Month: February 2023

ChatGPT is ominous, but the pen is mightier

A ChatGPT prompt is shown on a device near a public school in Brooklyn, New York, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. New York City school officials started blocking this week the impressive but controversial writing tool that can generate paragraphs of human-like text. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) American schools are woefully unprepared for the emergence of ChatGPT, […]

CBC Literary Prize winners get a writing residency ⁠— Chanel M. Sutherland shares how it’s life-changing

Two-time CBC Literary Prizes winner Chanel M. Sutherland won a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. (Submitted by Chanel M. Sutherland) Chanel M. Sutherland is a two-time CBC Literary Prize winner. She first won the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize for her essay, ‘Umbrella.’ Then in 2022, she won the CBC Short […]

‘Outlander’ Author Diana Gabaldon Drops an Excerpt From Her New Book — Even Though She Admits She Is Not ‘Actively’ Writing It

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon is busy writing the 10th and final book in her popular, long-running literary series. At the same time, she has other projects in the works — including a prequel about Jamie Fraser’s parents and a companion book titled What Frank Knew . Recently, Gabaldon dropped an excerpt from the Frank-focused story. […]

The Cruel Irony Of Being A Humor Writer With Crippling Depression

As a humor writer, I try to write about everything. It’s basically all that I know how to do. But the thing about writing humor is that it sometimes makes me feel like I’m hiding behind a mask and pretending I’m something I’m not. Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m a person who loves to […]

‘Things are definitely opening up’: the rise of older female writers

The literary world is often accused of an obsession with youth, from multiple awards targeted at authors under 40 to publishers who hunt for new voices exclusively among young writers with a thriving – and instantly marketable – social media following. But all that is changing, experts say: older, unpublished writers are now at a […]

‘I inherited my writing skill from my father’: Shanarei Devi Shanu

The Business Standard recently sat down with the Lux Superstar turned actor turned writer to discuss Shanu’s versatile career and inspirations Shanarei Devi Shanu. Two of Shanarei Devi Shanu’s books were published at this year’s Ekushey Boi Mela, a poetry book titled ‘Bhalobashar Epaar Opaar’ and a thriller titled Bhokkhok.’ A budding writer some would […]

For Thomas Mann, the World’s Chaos Is Inside the House

Anyone writing about the German novelist Thomas Mann faces the same problem that Mann himself often did. How do you write about a family with six children? How do you juggle the lives of Erika (b. 1905), Klaus (b. 1906), Golo (b. 1909), Monika (b. 1910), Elisabeth (b. 1918) and Michael (b. 1919)? It would […]

A freelancer writer encounters dread and mystery on assignment in England

Writer and poet Anne Britting Oleson suspends the opening of her engrossing thriller/mystery, “Aventurine and the Reckoning,” between two stories. The first is the death of Shep Genthner. His disappearance has caused grievous consequences for his 20-something son, Paul. The second has Aventurine Morrow, a best-selling nonfiction writer, pursuing a story about Genevieve Smithson, a […]

3 Ways To Use AI for Screenwriting (Other Than Writing a Bad Script)

Let’s confront the elephant in the room of this discussion: Artificial Intelligence (AI) screenwriting programs are incapable of producing great scripts. Although there’s a prevailing notion on social media that AI will soon take over the screenwriting industry, it’s essential not to be swayed by the hype of AI writing. I’ve been fortunate enough to […]

Self-Study, Becoming American and the Art of Translation

“Lezende jongen,” by Frans Hals Molly Young is on leave for the next several months. In her absence, colleagues from the Book Review will pick up the recommendation torch and appear in your inbox every two Saturdays. Dear readers, Every book lover is an autodidact at times; it goes with the territory. There are risks […]