Latest news with #RachelKushner
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Rachel Kushner: Flaubert is hilarious, cynical and cruel
Rachel Kushner, 56, grew up in Oregon, then San Francisco. After completing a master's in creative writing at Columbia University, she worked as an editor on arts magazines in New York. After she moved to Los Angeles, she started writing fiction. Her debut, Telex from Cuba, was published in 2008. This was followed by The Flamethrowers (2013), The Mars Room (2018), which won the Prix Médicis étranger, and The Hard Crowd (2021), a collection of essays. Her latest novel, Creation Lake, an ambitious and entertaining tale about French eco-activists, a Neanderthal-admiring reclusive thinker and a macho, semi-alcoholic female spy-for-hire with expensive fake breasts, was shortlisted for last year's Booker prize. 'Creation Lake is a smart, funny novel that dares to contemplate the void of uncertainty where we all stand,' was our critic's verdict. Kushner rides motorbikes and is a fan of drag racing. • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List On any given day I might answer this differently because I don't, of course, have just one. That would be so narrow. But today my answer is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. While that's quite guessable and unimaginative as a favourite, given it's considered the most successful novel of all time and the one that cemented the form of this peculiar and incredible genre of art, it's also strong, a strong choice. Do you recall that the first chapter is written in the first-person plural, that there is a 'we' ridiculing young Charles for his bizarre rabbit-fur hat and his rube's demeanour at school, a voice that is presumably a collection of Charles's classmates? We don't meet this 'we' — they are not characters with their own desires and ideas — and instead are mere witnesses to Charles's early failures at sophistication. Although technically the point of view is omniscient, we are mostly thereafter in the thoughts of Emma, a woman who is not satisfied by the life she has acquired and whose desire for worldliness, and her consequent debt, bring her to the bleakest of ends. Flaubert is hilarious, cynical and cruel and also passionate, romantic and ravished. That contradiction perhaps is the heart of this novel's chimerical power. • Colm Tóibín: a writer's last work has a special intensity I am too undecided to choose a single favourite living author but if we narrow it to recent novels by younger writers, I'd like to talk about Emma Cline and The Guest and why I admire that novel about a young woman lying, stealing and grifting among wealthy New Yorkers. The Guest is deliberately structured to pull off the unlikely feat of maintaining the propulsion of a short story for the length of a novel, at which it succeeds. Also, there's a quality to the sentences, as in all of Cline's work, of sensitivity, agility and control. I read her and go: 'Yes, that's exactly right but I never knew that thing could be put into language.' What's odd is I am not the least bit interested in the world of extreme wealth, and part of why The Guest was such a hit was its setting in the Hamptons, where Alex, the narrator, is set loose as a grifter. It's Alex who interests me and whose misconception — that if she can only conform herself to other people's fantasies her problems will be solved — I find so moving. I'm not sure if I'd call this book underrated as much as simply less well known. Its author certainly has the critical reputation he deserves, but Alberto Moravia's Agostino (1944), a novella, really, is the best book I've read about a boy on the cusp of puberty. Agostino is with his mother on summer vacation at the beach and suddenly he can't tolerate being close to her. The world is changing to him because he is changing, and the way that Moravia renders his attitude and the choices he makes perfectly encapsulates what feels so treacherous in adolescence. It's a time in life when a person rejects safety, comfort and guidance, and subjects themselves to the world unchaperoned, to other people who don't care about them, who might humiliate or hurt them. And yet this is what a young person wants — to go out and get banged up by life, instead of stay home and be smothered by safety. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Vintage £9.99 pp416). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members.
