Tag: memoir

Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Fetishized author Kaila Yu reads and writes about body

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My Reading Life: Fetishized author Kaila Yu reads and writes about body

In her debut memoir-in-essays, former model Kaila Yu writes about being an object of Asian fetish with a sharp eye and eye-opening candor. Throughout Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty, Yu peels back the curtain on the personal, cultural, and historical forces that shaped her self-image, exposing how pop culture, colonialism, and desire intertwined to distort both her sense of beauty and her sense of self.

We asked her to answer our My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut book.

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Interviews

Keeonna Harris interviews Keeonna Harris

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Keeonna Harris interviews Keeonna Harris

Every now and then, I like to ask writers, “Is there a question you’d like me to ask?” I’m always surprised by the types of questions they’d want to ask themselves, so I decided to take the idea of the self-interview and give writers some restraints.

One. Use Who/What/When/Where/Why questions.

Two. Have fun.

Our latest Debuti-Self Interview features Keeonna Harris, author of the debut memoir Mainline Mama, which explores self-resilience, family, and community. Prior to her memoir, she was awarded numerous honors, including a 2018–2019 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, a 2021 Tin House Summer Residency, a 2023 Baldwin For The Arts Residency, and a 2023 Hedgebrook Fellowship as the 2023 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence.

But enough from me. Let’s turn it over to Keeonna Harris.

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Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love
My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love

Erika J. Simpson, author of the memoir This Is Your Mother, is a recent transplant to Denver after spending her life in the South. She received her MFA from the University of Kentucky and received the 2021 MFA Award in Nonfiction. Her essay “If You Ever Find Yourself” was published in Roxane Gay’s The Audacity and featured in Best American Essays 2022.

Her memoir is a powerful reckoning with legacy, loss, and the shifting terrain between mother and daughter. Through scripture-steeped memories and raw reflections, Erika Simpson traces her mother’s mythic resilience and the moment it gave way to mortality. In peeling back the layers of her mother’s story, she uncovers her own.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her, and the books that shaped her life, better.

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writing

Read an excerpt from Wrong Is Not My Name: Notes on (Black) Art by Erica N. Cardwell

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Read an excerpt from Wrong Is Not My Name: Notes on (Black) Art by Erica N. Cardwell

Erica N. Cardwell‘s debut book is more than a memoir. It’s a meditative essay collection that includes cultural criticism. In Wrong Is Not My Name: Notes on (Black) Art, Cardwell balances introspective musings with larger, eye-opening explorations into our society.

Today, we have a brief Q&A with the author and an excerpt from “Thunder,” an essay in Wrong is Note My Name.

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Interviews

Annie Liontas on brain injuries, Lit Friends, and hidden stories

by Adam1 Comment on Annie Liontas on brain injuries, Lit Friends, and hidden stories
Annie Liontas on brain injuries, Lit Friends, and hidden stories

This website didn’t exist when Annie Liontas published their debut novel Let Me Explain You in 2015. If we did it would have been named a Best Debut Book of 2015. Readers have waited a long time for the follow-up to their debut and luckily for all of us, their debut memoir Sex with a Brain Injury is equally as brilliant.

We caught up with Annie Liontas to see what life has been like since 2015, what writing their memoir was like, and what the future holds.

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Recommendations

The Best Debut Books of 2023

by Adam4 Comments on The Best Debut Books of 2023
The Best Debut Books of 2023

Last year, after the Best Debut Books of 2022 came out, someone asked me what makes a debut book stand out. I responded, like I often do on the podcast, that it’s all about the vibe. Does it make me feel cozy? Do I want to live in the world for one reason or another? Whether it’s a dystopian horror or a sex-fueled romp, it’s really all about the writing. Is it damn good? That’s what I want.

I also have to have read it. I think often times readers view lists as a monolith of what the best books of the year were. Debutiful’s list will be very different from other lists because it’s Debutiful’s POV that is captured here. There are hundreds of debut books published and, on average, I can read around 150 titles. This list isn’t the end all be all, but if you read and listen to Debutiful, I think these are the best debuts that people who discover debut authors via Debutiful will enjoy.

This year’s best debut debut books feature a wide variety of style, tone, and genre.

You can support Debutiful by purchasing the books listed from our Bookshop.org page.

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