At Slate, Rosecrans Baldwin notes “Pick up just about any novel and you’ll find a throwaway reference to a dog, barking in the distance.” Amazingly enough, he’s right.
In the Distance, a Dog Barked
Ted Hughes’ Lost Poem
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Michael Silverblatt Interviewed
Bomb turns the tables on Michael Silverblatt, the host of KCRW’s Bookworm–this time he’s the one answering questions.
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Recommended Reading: Yoko Ogawa
Recommended Reading: Hotel Iris author Yoko Ogawa’s fiction in Guernica, “The Last Hour of the Bengal Tiger.”
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Taking Bets on the Nobel Prize
Popular bookmakers Ladbrokes have announced their opening odds for the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. Smart money seems to favor Haruki Murakami, who would surely take the prize if it depended on recent book sales. Meanwhile the next two favorites are Joyce Carol Oates (6/1) and Hungarian author Péter Nádas (7/1). All signs point to this being another year of disappointment for Philip Roth’s fans – his odds of winning stand at 16/1.
Immigrant Song
Why are Americans so enamored by immigrant fiction but rarely read anything in translation? David Naimon and Gary Shteyngart discuss this and more in the latest Between The Covers podcast. Shteyngart’s latest book, Little Failure, was part of our 2014 book preview.
“You’re a fiction writing professor.”
“You have a hard time imagining how the things you’ve experienced or discovered, which seem abjectly personal, could be of use to another writer. You’re aware that you can follow every single rule in the book, and still write a crappy story.” The Preservationist author Justin Kramon grapples with the idea of teaching writing to college students.
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Where Can We Get a Copy
Did you know there was such a thing as the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards? It’s true. Since 2007, Australia has named winners annually in six categories (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s fiction, young adult fiction, and Australian history) – and the prize money’s pretty good, too. Speaking of prizes, you might also want to check out the list of U.S. National Book Awards finalists here.
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I just checked my own manuscript. No far off dog barking, but some dog-related imagery. I have one visual image of a dog that isn’t central to the story. Does that count?
I loved this article–and not only because it mentions the wonderful Nic Brown! (He’s a pal.) I’m looking forward to Baldwin’s book.