7 Emerging Novelists You Should Know
With so many new books coming out every year, it can be easy for readers to just stick with tried and true authors. But branching out can open you up to new perspectives and introduce you to great works of literature. If you're looking to read more contemporary novels, check out the seven talented authors listed here. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.
Contemporary Authors To Keep An Eye On
How to Write a Novel
Important Literacy Statistics
- 12%: Percentage of world population that could read and write in 1820
- 86%: Percentage that could read and write in 2015
- 2/3: Illiterate people worldwide who are women
- 85%: Juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system that are functionally illiterate
- More than 60%: Prison inmates who are functionally illiterate
- 90%: Welfare recipients who are high school dropouts
- 2/3: Students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade that end up in jail or on welfare
- 53%: Percentage of fourth grade students who said they read for recreation
- 20%: Percentage of eighth grade students who said the same
- 30 million: Number of U.S. adults who cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level
- 1/6: Young adults who drop out of high school
Organizations That Promote Literacy & Reading
If you want to spread your love of literature with those in need, then you should consider looking into these non-profit organizations that promote literacy for people of all ages
How Fiction Makes Our Brains Better
In Depth
For dedicated readers of fiction, there is a unique pleasure in becoming acquainted for the first time with a talented author. It's thrilling to discover a new and resonant literary voice, all the more so when the creator in question has been overlooked, or is still in the early stages of their novel-writing career. In that spirit of exploration, and in no particular order, we present seven emerging authors well worth a read.
#1 on our list is Lisa Ko, the author of The Leavers. Her debut novel tells a tale of memory, identity, and transformation, through the lens of a young man's search for his birth mother - an immigrant from Fuzhou, China - after her disappearance and his adoption by white parents. Ko's book was inspired by her own mother's gift for storytelling, and by stories of immigrants losing custody of their children to strangers. It has received widespread acclaim, winning Barbara Kingsolver's 2016 PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction, among other plaudits.
Prior to the release of her highly anticipated novel, Ko worked in print and web publishing, co-founding the Asian-American interest magazine Hyphen. She has also written numerous short stories and essays, which have appeared in publications including Narrative, BuzzFeed, and One Story. She offers tutorials and workshops to help aspiring writers develop their craft, and has received a Shearing Fellowship from the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Prior to the release of her highly anticipated novel, Ko worked in print and web publishing, co-founding the Asian-American interest magazine Hyphen.
Next up at #2 is Craig Lancaster, who has written numerous works such as 600 Hours of Edward, his novel about solitude and vulnerability, and The Summer Son, the story of a family attempting reconciliation. Much of his fiction deals with legacy, memory, and place. It's also informed by a lifetime of experience in journalism, and he currently serves as a staff editor at sports publication The Athletic. Lancaster is a design director at Montana Quarterly, a magazine covering culture, history, and everyday life in the state for which it's named.
Together with his spouse, fellow novelist Elisa Lorello, Lancaster co-authored the celebrated 2019 comedic romance You, Me, & Mr. Blue Sky, a tale about a couple falling in love with the help of their guardian angel. The husband and wife team also operates Lancarello Enterprises, a publishing house and editorial service helping people tell their own stories. Along with his ongoing work as a writer, Lancaster is available for speaking events, for those interested in learning more about his fiction and his experience as an author and entrepreneur.
Coming in at #3 is Esme Weijun Wang, a writer of both fiction and creative nonfiction, whose work aims to help herself and others find success in the face of limitations. Her perspective is informed by her struggles with late-stage Lyme disease and schizoaffective disorder. Her celebrated essay collection, The Collected Schizophrenias, delves into the nuances and variations of a notoriously complex condition, and her novel The Border of Paradise depicts a man wrestling with his own mental health issues. She's written in depth about the toll her illnesses have taken, and on the ways she strives for triumph anyway.
Her perspective is informed by her struggles with late-stage Lyme disease and schizoaffective disorder.
