After writing several books (A Friend of the Family, The Explanation for Everything) from a male point of view, Lauren Grodstein’s new novel, Our Short History, is an intimate glimpse into a woman’s life, at a critical juncture between life and death. Karen Neulander, the protagonist of the novel, has a six-year-old boy, Jake, whose father […]
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We asked nineteen authors what books they’d suggest as recommended reading in light of America’s new political reality.
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In my memory, the Learning Support room is always shadowy. Outside, other girls are forever laughing as they amble past.
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D. Foy discusses his latest novel, Patricide, the evolution of “gutter opera,” his writing process, free will, and memes.
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Emily Barton discusses dieselpunk, genderqueer magic, and the collaboration between reader and writer in her latest novel, The Book of Esther.
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I don’t really get romance. Bring me fish or moose, not flowers.
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Ranbir Singh Sidhu discusses his new novel, Deep Singh Blue, growing up in rural California, and the privileged, problematic world of publishing.
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Becky Tuch discusses founding The Review Review, motherhood, creativity, and the future of literary magazines.
...moreThe technology news site CNET has begun publishing a crowdsourced science fiction novel. The project started with National Novel Writing Month, when CNET’s Erick Mack introduced the idea, calling it “MMOSFN: Massively Multiwriter Online Science Fiction Novel.” The novel, Crowd Control, will be published in installments.
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If your family or your people are looking over your shoulder, change your seat or push them away. Ask them to trust you with the truth.
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Tania James discusses her most recent novel, The Tusk That Did the Damage, the challenges of writing an elephant narrator, and the moment when she knew she could be a writer.
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Brendan Jones talks about his debut novel, The Alaskan Laundry, living in Alaska, his time as a Wallace Stegner Fellow, and living and loving what you write.
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Anne Enright, author of, most recently, the novel The Green Road, talks with Elizabeth Isadora Gold about motherhood in reality and in fiction, and writing beyond labels and easy definitions.
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Author Jedediah Berry talks about interactivity in fiction, the various forms a story can take, and his goals in founding his own press.
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Miroslav Penkov discusses his debut novel, Stork Mountain, Balkan history, and the difficulties and rewards of being a bilingual writer.
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Writer and historian Minsoo Kang talks about his new translation of The Story of Hong Gildong, a touchstone novel of Korea written in the 19th century.
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Manuel Gonzales talks about his new novel, The Regional Office is Under Attack!, transitioning from nonprofit work to teaching, and how to zig when a trope wants you to zag.
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Keith Lee Morris discusses his latest book Traveler’s Rest, Lewis and Clark, and how writing a novel about dreams requires much more than sleep.
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My ambition is personal. I don’t think I need to succeed so that the race can succeed.
...moreShould you really follow your bliss? What is really behind Flint’s water crisis? Will Facebook become even more of a virtual reality? Novelists are the best at seeing inside the mind of a terrorist.
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Anthony Marra discusses his latest book, The Tsar of Love and Techno, how humor affects literature, how absurdity affects war, and what makes the perfect mixtape.
...moreThe great first sentence is not just a step on the path to a story but its own self-sufficient enterprise. Is it so easy to extract because it was unnaturally grafted on in the first place? We all know the obvious importance of a first sentence, that hook that invites you to read through a novel completely. […]
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Dean Koontz talks about his newest novel, Ashley Bell, overcoming self-doubt, and “what this incredibly beautiful language of ours allows you to do.”
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Sharon Oard Warner discusses her latest book, Sophie’s House of Cards, Breaking Bad, how a sense of place informs fiction, and the Republican war on Planned Parenthood.
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Valeria Luiselli talks about her new novel, The Story of My Teeth, working with a translator to publish her books in English, and how writing in weekly installments changed her process.
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Chinelo Okparanta talks about her debut novel, Under the Udala Trees, her upcoming appearance at Portland’s Wordstock book festival, and LGBTQ rights in America and worldwide.
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Author and agent Bill Clegg talks about his new novel, Did You Ever Have A Family, grief in fiction and in life, and why there is no finish line except the final finish line.
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Liz Matthews reviews Juventud by Vanessa Blakeslee.
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Garth Risk Hallberg talks about his debut, City on Fire, living in New York City now and in the ’70s, and the anxiety and gratitude you feel when your first novel generates so much buzz.
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Author Matt Bell talks video games, fiction, nonfiction, politics, empathy, and his new books, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Scrapper.
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