![]() ![]() ![]() With a Science degree from Toronto, a Masters in Science and Technology Policy from Strathclyde, and PhD in Sociology of Religion from Bangor, Lord is the author of several books, including the award-winning Redemption in Indigo. Karen Lord, a speculative fiction writer with a multifaceted background as a physicist, diplomat and soldier, was born in Barbados in 1968. Known for his commentary on marginalisation in India, he discussed his debut novel, Leila. Prayaag Akbar was born in Calcutta in 1982, and has degrees in Economics from Dartmouth College and Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics. This discussion, chaired by journalist and author Afua Hirsch, was between two writers of speculative fiction focusing on exploring the kinds of societies that can be envisaged by the genre. ![]() Prayaag Akbar and Karen Lord with Afua Hirsch: Spectacular New Futures ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() When I put together a portfolio as the end-of-course assignment for HKU undergraduate Creative Writing course. I had to write something, because there was an assignment to be done.Ĭan you list some important moments in your early experiences as a poet? It’s my sexuality, but I didn’t see it as a source of inspiration. But serious creative writing only began in 2010, when I officially started my MFA at City University of Hong Kong.ĭo you remember what inspired you to write your first poems? The first poem was written when I was in my third year at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), when Professor Shirley Geok-lin Lim was teaching Creative Writing there. How many years have you been writing poetry? This interview is part of a study that charts the recent development of local Anglophone poetics in Hong Kong and Singapore and connects each city to a wider narrative of the evolving Asian city experience. He launched the literary journal R.ed at the Education University of Hong Kong, and is the first ever Asian to have won the prestigious Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry (2015) as well as the Peter Porter Poetry Prize (2018), putting Hong Kong poetry and writing on the world literary map. Nicholas Wong is an award-winning poet, educator, promoter of literature and the arts, and a pioneering member of the English-language poetry and literary community in Hong Kong. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho and Jason Eng Hun Lee interview Nicholas Wong ![]() ![]() ![]() Just for spice, there's a really good love story, too. “This one is too good for words.” ― The New York Times Book Review “Hamilton … understands what's truly scary, what's truly suspenseful.” ― The Washington Post “ The Lock Artist is superior in every way: intriguing, carefully crafted characters and a devious plot, all told in the haunting voice of a young man who has no voice. The Lock Artist is the winner of the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Steve Hamilton steps away from his Edgar Award-winning Alex McKnight series to introduce a unique new character, unlike anyone you've ever seen in the world of crime fiction. ![]() ![]() Until he finally sees his chance to escape, and with one desperate gamble risks everything to come back home to the only person he ever loved, and to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long. ![]() A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime. Whether it's a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. But you can call me Mike." Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. "I was the Miracle Boy, once upon a time. ![]() ![]() The prickly Mimi reluctantly complies with a few stipulations: No Ivy-Leaguers or English majors. Now Mimi must write a new book for the first time in decades, and to ensure the timely delivery of her manuscript, her New York publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. But after falling prey to a Bernie Madoff-style ponzi scheme, she s flat broke. Mimi Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years. ![]() ![]() ![]() A sparkling talent makes her fiction debut with this infectious novel that combines the charming pluck of Eloise, the poignant psychological quirks of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the page-turning spirit of Where d You Go, Bernadette. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And the book shifts to mystery, a different type of suspense, the tone changing dramatically, as Micah tries to figure out what happened to Zach, and, now that she's being honest with us, her role in it.įirst person narrators aren't always unreliable. All the clues are there for the reader to figure it out. Then, suddenly, half way through the book, Micah shares it. What is it? What secrets have turned Micah into such a liar? As Micah says, " Weaving lies is one thing having them weave you is another." Larbalestier creates such a sense of foreboding - of impending doom - that the reader can almost taste it. What is true? When can you believe a liar? And with the family illness that got passed down to her, she is almost forced to lie.