Tag: reading

Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Jamaica Road author Lisa Smith was guided by Annie John and Swing Time 

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My Reading Life: Jamaica Road author Lisa Smith was guided by Annie John and Swing Time 

Lisa Smith’s debut novel, Jamaica Road, is a story about two best friends who grow up, grow apart, and try to find their way back to each other. Set in a close-knit British-Jamaican community, the novel traces one couple’s connection across a decade of upheaval, from the streets of South London to the shores of Calabash Bay.

Smith holds an M.A. in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she won the Pat Kavanagh Prize. She was the recipient of the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize for “Auld Lang Syne” and was named a London Library Emerging Writer in 2020.

We asked the author to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her story.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: Jamaica Road author Lisa Smith was guided by Annie John and Swing Time “ →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows
My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows

Aisling Rawle’s debut novel, The Compound, is a chillingly prescient exploration of reality TV, desire, and survival in a world teetering on collapse. Set on a remote desert compound where twenty contestants compete to outlast each other for luxury rewards and existential purpose, the story follows Lily, a bored and beautiful twenty-something, as she navigates the blurred lines between performance and reality, safety and spectacle, love and manipulation.

We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life.

Continue reading “My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: The Ones We Loved author Tarisai Ngangura wants children to cultivate a genuine love of reading

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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” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Portalmania author Debbie Urbanski was obsessed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a child

by Adam1 Comment on My Reading Life: Portalmania author Debbie Urbanski was obsessed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a child
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” →
Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Outside Women author Roohi Choudry was surrounded by British kids’ books growing up in Pakistan and southern Africa

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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” →