Archives de catégorie : Memoir

THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE) d’Ebony Roberts

With echoes of Just Mercy and An American Marriage, THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE) is a remarkable memoir of a woman who falls in love with an incarcerated man, and the toll prison takes not only on those behind bars, but on their families and relationships

THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE)
My Story
by Ebony Roberts
Amistad, July 2019

Ebony’s parents were high school sweethearts and married young. By the time Ebony was born, the marriage was disintegrating. The little girl witnessed her parents’ brutal verbal and physical fights, fueled by her father’s alcoholism. Then her father tried to kill his mother. At five, Ebony was sexually assaulted. When she tried to tell, her voice was not heard.

Growing up, those experiences drastically affected the way Ebony viewed herself and set the pattern for her future romantic relationships. Despite being an intelligent, educated, and strong-minded woman, she was drawn to bad-boys: men who cheated; men who verbally abused her; men who disappointed her. Fed up, she cut off her hair and swore to wait for the partner God chose for her.
Then she met Shaka Senghor. Though she felt an intense spiritual connection, Ebony struggled with the idea that this man behind bars for murder could be the good love God wanted for her. Through letters and visits, she and Shaka fell deeply in love. After he was released they had a son, and Shaka was embraced by Oprah Winfrey and wrote a New York Times bestselling memoir. Their lives had been transformed—the worst should have been behind them.
But Shaka’s release was the beginning of the end of their love story. Traumatized by having doors shut in his face, Shaka became depressed and emotionally detached. His struggles to adjust to freedom would irrevocably damage their relationship.
The Love Prison Made (and Unmade) is heartfelt and insightful. It reveals powerful lessons about love, sacrifice, courage, and forgiveness; of living your highest principles and learning not to judge someone by their worst acts. Ultimately, it is a stark reminder of the emotional cost of American justice on human lives—the partners, wives, children, and friends—beyond the prison walls.

A former school administrator, Ebony Roberts is a writer, educator, activist, and researcher. She has taught at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. She recently served as program director for #BeyondPrisons, an organization designed to uplift the voices of those impacted by the criminal justice system. She received her BA in Social Relations and Psychology, and a Ph.D in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University.

LIFE AND WORK, David Lynch prépare son autobiographie !

Mise à jour du 12 octobre 2015 : droits cédés aux éditions JC Lattès

Après avoir annoncé la troisième saison de sa série culte Twin Peaks, 25 ans après la diffusion de la deuxième saison, David Lynch prépare actuellement son autobiographie avec la journaliste et conservatrice d’art Kristine McKenna.

A l’image de ses créations artistiques polymorphes (cinéma, mais aussi photographie, musique et peinture), le réalisateur de « Elephant Man » et « Mullholland Drive » présentera ses mémoires sous une forme hybride et originale : un collage d’interviews de ses proches, de notes biographiques et de textes inédits.

Un proposal de LIFE AND WORK est désormais disponible :

An unusual memoir/biography by and about iconic filmmaker David Lynch

LIFE AND WORK
by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna
Agent: The Gernert Company

LIFE AND WORK will be an unusual hybrid of biography and memoir based on interviews with approximately ninety of Lynch’s friends, family and associates.  He opens up about a lifetime of extraordinary creativity, the friendships he’s made along the way, and the struggles he’s faced to bring his projects to fruition.

The book will be a combination of biographical sections, written by journalist, critic and art curator Kristine McKenna, that are based on research and interviews with candid ex-wives, family members, actors, agents, musicians and collaborators in various fields.  These sections will be followed by pieces written by Lynch himself in which he will respond to the material that came before.  People who have known and worked with Lynch will provide their own understanding of the parts of his life and work they were part of, while Lynch will have the chance to reflect on his own memories of these experiences, as well as theirs.  This is Lynch riffing on his own life, unfiltered and unedited – a fascinating combination of primary source material and analysis.

Twenty-five years after the original series became an international hit, a new 9-episode series of Twin Peaks is scheduled to air in late 2016.

Marina Abramovic sera publiée en France par les éditions Fayard

Les éditions Fayard viennent d’acquérir les droits de publication de l’autobiographie de l’artiste serbe.