Wales Online
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Women's Prize for Fiction ‘greatest honour' as an intersex woman, says winner
Women's Prize for Fiction 'greatest honour' as an intersex woman, says winner Dutch author Yael van der Wouden won the accolade for her debut novel, The Safekeep (left to right) Yael van der Wouden, Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels, Queen Camilla, Charlotte Wood, Percival Everett, and Samantha Harvey during a reception for the Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House, London (Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire ) The winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction has said the award is "the greatest honour of my life as a woman" as she reflected on her experience growing up intersex. Dutch author Yael van der Wouden won the accolade for her debut novel, The Safekeep, and used her winner's speech to champion the trans community, who have "changed the system" and "fought for health care". The book, which explores repressed desire and the unresolved aftermath of the Holocaust in post-Second World War Netherlands, was described as an "astonishing debut" by the head of the judges. The ceremony, held in central London on Thursday, saw the non-fiction prize awarded to physician Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story Of A Heart, which explores the human experience behind organ donation. In her winner's speech, after thanking the judges, van der Wouden said: "I was a girl until I turned 13, and then, as I hit puberty, all that was supposed to happen did not quite happen. "And if it did happen, it happened too much, and all at once my girlhood became an uncertain fact. Article continues below "I won't thrill you too much with the specifics, but the long and the short of it is that, hormonally, I'm intersex. "This little fact defined my life throughout my teens, until I advocated for the health care that I needed. "The surgery and the hormones that I needed, which not all intersex people need. Not all intersex people feel at odds with their gender presentation. "I mention the fact that I did, because in the few precious moments here on stage, I am receiving, truly, the greatest honour of my life as a woman, presenting to you as a woman, and accepting this Women's Prize. "And that is because of every single trans person who's fought for health care, who changed the system, the law, societal standards, themselves. I stand on their shoulders." The NHS website says intersex, or differences in sex development (DSD), is a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs that mean a person's sex development is different to most. In contrast, people who are transgender identify as a gender separate to the sex they were born in and sometimes go through gender-affirming surgery. Van der Wouden's novel follows Isabel, a young woman whose life in solitude is upended when her brother's girlfriend Eva comes to live in their family house in what turns into a summer of obsession, suspicion and desire. The chairwoman of the judges for the fiction prize, writer Kit de Waal, said: "This astonishing debut is a classic in the making, a story to be loved and appreciated for generations to come. Books like this don't come along every day." Van der Wouden will receive £30,000 and a limited-edition bronze statuette known as the Bessie, which was created and donated by artist Grizel Niven. The judging panel for the Women's Prize for Fiction included novelist and journalist Diana Evans, author and journalist Bryony Gordon, writer and magazine editor Deborah Joseph, and musician and composer Amelia Warner. Clarke said she has "literally been a feminist since I was too young to know what that word even meant", as she collected her award. The physician's book recounts two family stories, documenting how medical staff take care of nine-year-old Kiera in her final hours after a car accident, while offering a new life to nine-year-old Max who is suffering from heart failure from a viral infection. Clarke, who is behind the books Breathtaking and Your Life In My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story, will receive £30,000 and a limited-edition piece of art known as the Charlotte, both gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust. The judging panel for the non-fiction prize included writer and broadcaster Dr Leah Broad, whose work focuses on women's cultural history, and novelist and critic Elizabeth Buchan. Article continues below Previous winners of the fiction prize include Tayari Jones for An American Marriage and Madeline Miller for The Song Of Achilles, while the first non-fiction prize was awarded last year to Naomi Klein for Doppelganger: A Trip Into The Mirror World. The awards were announced by the Women's Prize Trust, a UK charity that aims to "create equitable opportunities for women in the world of books and beyond".
