Sure, there’s nothing better than spending two hours in the company of your favorite book. Let’s be real: sometimes fiction gives us what people can’t, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But maybe it’s best we connect with our cherished authors via the page, and keep them out of our social circles. Here are five writer couples whose double date invitation you and your partner should politely decline. Zadie Smith and Nick Laird Image courtesy of New York Social Diary Most of us would give an arm and leg for half of Zadie Smith’s brains and beauty. The british novelist has …
The people behind ‘Refugee Tales‘ are on a mission to change the rhetoric around refugees, asylum seekers, and immigration detainees. They want a “language of welcome”, and they are doing it in an innovative way. On a walk of solidarity with refugees from Dover, UK to Crawley, UK (which is more than 70 miles), writers shared stories and learned from refugees. Next week, Comma Press will be releasing a short story collection entitled, Refugee Tales, an emulation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s 1478 opus, The Canterbury Tales. The original work follows a group of pilgrims as they journey from London to Canterbury, engaging …
Saleem Haddad is a man of many identities. He was born in Kuwait to an Iraqi-German mother and Palestinian-Lebanese father. He has lived in Jordan, Cyprus, Canada, and now London. In addition to being a writer, Saleem has worked extensively with Doctors Without Borders as well as various international organizations devoted to humanitarian issues in the Middle East. Book Buttons Embed ISBN: 9781590517697 The tension between these identities plays central into his debut novel, Guapa. The book, which takes place over a tense 24 hours, tells the story of Rasa, a young gay man living in an unnamed Arab country, …
It may seem like our favorite writers were born with writing genes, went to writer schools, lived writerly days, and channeled all their natural writerliness into, well, writing. Turns out most of them are just like us. Their journeys are winding and weird. These five writers have career paths that are a litte more unconventional, and might provide some comfort to us! Mary Shelley Image courtesy of www.donegaldiaspora.ie Some say the tale of how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to be is better than the work itself. Frankenstein’s monster literally came to her in a dream! During a summer vacation on …
In a surprising turn of events, Karl Ove Knausgaard is working on a new novel. After two years of dredging his personal life in a kind of manic fever, Karl Ove is turning his gaze out at the world, in what seems like a project with considerably lower stakes for the author. In an interview with The Paris Review, the Norwegian literary giant divulged some enticing details regarding his upcoming project, which he has dubbed “a personal encyclopedia of our close surroundings.” According to Mr Knausgaard, the idea came to him following the birth of his fourth and youngest child …
