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Category: Research Notes

  • The Man Who Walked Away

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Maud Casey writes about The Man Who Walked Away from Bloomsbury. + My most recent novel is “inspired by” (in TV docudrama parlance) a 19th century French psychiatric case study. It…

  • The Conductor and Other Tales

    Our Translation Notes series invites literary translators to describe the process of bringing a recent book of fiction into English. In this installment, Edward Gauvin writes about translating The Conductor and Other Tales by Jean Ferry (Wakefield Press). + Jean Ferry and Raymond Roussel: What a Tangled Web We Weave When at First We Begin…

  • Humboldt, or The Power of Positive Thinking

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Scott Navicky writes about Humboldt: Or, the Power of Positive Thinking from CCLaP Publishing. + footnotesfootnotesfootnotes When my publisher first floated the idea of doing an annotated edition of my debut…

  • The Bear

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Claire Cameron writes about The Bear from Little, Brown. + Algonquin Park It’s a huge wilderness area in Ontario where I used to lead canoe trips. During those years, there was…

  • Soy Sauce For Beginners

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Kirstin Chen writes about Soy Sauce for Beginners from New Harvest Books. + To Soy Sauce Enlightenment and Back My mother was visiting me in San Francisco, and after a string…

  • What Ends

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Andrew Ladd writes about What Ends from New Issues Press. + I grew up in Scotland, so you might think writing a novel set there would be easy. Throw in a…

  • Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Phong Nguyen writes about Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History from Queen’s Ferry Press. + Ground Rules At a certain point, during the writing of Pages from the Textbook of…

  • A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Rachel Cantor writes about A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World from Melville House. + Evading the Scramasax Leonard, complaints guy for a national…

  • The Heart of June

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Mason Radkoff writes about The Heart of June from Braddock Avenue Books. + RESEARCH FROM WITHIN In an instant, I just had him. Walking alone by the Atlantic Ocean, having been…

  • Mr Darwin’s Gardener

    Our Translation Notes series invites literary translators to describe the process of bringing a recent book of fiction into English. In this installment, Emily Jeremiah writes about co-translating Mr Darwin’s Gardener by Kristina Carlson (Peirene Press). + Kristina Carlson’s Mr Darwin’s Gardener is a daring, witty, and profound novel about reason and faith, science and…

  • I Stole The Rain

    Our Translation Notes series invites literary translators to describe the process of bringing a recent book of fiction into English. In this installment, Lisa McCreadie writes about translating I Stole The Rain by Elisa Ruotolo (Frisch & Co). + What initially struck you about the book when you first read it? I think what first…

  • Creature

    Our Research Notes series invites authors to describe their research for a recent book, with “research” defined as broadly as they like. This week, Amina Cain writes about Creature from The Dorothy Project. + 1. rejection in The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras 2. California   3. a cameo necklace 4. Dorothea in George Eliot’s Middlemarch…