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An interview with the finalists of the 2018 BookLife Prize is presented, including Rozsa Gaston, Kelly Jameson, and David Reiss. Gaston talks about her interest in writing about the character of Anne of Brittany. Jameson mentions her reason for writing about the town of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Reiss relates when he started writing books.

The article features six bestselling and award-winning authors who will act as judges for the semifinal round of the 2018 BookLife Prize, an annual writing contest sponsored by "Publishers Weekly" and BookLife. These include Eleanor Brown, a returning judge and author of three traditionally published novels; Adam Croft, author of the crime novel "Too Close for Comfort"; and Julia Powell, author of the bestselling debut memoir "Julia & Julia."

The article discusses the efforts of cookbook publishers to find ways to make their titles appeal to audience. It cites "American Cookery" by Amelia Simmons as the first known cookbook written by an American. The book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat published in 2017 is mentioned. Books that take a design-heavy approach to cooking, using photographs and infographics to dissect dishes and ingredients are also noted.

The article profiles several emerging authors to watch out for in 2018. They include Elaine Castillo, author of "America Is Not the Heart," Chibundu Onuzo, author of "Welcome to Lagos," and Danielle Lazarin, author of "Back Talk." Also mentioned are Tommy Orange, Emma Glass, Ellie Nash, Luke Kennard, Noémi Lefebvre, Will Mackin and Nafkote Tamirat.

The article discusses the work of Iraqi American poet Dunya Mikhail whose book "The Bird Tattoo" which is a painful novel about the sale of Yazidi women in Iraq by ISIS. It focuses on Helen and Elias, who fall in love and marry, and their experiences with the organisation alongside the tragedy, the novel sheds light on aspects of Yezidi folklore, rich in astonishing customs and legends.

The article presents several reviews of wellness related books along with interviews with authors Leslie Jamison, Christopher Payne and Rob Barnett. The books that are reviewed include "The End of Old Age: Living a Longer, More Purposeful Life" by Marc E. Agronin, "The Bad Food Bible: How & Why to Eat Sinfully" by Aaron Carroll, and "Fit at Mid-Life: A Feminist Fitness Journey" by Samantha Brennan and Tracy Isaacs.

The article presents information on emerging authors and their novels. It comments on author Brit Bennett and her novel "The Mothers" and how she used personal experience when focusing on religion in the novel. It mentions former journalist Fiona Davis and her fiction debut "The Dollhouse" and the research she did to get a feel for mid-century New York City. It talks about Derek Palacio, author of "The Mortifications," and how the memoir "Before Night Falls" by Reinaldo Arenas inspired him.

The article examines how digital-first romance publishers in the U.S. have evolved in terms of author branding, marketing, format and more. Topics discussed include how some romance publishers succeed in the changing romance landscape, remarks from Liz Pelletier, publisher of Entangled, a digital-first romance publisher in Fort Collins, Colorado, about the importance of author branding, and marketing tactics adapted by traditional publishers from the world of self-publishing.

The article profiles several authors, Stephanie Danler, Guillermo Erades and Kaitlyn Greenidge, whose books made a standout debut. Danler's "Sweetbitter" draws on her eight years working in the New York restaurant industry, Erades' "Back to Moscow" draws on his life in Moscow, while Greenidge's "We Love You, Charlie Freeman" is a multi-generational story about an African American family, the Freemans.

The article features several new authors and their debut novels as of July 2015. These include Elisabeth Egan, who wrote "A Window Opens," Ruth Galm, who wrote "Into the Valley," Lauren Holmes, who wrote "Barbara the Slut," and Naomi Jackson, who wrote "The Star Side of Bird Hill." Other authors mentioned include Alexandra Kleeman, Andrea Kleine, Christian Kracht and Eka Kurniawan.

The article present profile of an American journalist, critic and fiction writer Tom Bissell. Topics discussed include after his nonfiction book "Chasing the Sea," Bissell published the collection "God Lives in St. Petersburg," as auspicious a fiction debut; served as a writer and co-developer on the Apple TV+ series "The Mosquito Coast," starring Justin Theroux; and also mentions about his "Creative Types: And Other Stories" psychological fiction.

The article features Amitava Kumar, author of the novel "A Time Outside This Time," about the proliferation of fake news and the writer's obligation to combat it. Topics discussed include description of the protagonist of the novel, Kumar's breakout novel "Immigrant, Montana," and his observation of the mass deception and demagoguery before the rise of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The article discusses debut novels for 2015 and how the authors were inspired to write them as well as their writing processes. Topics include how author Rebecca Dinerstein wrote "The Sunlit Night" while at an art colony in Lofoten, Norway, how author Angela Flournoy used the economic issues in Detroit, Michigan to write "The Turner House," and the science fiction novel "Mort(e)" by Robert Repino.

The article features Francine Prose, author of the novel "The Vixen," wherein she examines the misuses of literature. Topics discussed include her interest in the uses and misuses of language which led her to write the novel "The Vixen," an overview of the novel, and her view on one of the things one thinks about when writing fiction.

The article focuses on the upcoming centennial of the U.S. National Park Service on August 25, 2016. Topics discussed include information new and updated guides, photography, books, and other related titles released by publishers in celebration of the event, and the approaches they adopt to increase awareness, such as digital advertising and sweepstakes for consumers.

The article explains how children's publishers know the value of the backlist, and several presses are putting promotional muscle for already published title for cover make overs. Topics include scholastic is orchestrating a backlist campaign around the middle grade graphic novels of Raina Telgemeier, which have won Eisner awards; and Brown Books for Young Readers is pursuing a different design strategy with its 1Oth anniversary reissue of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.

The article features Ayad Akhtar, the Pulitzer-winning playwright and author of the books "American Dervish" and "Homeland Elegies." Topics discussed include themes of the novel "Homeland Elegies," his double identity as a novelist and playwright, and comments from Judy Clain, Akhtar's editor at Little, Brown, about the book "Homeland Elegies."

The article discusses work and life of Helen Macdonald, who is an English writer, naturalist, and an Affiliated Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science. It reports she is best known as the author of H is for Hawk, which won the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book Award. It also mentions her future projects.

The article focuses on author Julia Alvarez and her book Afterlife. Topics discussed include her graduation from Middlebury College and a master's degree in creative writing from Syracuse; views of Amy Gash, Alvarez's editor at publishing industry Algonquin, on climate change and immigrants; and the National Medal of Arts awarded to Alvarez by U.S. President Barack Obama.

The article discusses the role of science in diet and fitness books. Topics include mention of books such as Molly Morgan's "Drink You Way to Gut Health," "Mitchell L. Gaynor's "The Gene Therapy Plan," and Bob Harper's "Skinny Habits: The Six Secret Behaviors of Thin People," and details on publishers' focus on the relationship between science and health.

The article offers information related to Jenny Offill, an American novelist and editor, whose novel "Dept. of Speculation" was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014. It mentions that Offill's first novel Last Things was published in 1999 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux by Bloomsbury. It reports that Offill has taught at Brooklyn College, Columbia University and Queens University.

An interview with James Polchin, New York University (NYU) professor, cultural historian, and author of the book "Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall" is presented. Polchin talks about what sparked his interest in true crime reportage involving queer men, the implication of the title of the book, and how Stonewall riot affected the cultural attitudes of activists.