Debut Authors Over 50

Proto Libro celebrates its fourth anniversary this month! As I look back on the news and reviews I have covered, I feel like authors who are publishing later in life are getting featured on blogs and in the mainstream media more than they used to. Bloom is a blog that only publishes articles about debut authors over 40. 35 over 35 is a blog that started last year, and features a yearly round up of authors publishing debuts after 35. And I also see more traditional media outlets featuring older authors, making an older person’s debut a story to follow.

The latest in this trend is in Poets & Writers magazine, which this month is publishing excerpts from five authors who debuted after 50. All of the authors were new to me and are mainly published in small presses. They feature a novelist, a poet, two short story writers and a memoir writer.

The memoir, Rust Belt Boy, Stories of an American Childhood, by Paul Hertneky stood out to me the most. This is likely because my family comes from the Rust Belt, and the economic decline of this area feels so relevant to the political debates consuming our country. The book, which I have not read yet, is about Hertneky’s childhood in Western Pennsylvania and how the small town he grew up transformed at the end of the 20th Century as the Steel Mill era came to an end.

I have put that one on my to-read list.

Happy reading all and thanks for your ongoing support of Proto Libro!

Poets & Writers Live in New York

On Saturday I attended a new event, hosted by Poets & Writers, called Poets & Writers Live, which brought writers, agents and editors together to talk about writing, much as you might find in their print magazine. The focus of the event I attended was Literary Agents, and along with hearing some luminary agents, like Molly Friedrich and Eric Simonoff, speak, two debut novelists talked about getting their books published. It was a packed, but enjoyable day. Poets & Writers will be hosting similar gatherings in other cities. The next one is in Washington, DC and will focus on Indie Publishing.

The two debut novelists who spoke have books out in July.

Panic in a Suitcase, by Yelena Akhtiorskaya revolves around a Ukrainian family, some of which live in Brighton Beach, while others are in Odessa, and is described as a social and domestic satire. Sounds like a timely launch for this book which is out at the end of July.

The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, by Mira Jacob is set in India and New Mexico and is a family drama in which a daughter unravels family mysteries as her father is dying. It is described as both funny and deeply moving. And is out July 1^st.

Both of these books sound like great summer reads and I love their titles!

Next week I will review, The Bicycle Diaries, by David Kroodsma – a memoir of his bicycle ride from California to Tierra del Fugeo.

Happy summer reading all….