alice O’Keeffe, inspired by her experience of becoming a parent. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-14 11:36:13 UTC ]
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Toni Morrison Dies at 88

Novelist of our hearts Toni Morrison died Monday night, her publisher reports, at the age of 88. Morrison won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her best-selling, groundbreaking novel Beloved, and was the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1993. She wrote 11 novels... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-08-08 21:38:07 UTC ]
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Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate, Has Died at 88

Toni Morrison, giant of American literature and the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, has passed away. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-08-06 14:08:13 UTC ]
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