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"What happens if you take the fantastic and the historical and bind them into the same book?" The award-winning author speaks with PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about the mix of magic and reality in his latest novel, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (Random House, 2015).
"When I was writing the first draft of the book, I was maybe six months into it when the Trayvon Martin killing happened in Florida—that had a really powerful impact on me and on the book." Matt Bell, who is featured in the "The Way of the Workshop" in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, talks about his new novel, Scrapper (Soho Press, 2015).
Novels about the immigrant experience; Erica Jong and Roxane Gay’s feminism dispute; the best books about work; and other news.
"There is an effort in this book for the Indian novel in English to be more aware of its literary origins." Aatish Taseer discusses his latest novel, The Way Things Were, which was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in July.
Designed by the French robotics company, Aldebaran, Pepper the robot is able to read emotions and respond accordingly, and has the ability to learn over time. Write a short story imagining that your protagonist has somehow acquired one of these highly sought-after robots. What plans or hopes does he have for Pepper? Will having the robot turn out to be a nightmare or a dream come true?
"When the woman brought the bill, Mom smiled at her and said thank you, which was a lie, because Mom hates when people bring her the bill." Jesse Eisenberg reads from his debut story collection, Bream Gives Me Hiccups, which was released today by Grove Press.
The bestselling author speaks with PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about bird-watching, debates, and his latest novel, Purity (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015), which is featured in Page One in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Jonathan Franzen’s divided reputation; Patrick Modiano’s search for “pre-history”; the qualifications of a critic; and other news.
In the recent animated film, Inside Out, the main character’s mind is steered by five personified emotions—anger, disgust, fear, joy, and sadness. Imagine a scene in which your main character suddenly feels one of these emotions intensely. Jot down a list of colors, sensations, and personality traits you associate with this emotion. For example, if you choose anger, you might find yourself thinking of the color red, heat, erratic gestures and movements, and loud noises. Write a short story in which this emotion completely overtakes your character’s personality, using vivid sensory details to match the atmosphere and tone.
