Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover each month.
Continue reading “10 noteworthy debut books you should read this June”10 noteworthy debut books you should read this June
Tag: fiction
My Reading Life: The Ones We Loved author Tarisai Ngangura wants children to cultivate a genuine love of reading
Tarisai Ngangura is a journalist originally from Zimbabwe, whose writing has appeared in Rookie Mag, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, and the Globe and Mail. Now, her debut novel The Ones We Loved has hit bookstores. The debut is about two young strangers fleeing personal tragedy who find solace in each other while traversing a haunted landscape of grief, memory, and myth. Rooted in Zimbabwean storytelling traditions, the novel explores love, exile, and the enduring human search for belonging.
We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life better.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: The Ones We Loved author Tarisai Ngangura wants children to cultivate a genuine love of reading”My Reading Life: Portalmania author Debbie Urbanski was obsessed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a child
After releasing her debut novel After World in 2023, Debbie Urbanski is back with her debut short story collection Portalmania. The collection explores any and every genre from sci-fi and fantasy to horror and realism. It’s the perfect book for anyone looking for supernatural escapism that is dripping with the grounded and unique characters.
We asked Urbanski to answer our recurring My Reading Life so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Portalmania author Debbie Urbanski was obsessed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a child”12 noteworthy debut books you should read this May
Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover each month.
Continue reading “12 noteworthy debut books you should read this May”My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa
Roohi Choudhry’s debut novel Outside Women follows two migrant women, Sita in 1890s South Africa and Hajra in modern-day New York, whose lives are separated by a century but connected by a shared pursuit of justice. As Hajra uncovers Sita’s hidden history, the novel explores identity, resistance, and the enduring power of solidarity across generations.
She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and has received honors from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hedgebrook, and Djerassi. Her writing spans criminal justice reform, public health, and creative nonfiction, with work appearing in Ploughshares, Callaloo, Longreads, and The Kenyon Review.
We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her better and discover the books that shaped her life.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa”See the covers for Unnamed Press’s three lead debut titles
Thank You, John by Michelle Gurule, Sister Creatures by Laura Venita Green, and Zone Rogue by Michael Jerome Plunkett will all be released this Fall, within a month of each other, from Unnamed Press. The indie press has selected three debuts to be their lead titles for the season instead of building their promotion around established writers. Here at Debutiful, we love that notion, and below we have a combined Q&A with the three debut writers to showcase their exciting and gorgeous debut covers designed by Jaya Nicely.
All three titles are now available for pre-order and more information about each writer and book can be found below.
Continue reading “See the covers for Unnamed Press’s three lead debut titles”5 writers answer: “What’s on your Damn Good Writing syllabus?
We’ve been asking writers “What’s on your Damn Good Writing syllabus” during their My Reading Life questionnaires. Here are five of those writers sharing the books they consider to be out of this world.
Continue reading “5 writers answer: “What’s on your Damn Good Writing syllabus?”My Reading Life: Leafskin author Miranda Schmidt wishes she found Kissing the Witch in high school
Miranda Schmidt‘s debut novel Leafskin is about motherhood, queer love, and the environment. She is a PhD candidate at Bath Spa University and received their MFA from the University of Washington, and has published work in places like Electric Literature, Orion, Catapult, and elsewhere. She has received support from Lambda Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Writers and Bread Loaf Environmental Conference.
We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers can discover the books that shaped her life.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Leafskin author Miranda Schmidt wishes she found Kissing the Witch in high school”6 writers recommend books you’re guaranteed to fall in love with
It’s a daunting task to recommend books to someone. What’s their taste, what mood are they in, how do they feel about certain genres, and countless other questions run through my head. So, instead of asking writers to give me recommendations on the spot, I’ve asked them to share books they love. No other qualifications. Just hit Debutiful readers with a book (or a few) they love and think readers will love as well. And, boy, did they deliver!
Here are February’s writer recommendations that Debutiful’s favorite writers guarantee you’ll fall in love with.
Continue reading “6 writers recommend books you’re guaranteed to fall in love with”Writing the Kingston Fossil Plant Catastophe: A Conversation with Jared Sullivan About Valley So Low
Jared Sullivan‘s debut Valley So Low: One Lawyer’s Fight for Justice in the Wake of America’s Great Coal Catastrophe was named a Best Book by The New Yorker, Garden & Gun, and The Washington Independent Review of Books. But like many reported nonfiction debuts, I missed it here at Debutiful. I tend to cover novels, short story collections, essay collections, and memoirs. Still, sometimes a nonfiction title bubbles up to the top of my TBR pile and this book’s topic caught my eye.
In his book, Sullivan chronicles the aftermath of the catastrophic 2008 coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee. Following a small-town lawyer’s uphill battle against the Tennessee Valley Authority, the book exposes systemic negligence, the human cost of corporate greed, and the fight for justice in the face of insurmountable odds.
I needed to learn more about Valley So Low and how Sullivan wrote it. We chatted via email about his work, this book, and what’s next.
Continue reading “Writing the Kingston Fossil Plant Catastophe: A Conversation with Jared Sullivan About Valley So Low”