Olivia Sudjic

Olivia Sudjic
Nationality British
Occupation Novelist
Known for Sympathy (publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Parent(s) Deyan Sudjic and Sarah Miller
Website http://www.oliviasudjic.org/

Olivia Sudjic (born 1988)[1] is a British fiction writer whose first book Sympathy received positive reviews in the press, from publications like the New York Times,[2] The Guardian[3] and The New Republic.[4] The debut novel, published in 2017, is described by The Independent as being "...a knotty - sometimes confusing, but always smart - dissection of intimacy and interaction in the digital age."[3]

Background

Sudjic was born in London, England to Deyan Sudjic and Sarah Miller. Her father is a journalist and director of London's Design Museum. Her mother is the founding editor of Condé Nast Traveller magazine.

Wanting to be a writer since she was a child,[5] Sudjic studied English Literature at Cambridge University where she won the E.G. Harwood English Prize.[6][7][8] About the craft of writing, she believes that "Novels are comparable to social media or crafting online profiles because you begin and you think you’re going to know this person. But this person isn’t real. It’s all made up, and you’re projecting yourself onto it."[9]

Sympathy (2017)

Sympathy revolves around a twenty-something woman visiting New York who becomes obsessed with an older woman via the social media app Instagram. The book is recognized for addressing generational differences: "A child of the age of algorithms, she notices everything but knows the value and significance of nothing."[10] As for the structure, it resembles the disjointed experience of surfing the internet, thereby reinforcing the story's focus on technology.[3]

The reviews for Sympathy have been enthusiastic. The New Republic refers to the novel as "a remarkable debut, and with the arrival of such a novelist we can finally welcome our techno-dystopian future with open arms."[4] According to The Guardian, Sympathy is "The First Great Instagram Novel", dealing with obsession and smartphone technology.[10] The article goes on to say: "Rarely do novels so ostentatiously of the moment succeed so well at gesturing to the universal."[10] The novel was also mentioned in Vanity Fair,[11] The Financial Times,[12][13] The Spectator,[1] The Telegraph,[14] Elle,[15] Esquire,[16] Star Tribune,[17] The Times,[18] The New Yorker[19] and Vice,[20] among others.

Originally from the UK, Sudjic began writing Sympathy in 2014 while staying with her grandmother in Manhattan.[5][21] New York City ended up becoming integral to the story, representing the protagonist's "...searching and longing for connection."[9] In the beginning, Sudjic intended to write an historical novel, but changed her mind and set the story in contemporary times.[21] Sympathy has been described as a feminist work, with Sudjic stating that the internet is male dominated and also that women writers are more pressured to talk about their personal lives then their male counterparts.[22][15]

Exposure (in progress)

Sudjic is currently working on her second novel, Exposure, which will be published by Peninsula Press.[23]


References

  1. 1 2 "Tales of three cities - The Spectator". 5 August 2017.
  2. ↑ Phillips, Kaitlin (13 April 2017). "In This Tale of Online Intimacy, the Only Wise Characters Are Luddites" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic, book review: It's a gripping odyssey into one woman's online-addled inner life". 26 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 "The First Great Instagram Novel".
  5. 1 2 Maitland, Hayley. "Five Minutes With...Olivia Sudjic".
  6. ↑ "Subscribe to read". Financial Times.
  7. ↑ "Olivia Sudjic - Pushkin Press". www.pushkinpress.com.
  8. ↑ https://www.ft.com/content/206caf0e-6afd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0
  9. 1 2 "A Conversation with Olivia Sudjic - Read It Forward". 15 May 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Eyre, Hermione (26 May 2017). "Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic review – up-to-the-minute debut". the Guardian.
  11. ↑ Crosley, Sloane. "What to Read Right Now: Peter Heller's Celine, Sheryl Sandberg's Option B, and More".
  12. ↑ https://www.ft.com/content/4b74a290-414c-11e7-82b6-896b95f30f58
  13. ↑ "Subscribe to read". Financial Times.
  14. ↑ Bird, Orlando (11 May 2017). "What will 'the great internet novel' be like?" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  15. 1 2 "Olivia Sudjic Talks To ELLE About Her First Novel 'Sympathy', Navigating Social Media And Being A Millennial Rent-A-Voice". 2 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "12 Books Perfect For Your Summer Holiday". 12 July 2017.
  17. ↑ "Review: 'Sympathy,' by Olivia Sudjic".
  18. ↑ Wilson, Fiona (27 May 2017). "Review: Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  19. ↑ Yorker, The New (24 October 2017). "What We're Reading This Week" – via www.newyorker.com.
  20. ↑ "'Sympathy' Is the Debut Novel From Olivia Sudjic About Instagram and Intimacy". 28 April 2017.
  21. 1 2 Beckerman, Hannah; Clark, Alex; O'Keeffe, Alice; Kellaway, Kate; Sethi, Anita; Lewis, Tim; Parkinson, Hannah Jane; Cross, Stephanie; O'Kelly, Lisa (22 January 2017). "Meet the new faces of fiction for 2017". the Guardian.
  22. ↑ "45 Queer and Feminist Books You Need To Read in Early 2017". 16 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "ABOUT". OLIVIA SUDJIC.
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