Between 1978 and 1988, the murders of seven women in New Hampshire and Vermont were attributed to the “Connecticut River Valley Killer”. Investigations of several suspects, and one deathbed confession went cold, and the killer was never found. Novelist Joseph Olshan’s “Cloudland,” is a fictionalized crime thriller based on the case. We spoke to Joe Olshan last spring when the book was released, now, it’s out in paperback. He lived in the upper valley when the sixth and final victim was found, and he explained what, as an outsider, he saw happen to local residents.
Most of us read 1984 and Lord of the Flies in high school, but the new dystopian novel has grown in popularity beyond the required reading list to include a new generation of young fans. David Sobel looks at the legion of apocryphal novels set in worlds devastated by wars and environmental collapse now aimed at teens as emblematic of a rising tide of hopelessness. He is a member of the senior faculty at Antioch New England, and his article “Feed the Hunger” was published in the November-December issue of Orion magazine.
Next week the band Level3 will perform at the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton - despite the fact that Level3 is a fictional band.
Confused yet? Not to worry – it’s all part of a new young adult novel called Reunited, in which three young women drive from New England to Texas to see the one-night-only reunion concert of their once-favorite band, Level 3.
It’s a fiction writer’s job to create authentic worlds and suspend disbelief. One of the more time-consuming techniques in their toolbox? Inventing new languages – like the two forms of elvish used throughout J.R.R Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings.Michael Adamsis a professor of English at Indiana
Novels, movies, TV and games engage the human imagination with tragedy, comedy, sex, violence, twisted families, rapacious gangsters, mysteries and monsters. But could all this fantasy be good for us?
Jonathan Gottschallis author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human. He wrote about research into how fiction influences our views for The Boston Globe.
Imagine the Olympics with no gold medal…the prom without a queen...Top Model without a Top Model. Much of the literary world is bereft after the Pulitzer Prize board snubbed the fiction category in this year’s awards. It’s the first time since 1977 that the 'Lords of lit' deemed no book worthy of the honor.
Ready for some creative competition? Weekends on All Things Considered is launching Round 8 of its Three-Minute Fiction contest. Here's what we look for: original, short fiction that can be read in less than three minutes — that's no more than 600 words.
