Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

The shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced today, and among the 6 authors listed was Esi Edugyan, a Canadian novelist born to Ghanaian immigrant parents. She was nominated for her new book Half-Blood Blues, but group members may be familiar with her from her earlier novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne as well as from her inclusion in anthologies such as Revival: An Anthology of the Best Black Canadian Writing.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel written in the English language by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. Here's a link to the whole list, and there is also a link to an interview with Edugyan:

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news...

It would be neat if we could incorporate some prize winners into our LFPOC reads.

It seems that Edugyan is definitely on my wish list. BTW there is a Ghana connection with one of the other Booker shortlisted books, Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman, whose "hero" is actually a Ghanaian boy living in the UK.

Re Rebecca's suggestion of incorporating prize winners: excellent idea, plus they are often more easily available!

go to the members nominate discussion and third, fourth, etc. the nomination o this book. (if I may electioneer)

Rashida wrote: "go to the members nominate discussion and third, fourth, etc. the nomination o this book. (if I may electioneer)"

Rashida, which book are you actually speaking of?

jean, i think rashida is speaking about Half-Blood Blues, by esi edugyan.

rashida: hahahahah @ electioneering.

Sorry, Half Blood Blues.

dear rashida: i just went to the nomination thread to second your nomination of this book and you haven't even nominated it! all the answers you gave on this here thread, you could have nominated it over there five or six times. jeez.

Half Blood Blues doesn't seem to be easy to obtain. Maybe it would be better to hold off until it is more widely available.

I just read that it does not yet have a U.S. publisher. Probably not on very many library shelves.

copied from the nomination thread. I stop short of ballot stuffing:

message 60: by Rashida (last edited Aug 01, 2011 10:12am)
Aug 01, 2011 10:12am

Rashida | 173 comments As jo pointed out in another post, this book was longlisted for the Booker. And it looks interesting. Half Blood Blues

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message 61: by jo
Aug 01, 2011 10:24am

jo | 393 comments i second Half Blood Blues.

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message 62: by Wilhelmina
Aug 01, 2011 03:41pm

Wilhelmina Jenkins | 846 comments Third from me for Half Blood Blues

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message 63: by jo (last edited Aug 01, 2011 04:50pm)
Aug 01, 2011 04:50pm

jo | 393 comments first for me for yvette edwards' A Cupboard Full of Coats, nominated, along with Half Blood Blues, for the 2011 Man Booker Prize.

but, the point is well taken that nobody can lay hands on the thing.

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA LOL LOL LOL. i soooooooooooo knew that was going to bite me. i read the thread a little then thought, nah, i've read enough. but i knew knew knew. lawyers. lawyers with new-born babies. the worst. (you are a lawyer, right? you have a new born baby, right? or am i making an idiot of myself again?).

Well, the newborn is rapidly edging towards teenagerhood (she's 9 months old today!). But without the newborn baby, my lawyer self would have had to add a whole paragraph of argument about how the poster not only inaccurately represented the record, but clearly should be sanctioned for such violations, given her own first hand knowledge of the events at hand.

I just hope that they publish it over here soon, so that we can put it on a poll, and have it lose resoundingly, as all of my choices seem to do. ;)

like! like!

It seems that Half Blood Blues is available in Canada and the UK