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 ]
Ery Shin’s Spring on the Peninsula encompasses two winters of grieving: Kai, a white-collar worker in contemporary South Korea, struggles to process his breakup. We follow Kai’s inner musings, from his various sexual conquests to solo mountain pilgrimages. But alongside heartbreak, Shin’s debut... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-05-20 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. In The Art of Subtext, Charles Baxter writes, “A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and the unseen.” In 2017, I sold... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-17 08:55:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s smartly interior debut novel But the Girl appears to follow the path of a bildungsroman. Our protagonist, simply named Girl, is on a flight out of Australia for an artist’s residency in the lush Scottish countryside. She is leaving behind her tight-knit Malaysian family and... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-30 11:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Journalist Sasha Vasilyuk’s debut novel Your Presence Is Mandatory is a poignant look at the reverberating effects of war through the story of a Ukrainian World War II veteran’s struggle to hide a damaging secret for the sake of his family. Vasilyuk’s book begins with death—the first chapter... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for Sam Sax‘s forthcoming debut novel Yr Dead, slated for August 6. Here’s a bit about the book, courtesy of McSweeney: In between the space of time when Ezra lights themself on fire and when Ezra dies the world of this book flashes before their eyes. Everyone... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2024-04-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In the debut novel “The Band,” a burned-out pop idol meets a disillusioned professor, raising the question: What if the dangers of fame resemble white-collar ennui? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-04-13 09:02:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Homeseeking, the highly-anticipated debut novel by Karissa Chen, which will be published by Putnam on January 7th, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-11 11:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This Earth Day, settle into "A Fire So Wild," Sarah Ruiz-Grossman's debut novel about the societal impacts of climate change. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2024-04-05 09:45:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The biting cultural commentary that emanates from the pages of Alexandra Tanner’s debut novel Worry is like the too-bright light of a smartphone screen at night, pulling you closer and keeping you absorbed late into the night. One year following a secret suicide attempt that only Jules, our... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Rita Bullwinkel’s debut novel Headshot takes place in the confines of a boxing ring in Reno, Nevada, over two days of championship matches to determine the winner of the 12th Annual Women’s 18 & Under Daughters of America Cup. Her protagonists, eight teenage girls, fight each other in a... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Vinson Cunningham’s impressive debut novel finds a watchful campaign aide measuring his ambitions on the trail of a magnetic presidential candidate. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-12 09:00:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Summit publisher Judy Clain’s inaugural acquisition, a debut novel titled ‘Great Black Hope’ by Rob Franklin, bodes well for storied imprint’s relaunch. Clain, previously editor-in-chief of Little, Brown, called Franklin “the writer we dreamed of publishing” at Summit. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Are utopias becoming a trend in fiction during this dystopian era? The debut novel from Phillip B. Williams, 'Ours,' embraces magic without ignoring reality. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-24 11:09:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Arthur's debut novel Once a Queen, a young adult "portal fantasy," talks to PW about writing her first novel, and her love of fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Arthur's debut novel Once a Queen, a young adult "portal fantasy," talks to PW about writing her first novel, and her love of fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Scott Guild's debut novel (and companion album) 'Plastic' is a dark and entertaining saga about a postapocalyptic world populated by plastic figurines. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-15 21:43:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this
When I was ghostwriting full-time, I produced twenty books in fourteen years. Thanks to a suggestion from my literary agent, I realized a ghostwriter might make a great heroine—they’re under tremendous pressure, often while adjacent to the fame machine—so Mari Hawthorn, the ghostwriter at the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-15 12:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Andrew Ewell's debut novel 'Set for Life' is well-written but doesn't fulfill its potential. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-09 16:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The debut novel from Leo Vardiashvili, 'Hard by a Great Forest,' has its commercial trappings but ultimately lands with lyrical and heartbreaking resonance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-01-31 18:43:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Temim Fruchter’s debut novel centers around a young woman, Shiva, seeking answers about her family’s past after the death of her father. Told in revolving perspectives, between women in Shiva’s family and a mysterious, omniscient narrator, the book explores the interior lives of women,... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-01-24 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this