īut reader. Her father, she tells us, is also a liar. She cannot help herself it's not just a bad habit, it's something she inherited. Micah tells you about herself, her school, Zach (the senior who just went missing), her family. She knows she has to stop and on page one of Liar, she promises to tell you her whole story with no lies. ![]() The Plot: Micah is a senior in high school. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Perhaps it’s because I am not yet ready to diverge them from their inspiration, to stem that momentum of discovery, the excitement of new friendship that seems to form a story of itself. I’ve not yet found actual names for Handsome Man, Heroic Chin, and Freud Girl, but it doesn’t seem to matter. ![]() The story is still coming in waves, surging ideas crashing onto the page faster than I can type. Forced to stay put while the authorities search the building, Freddie and three others strike up a friendship that inspires Freddie to finally start writing her book: She’s idly glancing over her fellow Reading Room occupants and giving them nicknames in her head when a scream rends the air. Our narrator, Freddie, is an Australian author who’s received a fellowship to research her next novel in the United States. The book’s core is the story of four people brought together by a hair-raising scream while they’re all seated in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library. What a delightfully meta-textual examination of writing in the 21st century! With The Woman In The Library, Sulari Gentill has written a truly thought-provoking modern crime fiction novel-one that entertains and enthralls at a high level while still keeping at least one foot grounded in reality. ![]() ![]() Valmiki shares his heroic struggle to survive a preordained life of perpetual physical and mental persecution and his transformation into a speaking subject under the influence of the great Dalit political leader, B. ![]() India's untouchables have been forced to accept and eat joothan for centuries, and the word encapsulates the pain, humiliation, and poverty of a community forced to live at the bottom of India's social pyramid.Īlthough untouchability was abolished in 1949, Dalits continued to face discrimination, economic deprivation, violence, and ridicule. "Joothan" refers to scraps of food left on a plate, destined for the garbage or animals. ![]() Omprakash Valmiki describes his life as an untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the 1950s. ![]() ![]() It was so amazing to watch two women who were so close and had essentially built this bond and relationship go in two different directions based on their experiences in the community. I have trouble with books with multiple perspectives some times because the voices end up blending together and sounding similar however, in the case of this book I must admit that Drayden did a fabulous job fleshing out these two characters and their journeys and experiences. Seska and Adalla were fascinating characters that were so distinctively different (this book has a sapphic romance as well as representation of polyamourous relationships). Two of my favorite aspects of this book were the plot development and the writing. Each travels on this journey of self-discovery/identity all in hopes of providing the best for their community. ![]() It's written in dual perspective and the reader gets the perspective of Seska (the heir to the throne) as well as Adalla (beast worker). Trigger Warnings: body horror, violence, death, slavery.Įscaping Exodus focuses on this matriarchal alien (this is the best way I know how to describe them without really giving away too much) society that inhabits a beast/huge creature that travels through space. ![]() I wasn't sure what to expect, but I definitely thought that this was a great read. I don't even truly know where to begin with my review because honestly this was my first dive into this intense of a sci-fi book. ![]() ![]() ![]()
![]() ![]() ![]() The book should be classified as a young adult, psychological thriller that borders on horror - a very scary, well written, thought provoking story that is a fast paced page turner and well worth the read. The story ends leaving open the possibility for a sequel. Many issues are addressed in this story including greed, selfishness, and heroism. The story gets really intense when a student dies from a severe allergic reaction when she eats a cookie laced with peanuts that was delivered in a gift box to her door. We meet several students who begin to use the site, but before long, they are being asked to do things in payment for their "need" that don't always seem right. ![]() Kaylee is introduced to the website by her best friend, Nate, whose brother, Jack, has been active already on the site. As we quickly learn, the website doesn't give things without a cost. The purpose of the website it to grant the "needs" of students who join. NEED is the story of a social network website that targets students at a high school in which the protagonist, Kaylee is a student. ![]() We should all know better." These statements from the front of the book really set the theme. I can't really call it a favorite, but it was so well done, I want to read other books by Joelle Charbonneau like her Testing series. ![]() |