News

In April, Penguin will be releasing Gods and Soldiers, an anthology of contemporary African writing edited by Rob Spillman.  It includes fiction and non-fiction by writers from all over the continent, including Chris Abani, Chinua Achebe, J.M. Coetzee, Nawal al-Saadawi, Alain Mabanckou, Binyavanga Wainaina, Doreen Baingana, Leila Aboulela, Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Gods and Soldiers also includes an essay I wrote (titled ‘The Politics of Reading’), which I hope you will enjoy reading.  The book comes out April 28.

A bad case of sciatica has been keeping me from this blog.  For the last couple of weeks, I’ve basically been migrating from my bed to my desk, getting work done or sleeping.  I’m sorry things have been so quiet here. More soon.

I was in a faculty meeting yesterday when I heard of the passing of John Updike. Stunning news. He always seemed so full of life I had no idea he had been sick for some time.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my first novel, Secret Son, will be coming out with Algonquin this spring. I will be reading from the book and discussing it at various venues in California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Indiana, Florida, DC, Massachusetts and New York. You can find all the tour details on the events page.  Please come and say hello!

There are some other events in the works, and as soon as I have those confirmed I will post them.

The National Book Critics’ Circle has announced the finalists for its annual book awards.  I was thrilled and surprised to find out that I had made the list for the Nona Balakian, which is the award given for excellence in reviewing.  The other finalists are Michael Antman, Kathryn Harrison, and Todd Shy; the winner is Ron Charles of the Washington Post. I am absolutely delighted for him; this is a richly deserved honor for a wonderful book critic.

The finalists in the fiction category are:

Roberto Bolaño, 2666. Farrar, Straus
Marilynne Robinson, Home, Farrar, Straus
Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project, Riverhead
M. Glenn Taylor, The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, West Virginia University Press
Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kittredge, Random House

You can find list of all finalists in all categories on the NBCC page.