Comme nous l’avions annoncé le 6 février 2015, Crown Publishing a remporté les enchères aux États-Unis, et les droits ont également été cédés dans six autres pays, pour l’instant : Brésil, Allemagne, Italie, Pays Bas, Pologne et Royaume Uni.

Crown Publishing publiera l’autobiographie de Marina Abramovic !

Cessions à l’étranger, mise à jour du 13 février 2015 :

Brésil – Jose Olympio / Record (après enchères)
Allemagne – Luchterhand / Penguin Random House (après enchères)
Italie – Bompiani (droits pre-emptés)
Pays Bas – Nijgh & van Ditmar (après enchères)
Royaume Uni – Fig Tree / Penguin Random House UK (après enchères)

C’est officiel : Crown Publishing a acquis après des enchères « enflammées » les droits nord-américains pour la langue anglaise de l’autobiographie de l’artiste serbe Marina Abramovic, considérée comme la reine de la performance. Tricia Boczkowski and Molly Stern assureront l’editing du texte.

Dès son annonce, avant même qu’il n’ait trouvé acquéreur aux États Unis, le projet a suscité l’intérêt des éditeurs du monde entier. Les droits pour la langue portugaise ont été achetés par l’éditeur brésilien Record, ceux pour la langue néerlandaise, après enchères, par Nijgh & Van et en Italie, les droits ont été préemptés par Bompiani.

Négociations en cours au  Royaume Uni, en Allemagne et en Pologne ! A suivre…

FORTY AUTUMNS, mémoires d’une famille divisée par un mur

Cinq femmes, une famille, de part et d’autre du rideau de fer, FORTY AUTUMNS de Nina Willner, dont l’éditeur William Morrow vient d’acquérir les droits mondiaux, retrace l’histoire aussi émouvante qu’incroyable d’une famille séparée par le mur de Berlin pendant quarante années.

Quarante années où vont se succéder, plus particulièrement à l’automne, donnant ainsi tout son sens au titre de l’ouvrage, des évènements clefs caractérisant cette période : la montée et la chute d’un état totalitaire, la fuite d’une jeune femme, Anna, la mère de l’auteure, quittant à 23 ans ses parents et ses sept frères et sœurs sans espoir de retour, la dénonciation du père, son expulsion du parti communiste, l’exil de la famille, les missions dangereuses d’une jeune américaine, Nina, la fille d’Anna, devenue agent des services secrets américains, l’ascension d’une jeune athlète, cousine de Nina, la mort de la grand-mère ayant faire vœu quoiqu’il arrive de maintenir le lien familial, ou encore l’envoi du grand-père dans un asile psychiatrique.

FORTY AUTUMNS est l’histoire d’une famille qui va affronter avec force et détermination un régime brutal et autocratique maintenant ses citoyens isolés du reste du monde. Le récit d’une séparation tragique, de l’expérience du désespoir, de la perte de toute dignité, mais aussi de l’espoir de la réunion et de la paix.

An incredible memoir about a family divided by the Berlin Wall during the Cold War

FORTY AUTUMNS:
Five Women, One Family; Two Sides of the Iron Curtain
by Nina Willner
William Morrow, 2016 (Manuscript due end of 2015)

FORTY AUTUMNS traces the dramatic lives of the women in a family on both sides of the Iron Curtain through the Cold War up until the miraculous day when the family is reunited. Nina has an amazing story to tell, and she captures the time and feeling perfectly of what it was like to have a mystical curtain dividing the East from the West. There is a whole generation of readers who don’t remember what that time was like. Nina and her family’s story is going to bring it to life for them.

Nina Willner has spent over two decades working in Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia. She was the only female U.S. Army intelligence officer to lead a series of sensitive and risky intelligence operations in East Germany during the Cold War. Following a career in intelligence, in Eastern Europe she worked to promote human rights, education, the rule of law, and to provide humanitarian assistance to underprivileged groups throughout the region, serving in a variety of roles, including as Political Officer for the State Department, and working with international pioneering NGOs and charities. In Russia, she studied at Moscow State University. A former Army Captain and an Army wife, Nina is married to Colonel Jeff Holachek, Director, Russia, Eurasia, Caucasus Policy for the Secretary of Defense. She speaks conversational German, French and Russian.