Annabel Lyon's passion for historical novels and her love of ancient Greece make her lecture on the process of creating characters of historical fiction captivating. She discusses the process of wading through historical sources-and avoiding myriad pitfalls-to craft believable people to whom readers can relate. Finding familiarity with figures from the past and then, with the help of hindsight, discovering their secrets, are the foremost tools of the historical novel writer. Readers interested in the literary creative process and in writing or reading historical fiction will find Lyon's comments insightful and intriguing.
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Lyon discusses the process of creating believable characters of historical fiction; in particular, ancient Greek women.
Front Flap: I realized very, very early on in my research into the ancient world that I had embarked on a two-book project. The Golden Mean is a male novel representing a male world: the public world of politics and warfare and intellectual ambition and the battle for influence. There are no major female characters in the novel, no conventional love story; I actually received a rejection from a foreign publisher on the grounds that the novel read as though it had been written by a man. (How, I wonder, do they reject male writers?) I always knew I wanted to write a companion piece that would look at the female side of this world: the world of slaves and kitchens and hearths, the domestic world, and also-in contrast to the cool rationalism of Aristotle-the religion, superstition, and magical practices that were traditionally associated with women. Back Cover: Annabel Lyon's passion for historical novels and her love of ancient Greece make her lecture on the process of creating characters of historical fiction captivating. She discusses the process of wading through historical sources-and avoiding myriad pitfalls-to craft believable people to whom readers can relate. Finding familiarity with figures from the past and then, with the help of hindsight, discovering their secrets, are the foremost tools of the historical novel writer. Readers interested in the literary creative process and in writing or reading historical fiction will find Lyon's comments insightful and intriguing. Back Flap: Annabel Lyon's first novel, The Golden Mean, was published in 2009 and was the only book nominated that year for all three of Canada's major fiction prizes: the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, which she won. It was named the MacEwan Book of the Year 2010/11. Her first books are Oxygen (2000) and The Best Thing for You (2004), which was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She lives in New Westminster, BC. Cover image: John Greer, City Sirens (detail), 2009. 4 elements, cast aluminium, each figure 71" x 27" x 8" (180 cm x 67 cm x 20 cm). Photo by Raoul Manuel Schnell. Used by permission.
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"[Imagining Ancient Women] lays out the processes of researching historical sources for useable material in creating believable characters, backgrounds, scenarios, and stories that contemporary readers can readily relate to. Informed, informative, insightful, scholarly, 'reader friendly', of immense and immediate practical value, Imagining Ancient Women is highly recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library Literary Studies and Writer Reference collections and supplemental reading lists." Wisconsin Bookwatch, May 2012 "[This public lecture] gives first-person insight into the golden aura of fiction, the place where reality is transformed and enhanced by visceral imagination... Her first-person approach to history with human perspective gives empirical reality to her characters, male and female, living in the moment. Her Kreisel lecture not only provides insight into her process, but is a valuable primer on writing real history through the telling of personal stories." Linda Rogers, The Malahat Review, Winter 2012
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Foreword/liminaire, introduction

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780888646293
Publisert
2012-03-23
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Alberta Press
Vekt
200 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
133 mm
Dybde
5 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
68

Forfatter

Biographical note

Annabel Lyon, a Vancouver-based fiction writer and teacher, is the author of several books, including her acclaimed historical novel, The Golden Mean (2009), which was nominated for all three of Canada's major fiction prizes: the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award for English language fiction and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, which she won. Curtis Gillespie has written three books, The Progress of an Object in Motion, Someone Like That, and Playing Through, and his journalism is widely published. He has won numerous awards for his fiction and non-fiction, including the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and three National Magazine Awards. His latest novel is Crown Shyness. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and two daughters.