At BOMB Magazine, Jean Chen Ho discusses her new novel, Fiona and Jane, which follows a friendship between two women over the course of decades. “Even though they’re not real or based on people in my life,” she says, “I think the characters invoke communities that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of. I’m also not a big ‘representation matters’ person. To have representation is something. But it’s more important to me to just think of my characters as individuals and real human beings. There are people who have mental health issues, who have rage, who love to tell jokes, people who love sex and have a lot of joy.”
The Joy of Writing Real Human Beings with Jean Chen Ho
Never Comfortable
Recommended Viewing: On the improbable triumph of a young black lesbian poet and the efficacy of mentorship.
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Sanitize and Simplify
Recommended reading: The New York Times reports on a growing literary trend – YA nonfiction.
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Literary Doppelgängers Through the Ages
Laurence Scott recounts the best books featuring doppelgängers, from Shakespeare to Agatha Christie to Philip Roth to Joanna Kavenna.
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LA Times Lays Off Reviewers
The Los Angeles Times book review laid off its entire staff of freelance book reviewers.
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