A “living classic,” Sorokin pushes boundaries by writing about a Russia rife with violence, coprophilia, violence, rape, violence, aliens, violence, clones and more violence. He makes his American debut in New York this weekend at the PEN World Voices Festival. By Daniel Kalder At the London Book Fair earlier this month, Russia was featured as Guest of Honor. Nearly every Russian …
Literary “Rock Star” Steve Almond Does D.I.Y. and Walks Away With Fistfuls of Cash
By David Duhr I’m standing awkwardly on the dais steps between a seated Steve Almond and a line of fans waiting to buy signed copies of his three self-published books: Letters From People Who Hate Me, This Won’t Take But a Minute, Honey, and Bad Poetry. Cash only, with a heaping pile of the stuff on the table beside him. Calling …
True Holiday Spirit: Author Turns Going-Out-of-Print into Act of Charity
By Laurel Snyder ATLANTA: Recently, I got a very sad letter from Random House, explaining that my first children’s novel, Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, was going out of print in hardcover. The warehouse was writing to see if I was interested in purchasing copies of my book, at a deep discount, before it went to auction, and ended …
Hungarian for Inspiration
• Andrew Ervin, author of the collection of linked novellas Extraordinary Renditions discusses the woeful lack of Hungarian literature translated into English and offers a survey of titles that are available and should not be missed. By Andrew Ervin Though I lived in Budapest for over four years, from November 1994 to March 1999, my grasp of the Hungarian language …
Is Writing for the Web a “Fools Bargain”?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story features an interview with Jaron Lanier, philosopher and author of You Are Not a Gadget, in which he says, “If the future is one in which writers are not paid, then it also is one in which writers lack clout. And if it’s a future in which writers lack clout, then what we have …
A Little Slap-and-Tickle: The Double Life of Author/Bookseller Deborah Willis
By Deborah Willis VICTORIA, B.C.: In one of my lives, I’m a writer. This means, essentially, that I contemplate the human experience while wearing my pajamas. This writer –– let’s call her Deborah Willis––prefers to be alone. Her shoulders are hunched from bending over a notebook and her eyes are strained from the computer screen. Fortunately, there’s another me, and …
Second Novel Sophomore Slump: Myth or Reality?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s feature story Glenn Taylor writes about the various questions an author is confronted with on publishing a book. One of those questions is whether or not there really is a sophomore slump. It’s an important question, particularly for Taylor, who is facing pressure to deliver a follow-up to a debut that was unexpectedly shortlisted for …
The Man from Tralfamadore: A Conversation with Rodrigo Fresan
By Lewis Manalo NEW YORK: I take the author Rodrigo Fresan to Café Reggio, telling him that the wood-paneled café is the first place in New York City to serve cappuccinos. He’s come to New York City for the PEN World Voices Festival, and in about an hour he will participate in a reading at Deutsches Haus on Washington Mews. …
Twisted Spoon Press on “Trickle-Up Publishing”
By Amanda DeMarco PRAGUE: In an April 15th New York Times Op-Ed piece, Olga Tokarczuk ruminated on Polish public response to the recent plane crash that had killed the Polish president and 95 other people: “…sometimes I fear that the people of my country can unite only beside victims’ bodies, over coffins and in cemeteries…I dream of Poland becoming a …
Can Being a Bad Blogger Hurt an Author’s Career?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s lead story Neil Gaiman, Emily Benet and a bevy of industry pros offer their thoughts about blogging and why it’s (mostly) a good idea to do it. It is received wisdom these days that all authors should be blogging. But is that true? What if an author is simply unsuited to it? Or is incapable …