I gave a talk on Doris Lessing’s early life and young motherhood at De Balie on May 29, as part of a special evening on Lessing in the series Grote Denkers. I also discussed Lessing and mothering with journalist and columnist Sarah Sluimer. More info and a video of the evening can be found at […]
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Lesley Nneka Arimah: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
“The sort of fiction that picks you up and puts you down in another place.” A new review on 4Columns.
Read More ...Sam Maggs at ABC
Sam Maggs, author of WONDER WOMEN and THE FANGIRL’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, will talk about women in geek culture, feminism, science, and more at Spui25, Amsterdam, on Monday, March 27. I’ll do the Q & A. You can…
Read More ...Kay Redfield Jamison: Setting the River on Fire
“There may be no other writer who could shed so much light on Lowell’s private dysphoria or the public courage of his persistence.” A new review on 4Columns.
Read More ...Writing, Mothering, Collecting: An Interview with A.S. Byatt
“I think most of my life I’ve felt very lucky, because I expected not to be able to write books, and I never really wanted to do anything else.” Interview on LitHub.
Read More ...Michael Chabon: Moonglow
Michael Chabon’s new novel is a sneaky self-portrait of a writer pulling off a confidence game. My review is on 4Columns.org.
Read More ...Le Guin symposium Dec. 2016
This December 2-3 the University of Oregon will hold a symposium to honor the life and work of Ursula K. Le Guin. Tentative guest speakers are novelist Karen Joy Fowler, comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Professor Brian Attebery, editor of the Library of America’s Le Guin series. I’ll be there to moderate a […]
Read More ...Elena Ferrante in the light of James Tiptree, Jr.
The recent “outing” of the Italian author, or authors, who work under the name Elena Ferrante has sparked a furious discussion in the literary world. For two decades no one knew who was writing Ferrante’s hugely popular books—until this month, when Italian investigative journalist Claudio Gatti announced that their creator was Anita Raja, a literary […]
Read More ...Person from Porlock Day
Sometime between October 9 and 14, 1797, Coleridge wrote the poem “Kubla Khan” but was interrupted before he finished it by “a person on business from Porlock.” So instead of America’s Columbus Day, the second Monday in October should really be Porlock Day. I propose we spend this day celebrating, not adventure, conquest, and exploitation, but…
Read More ...The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin
My profile of Ursula K. Le Guin is in this week’s New Yorker. The contributors’ page reveals something I’ve been keeping under wraps for a long time now: that I’m working on her biography. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/the-fantastic-ursula-k-le-guin
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