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mission Creek 2025 is more than music. Check out these must-see literary events in Iowa City
Mission Creek Festival returns to Iowa City this weekend (April 3-5), offering much more than music. The event also transforms Iowa City into a hub for the literary arts from authors, publishers, and editors. Here is a look at all the literary events through Saturday, including free activities that don't require a festival pass. More: Music on the mind: Here are the must-see acts at the 2025 Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City Thursday: Rachel Kushner will open the slate of literary events on the festival's first night at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at Hancher Auditorium. She'll be joined by one of the music headliners, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, to discuss writing and culture. Kushner is the author of award-winning novels like 'The Flamethrowers,' 'Telex from Cuba,' and her most recent release, 'Creation Lake.' More: Reflect with the Mission Creek Festival's founders as they prepare for year 20 this weekend Friday: The annual Mission Creek Festival Lit Walk returns with several rounds of literary speakers. Embark on a journey through the heart of downtown on Friday, where familiar Iowa City hotspots transform into vibrant stages for a diverse array of voices and stories. The first two rounds of the Lit Walk will be held at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Revival and Willow & Stock. The final round begins at 7:30 p.m. at Prairie Lights. An after-party will be held at 8:30 p.m. at The Greenhouse. All three rounds of the Lit Walk are free and open to the public. More: Six spring events to check out in Iowa City this weekend from free events to plays Saturday: Little Engines' 'Morning, F----rs' is a traveling reading series and is similar to the Lit Walk, but for early risers. It will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at The Tuesday Agency in The Chauncey Building. Readers include Adam Voith, Avery Gregurich, Kyle Seibel, Julián Martinez, Kevin Allardice, Kat Hirsch, Warren C. Longmire, and Mike Nagel. The event is free and open to the public with coffee and donuts. More: ACLU dismisses case from trans Iowa City parent one day after AG Bird sought to intervene Saturday: The Iowa City Expo for Comics and Real Eclectic Alternative Media Zine Fair, or I.C.E. C.R.E.A.M., returns for its eighth year on Saturday. This free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Public Space One, located at 538 S. Gilbert St. The Zine fair highlights the work of local cartoonists, zinesters, and handmade book artists who strive to keep the print medium alive. Saturday: The Small Press and Literary Magazine Book Fair highlights a few local and national presses as well as literary magazines. The 2025 fair will be held Saturday at SpareMe Bowl & Arcade in the Chauncey Building. The fair features dozens of celebrated publications, including Featherproof Books, The Iowa Review, Cleveland Review of Books, and more. The book fair is free and open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. More: New Johnson County Solar Task Force aims for 10% of homes to use solar power by 2035 Saturday: Hosted at FilmScene's Chauncey location in theater 3, 'Literary Translation: Magic, Conversation, and the Art of Community' will feature a literary panel of Will Evans, Bela Shayevich, and Gary Lovely. The speakers will discuss 'the magic and art of translation in literary publishing.' Will Evans is a publisher and translator and founded Deep Vellum Publishing in 2013, 'a nonprofit indie book publisher dedicated to translating the world's best novels into English for American audiences.' Bela Shayevich is a Soviet-American writer and translator, best known for her translation of 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich's 'Secondhand Time.' The doors for the free event will open at 12:30 p.m., and the panel discussion will begin at 1 p.m. More: Apartments, retail and a bank: What's in store for North Liberty's $100M development? Saturday: Srikanth Reddy will join Donika Kelly for a free discussion at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at FilmScene's Chauncey location. Reddy is a poet and professor at the University of Chicago, teaching parody, obscenity, and literary publishing courses. Kelly is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Iowa and the author of 'The Renunciations,' winner of the Anisfield-Wolf book award in poetry. Saturday: University of Iowa alum Torrey Peters will read from her new book 'Stag Dance,' at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Prairie Lights. Peters will also be joined by University of Iowa nonfiction writing program student, Jenny Singer for a conversation. The reading and conversation are both free. More: Spring into Iowa City's busiest concert season with these 8 can't-miss shows Saturday: Neko Case will close out the slate of Mission Creek literary events at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the University of Iowa's Voxman School of Music. Case headlined last year's Mission Creek Festival and has returned to read from her new memoir, "The Harder I Fight the More I Love You," a 'rebellious meditation on identity and corruption.' The ensuing conversation will be moderated by Melissa Febos, a University of Iowa English professor. Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@ or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_ This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: What literary events are set for the 2025 Mission Creek Festival?
