The Sprawling, Ambitious Debut: The Invention of Exile By Vanessa Manko; Penguin, August 14 With starry blurbs, grand-historical sweep, and depictions of family strife, Manko’s debut about a Russian immigrant exiled as an anarchist is the summer’s surest candidate for lit-hit crossover. Thank you New York Magazine! Click here for the full list.
Starred Kirkus Review: The Invention of Exile
A man separated from his family for years reckons with his isolation in Manko’s debut, a superb study of statelessness. In 1920, Austin (born Ustin) Voronkov was a Russian immigrant working as an engineer in Connecticut, married to an American woman and preparing to raise a family. But the Russian Revolution prompted a wave of […]
UK Edition
This is the UK edition of The Invention of Exile. To find out more and for ordering information visit the UK publisher, One World Publications.
Exercising Your Craft: 3 Writers Who Get Physical
By Nora Maynard. I have a writer friend whose employment info on her Facebook profile always makes me laugh. Under “Position,” she wryly reports “Hunched Over a Desk.” Treadmill desks and Hemingway-style standing aside, most writers spend a lot of time sitting. We’re exhorted to with quotes like this one from Mary Heaton Vorse: “The […]
Granta Celebrates Authors Vanessa Manko & Judy Chicurel
Vanessa Manko and Judy Chicurel, two authors featured in a recent issue of Granta, have signed book deals with Penguin. To toast these two authors, the literary magazine threw a party. The celebration took place at Granta editorJohn Freeman‘s Manhattan loft on Wednesday night, and brought together a community of writers and editors including: Salman Rushdie, Sean McDonald, Alex Gilvarry, Mohsin Hamid, Nadeem […]
Plans to publish research
I will be publishing some of the fascinating images and documents I have collected during my research for The Invention of Exile. There is a range of historical material from Mexico and the USA that I will be gradually posting over the next few months.
How to Be a Man
It is done with the body, not with the mind. She should feel when you begin to move and if she precipitates the wrong direction, you’ve done something wrong. Then, it is your job to guide her. Read more here
Letters From Two Exit Strategists
A Conversation with Vanessa Manko and Jacob Newberry. Dear Jacob, I like imagining you in Jerusalem, and I’m happy to meet you via this exchange. Your piece was one of the first pieces I read, drawn, I think, to its title, the succinct and direct ‘Summer’. I was immediately struck by the sense of place and […]
The Interrogation
“The Interrogation,” Granta, 118, Exit Strategies (Feb. 2012) http://www.granta.com/Archive/Exit-Strategies
Keeping Up with Bill T. Jones
Although at 61, and after 40 years of performing, Bill T. Jones could respectfully retire, the iconic choreographer believes that an artist is “committed to participating in the world of ideas…and as an artist, are you willing to help build this world?” Jones has done much to help build the world of dance, and this […]