-
First Fiction 2014: Kenya’s Destiny - Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
Zigzagged and constructed out of a thousand detours,” is how Kenya-native Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor describes her trajectory as a writer, which reached another turning point on January 28 with the publication of her novel Dust by Knopf.
-
First Fiction 2014: Bare Knuckles - Mike Harvkey
Is there any place more hopeless than rural Missouri?
-
And Justice for All...Lisa Bloom
In summer 2013, civil rights attorney and legal analyst Lisa Bloom covered the trial of George Zimmerman—who was accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla.—for NBC.
-
First Fiction 2014: Three Stories Worth the Risk - Violet Kupersmith
It all started when Violet Kupersmith’s writing mentor, Valerie Martin, sent three stories from her Mt. Holyoke undergraduate senior thesis to agent Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Literary Agency.
-
The Wizard of Omaha: Timothy Schaffert
According to native Nebraskan Timothy Schaffert, his fifth novel, The Swan Gondola (Riverhead, Feb.), which is about star-crossed lovers and is set against the backdrop of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair, was inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
-
Hollywood in Wartime: Mark Harris
Mark Harris, like all native New Yorkers, talks real estate with zest and rue. He points out the picture window of his 26th-floor apartment on Manhattan’s West Side, the view about to be ruined by construction across the street.
-
Breaking Boundaries: Isabel Allende
After selling 60 million copies of her books, earning 14 honorary degrees, and racking up more than 50 awards, Isabel Allende is trying something new: a blood and guts thriller.
-
Oregon’s Past: Phillip Margolin
Set in 1860s Oregon, Margolin's new novel centers on a freed slave whose daughter is being kept illegally as a slave by a shady, cruel lawyer.
-
A Debut Novel’s Long Road to Publication: Mary Miller
The path to publishing a first novel is a winding one for many authors.
-
Fiction into Fact: Gary Shteyngart
“I can’t stand Russian food,” Gary Shteyngart tells me, wincing politely at my restaurant list.
-
The Leaping Mind: Lorrie Moore
As Lorrie Moore prepares for the publication of her seventh book, the author reflects on her influences, motivations, and publishing in "Seventeen" magazine.
-
East Side, West Side, All Around the Town: Brandon Stanton
On the streets of New York City with Brandon Stanton, the photographer-blogger phenom behind "The Humans of New York."
-
“Wonderfully Strange” World of Richard Powers
In his new novel, Orfeo (Norton, Jan.), Richard Powers tells the story of Peter Els, whose curiosity, combined with his hobbies, upends his life and sends him on the run from authorities in the wake of 9/11.
-
PW’s Top 10 Authors Pick Their Favorite Books of 2013
We asked each of the authors of Publishers Weekly’s top 10 books of 2013 to share the title that he or she found most captivating this year.
-
It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World: Roddy Doyle
Twenty-five years ago, Roddy Doyle, then a schoolteacher, published The Commitments, a novel about an imaginary band from his working-class neighborhood in Dublin.
-
Doris Lessing: A PW Profile
A vintage profile of Doris Lessing from 1969, upon her first visit to America as "The Four-Gated City" was being published.
-
Exploring the Dark Places: Lisa Unger
Lisa Unger, 43, has always been drawn to places that seem idyllic yet seethe with hidden treachery.
-
By the Book: Gabrielle Zevin
Gabrielle Zevin’s fictional indie bookseller A.J. Fikry is so authentic, his New England bookstore, Island Books, so perfectly realized, that undoubtedly members of the bookselling and publishing communities will recognize themselves—or their colleagues—in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.
-
Persistence over Resistance: Donal Ryan
The story of Donal Ryan’s struggle to find a publisher for The Spinning Heart has been so often told that Ryan now worries it will overshadow the book itself.
-
An Author Ponders Success Abroad, Struggles In the U.S.
David Vann might be one of the most accomplished American authors you’ve never heard of.