Nothing makes us happier than seeing the talented emerging writers we champion in the pages of Ecotone go on to publish books and reach a wider audience. In Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, Tom Bissell considers Elliot Ackerman’s debut novel, Green on Blue, which is told from the perspective of Aziz, a young Afghan man. “Virtually every artist interested in what’s beyond our ‘tiny skull-sized kingdoms’ (to use David Foster Wallace’s phrase) is guilty of appropriation,” Bissell writes. “Would that it happened more often; if Ackerman’s novel is any indication, there would be fewer wars if it did.” Read Ackerman’s story, “Charlie Balls,” also set in Afghanistan, in Ecotone 16, the migration issue. Congrats, Elliot!
In this week’s prize news, the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards announced their finalists, selected from a record 818 submissions from 407 publishers. The awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books published in 2014, and the winners will be
revealed at a ceremony in June.
Elizabeth McCracken took home The Story Prize this week for her collection Thunderstruck. The acclaimed author’s return to the short story form after more than twenty years earned her the $20,000 top prize. The judges called McCracken’s book electrifying and cited her as a writer with compassion and as a master of the telling detail. Catch up on all the previous winners and finalists, including our own Edith Pearlman.
Last year our staff members seeded a few Little Free Libraries across the country with Lookout books. BookRiot suggests five tips for running a Little Free Library and shares what it means to be a steward of a small, literary hub.
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