Wang seeks to help people thrive in the face of challenges, sharing inspirational articles and resources through her blog, The Unexpected Shape. Her free e-book, Productivity Journaling with Limitations, breaks down the ways she uses a daily planner to set herself up for success; some of the techniques within can also be found on her website. Along with these tools, Wang offers an online course called the Rawness of Remembering, which teaches methods for developing emotional resilience through writing. And she tours and speaks publicly about her work, life, and mission.
#4 in our roundup is Jessamyn Hope, the award-winning author of the widely praised book Safekeeping, which uses the story of a young man's search for a woman from his grandfather's past to weave a narrative about impermanence, love, and the struggles of the Jewish people. Hope's writing links the autobiographical to the historical, even in her fiction - her debut novel draws on her time on kibbutzim, Israel's collective farming settlements, to inform its setting and characters.
Although Safekeeping is her first novel, Hope has also written numerous short works of fiction and memoirs, using both real and imagined experiences to explore the ways that people connect and define themselves. Even in fantastical works like The Sink, a story about an old New York building with a faucet that reveals the future, she displays a clear-eyed realism in her portrayal of her characters' identities, hopes, and fears. Hope offers seminars and workshops discussing her writing, and sharing the lessons she's learned in her career.
Although Safekeeping is her first novel, Hope has also written numerous short works of fiction and memoirs, using both real and imagined experiences to explore the ways that people connect and define themselves.
Our #5 is Megan Collins, whose breakout novel The Winter Sister is the suspenseful tale of a young woman, her ailing and estranged mother, and an unsolved murder. The book quickly garnered attention and acclaim, seeing print overseas less than a year from its release. Inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone, and centering around a parent whose grief closes her off to her surviving daughter, the story has been praised for the richness with which it presents its central family's tangled relationships.
Collins has written numerous poems and short stories in addition to her novel. Many of her works explore notions of memory, family, and the impact of death; her flash fiction story Fight or Flight examines a present-day crime in the light of a childhood recollection, while The Inheritance of Trauma is a blank-verse meditation on the way people pass their pain down to their descendants. Collins is the Managing Editor of 3Elements Review, an independent literary journal that uses a rotating writing prompt to spark creativity.
At #6 we have Melissa Duclos, an author and reviewer whose first novel, Besotted, details the doomed romance of two American expatriates in Shanghai. Lauded for its keen observational eye, the book offers a moving portrait of the way that the same relationship can mean different things to the people involved. Duclos has also written essays, short fiction, and humor pieces, ranging from meditative personal stories to winking send-ups of literature's sacred cows. Her work frequently explores love, connection, and the difficulty of defining the structures of our lives.
Lauded for its keen observational eye, the book offers a moving portrait of the way that the same relationship can mean different things to the people involved.
Duclos is the founder and producer of Magnify, a monthly newsletter celebrating small press books and authors. Each month, subscribers receive news and reviews about the latest offerings from independent publishers, as well as recommendations of overlooked works curated by the owner of Portland bookstore Another Read Through. And together with fellow author Kimberly King Parsons, Duclos runs Amplify, an all-inclusive retreat coaching woman-identifying and non-binary authors on how to sell their completed pieces. Participants learn how to craft essentials like synopses, query letters, and artist statements.
Closing out our list is #7, Tony Tulathimutte, the author of Private Citizens. This biting look at late-aughts San Francisco has been recognized with a Whiting Award, and with accolades from The New Yorker, The Nation, and The New York Times. The novel skewers Bay Area tech culture, millennial self-awareness, and youthful angst, though Tulathimutte maintains it's meant as humorous realism and not satire. His characters are drawn from his own experience as an inhabitant, and occasional critic, of the digital age.
Tulathimutte's work extends to short fiction, artistic and literary criticism, and examinations of contemporary culture. Stories like The Feminist zero in on twenty-first century anxieties around privilege, as well as age-old obsessions over social status and masculinity. His nonfiction grapples with an eclectic range of issues, from Asian-American representation to the delusional fringes of the self-help movement. He also runs CRIT, a Brooklyn-based class on writing - both as craft and as business.
