Posts by author
Amanda Hildebrand
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Sandra Cisneros on Her First Apartment
Rachel Martin, host of the NPR series Next Chapter, sits down with Sandra Cisneros, beloved author of The House on Mango Street, to reflect on Cisneros’s experience of moving into her first apartment. Cisneros speaks on the independence she found away…
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Your Favorite Pokémon’s Book of Life Advice
Never fear Pokémon GO-ers (and those of you who have managed to avoid the Poké-wave); the pocket monsters aren’t quite done yet—they’re writing a book. More specifically, it’s an “inspirational guide to life,” as described by Emma Oulton for Bustle. The…
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Kid’s Lit: Team Order or Team Nonsense?
Children’s literature as a genre has grown exponentially from early morality-racked lesson books to modern goofy masterpieces such as Captain Underpants—how did we switch from Order to Nonsense, and have we completely switched over? At Slate, Katy Waldman sits down with…
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Soldiers-Turned-Authors on War Literature
For NPR Books, Quil Lawrence talks with a handful of soldiers-turned-authors about the genre of war literature that has been catalyzed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These authors want their audiences to know that war is not all Hollywood-scale battle…
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Remembering Killed-Off Characters
In an epic confessional letter at Lit Hub, author Stuart Nadler mourns all the characters he’s abandoned, maimed, and murdered for the sake of the grueling writing process. These lost creations and their universes live on in his memories and drafts…
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Publishers Need Diversity, Too
The publishing industry is at a cultural turning point, with recognition and celebration of writers of color on the rise. But despite the surge in the publishing industry’s interest in works by writers of color, the people working behind the…
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Outside the Lit Community, Looking In
Most writers, especially those who are just starting out, feel lost and lonely in a literary world that seems to have pre-constructed cliques that are so hard to infiltrate. Anne Korkeakivi, an ex-pat and ever-traveling author with literary connections spread…
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Fiction’s Rise of Female Friendships
Readers are shifting focus from outdated gender expectations and conceptions of identity, and as a result, complex, non-compartmentalized female friendships are blooming in fiction. Books about these friendships are spaces for female writers and readers to explore the complexity of…
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You Have to Get Up
Corporate escapee-turned-author Xu Xi shared a few choice fiction writing tips with the Jakarta Post. She suggests utilizing the formulas in spreadsheets to calculate timelines and characters’ ages, and recharging your writing energy by getting up from your desk and “being…
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Cuba’s Unfinished Race Revolution
I want readers to understand how racism and antiracism can exist at the same time even in a revolutionary setting. Antiracism in Cuba: The Unfinished Revolution by author and professor Devyn Benson is the long-untold history of racism against Black…
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Serial Fiction While You Wait for Next Week’s Episode
NPR talks with the creators of Serial Box, a company self-described as the “HBO for readers.” Serial Box releases “episodes” you read over a 10-16 week season, in the hopes that readers will anticipate the next installment like they would…
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Dolly Parton, Book Lady
Forbes walks through the colorful and boundless career of Dolly Parton, pop icon, writer, actress, entrepreneur, and “Book Lady.” Following a childhood dream, Parton created The Imagination Library, which is about to reach the landmark of distributing over 100 million…