The end of the year is traditionally a time of retrospectives and resolutions, a ritual which I tend to resist, but with the end of my sabbatical and my imminent return to teaching, a bit of stock-taking seems inevitable. I was away from the University of California for a little over six months, which sounds [...]
On April 16, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced that there were three finalists for the award in fiction, but no winner—a decision that sparked an outcry in some parts of the literary community. The three finalists were The Pale King, by David Foster Wallace; Swamplandia! by Karen Russell; and Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson. Each [...]
This Thursday, I’ll be reading from my novel, Secret Son, at the 33rd annual Writers’ Week, hosted by the University of California, Riverside. Below are the details: Thursday, February 11, 2010 4:00 PM Reading and Discussion Writers’ Week CHASS INTS 1128 University of California, Riverside Riverside, California Later that evening, Lawrence Wright, the Pulitzer Prize-winning [...]
I like Chris Offutt’s guide to literary terms, which Harper’s Magazine includes in its most recent issue. Here’s a little sample: nonfiction: Prose that is factual, except for newspapers. creative nonfiction: Prose that is true, except in the case of memoir. memoir: From the Latin memoria, meaning “memory,” a popular form in which the writer [...]
Reviews for Fall books are starting to come in. One of the novels I’m most looking forward to reading is Marilynne Robinson’s Home. It was reviewed by Emily Barton in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. Unlike novels that delight in plot twists and structural play, Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gilead” is seemingly straightforward and free of [...]
“A dream of a debut, by turns troubling and glorious, angry and wise. With her spare elegant prose Lalami has constructed a world remarkable for its resilience, its vibrancy, its motion, and yes, its hope.” —Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz, author of Drown “Laila Lalami’s compelling work of fiction provides an anatomy of hope and [...]
On the great Pulitzer do-over for The New York Times Magazine On rape and the culture of silence in Morocco for The Daily Beast On the Arab revolutions for The Guardian On TLC’s “All-American Muslim” for The Wall Street Journal On Rachid Nini for Newsweek On the Mawazine Festival for Foreign Policy On BHL’s defense [...]
