Older generations argue that young people’s insistence on equality in all things – including books – threatens to stifle free speech. But is that always true?I wouldn’t normally air my dirty literary linen in public, but here goes. When I finished writing my novel Putney, about a 13-year-old girl who has a “love affair” in the 1970s with an older man and realises decades later that it was actually abuse, my previous editor at Jonathan Cape chose not to publish it. The reasons emerged this year when he was interviewed in the Spectator. “If Lolita was offered to me today,” Dan Franklin said, “I’d never be able to get it past the acquisition team – a committee of 30-year-olds, who’d say: ‘If you publish this book we will all resign.’” He pointed to #MeToo and social media as fundamental factors: “You can organise outrage at the drop of a hat.”Fortunately, Bloomsbury’s acquisition team – overwhelmingly female and mixed aged – were brave enough to take on Putney, which was described in the Observer as “a Lolita for the era of #MeToo”. Whether there was any truth in his words or not, Franklin’s position reveals how much fear now exists in publishing. Related: Putney by Sofka Zinovieff review – a Lolita for the age of #MeToo ‘It’s only about not being an arsehole,’ my daughter said. ‘That’s not so difficult’ Related: Nabokov's Lolita: the latest thing millennials have apparently ruined Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-10 10:03:01 UTC ]
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A number of authors have withdrawn their books from Bloomsbury India, after the publishing house pulled Monika Arora's Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, scheduled for publication this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-25 02:21:19 UTC ]
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An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-08-23 10:30:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England has urged businesses to apply for the Culture Recovery Fund before the first round's deadline this Friday (21st August). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-18 18:46:24 UTC ]
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ReedPop, organizer of New York Comic Con, scheduled to be held October 8-11 at the Javits Convention Center, has canceled the annual in-person 2020 event and plans to partner with YouTube to produce an all-digital version of the giant pop culture convention. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Among the picks: Natasha Trethewey’s poignant memoir, which the poet narrates herself. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Easu McCaulley takes on the 'barbershop or barbeque questions' Black people have about how the Bible addresses their lives —and reveals God's love. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Society of Authors is launching a fundraising drive to help top up its Authors’ Contingency Fund, ensuring it can continue to offer hardship grants to authors as the effects of the health crisis continue to be felt. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-09 17:04:03 UTC ]
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The Publishers Association has said it "looks forward to engaging" with a new expert advisory panel set up to investigate the pandemic's impact on arts and culture, although it has failed to include a representative from the industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-05 09:04:29 UTC ]
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Trethewey’s memoir is a tribute to a life snuffed out by a brutal man, a fractured judicial system and a patriarchy as old as Methuselah. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-31 12:00:00 UTC ]
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An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-31 10:30:00 UTC ]
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The new memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey is an aching investigation of trauma and art. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-07-30 10:06:53 UTC ]
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Katy Waldman writes about “Memorial Drive,” a new memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, who pieces together memories of her mother, who was murdered by Trethewey’s stepfather. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2020-07-29 10:00:00 UTC ]
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At Cosmopolitan staff meetings, workers complain of discrimination and tokenism. Former employees say Hearst Magazines president Troy Young made sexually offensive remarks. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-07-22 15:31:50 UTC ]
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Artists including writer Nina George and singer Björk have called for the European Council to provide extra funding for Europe's cultural sector following the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-15 03:48:46 UTC ]
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The National Book Critics Circle has appointed 15 members to its board, which was gutted following a racially charged controversy last month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Appledore Book Festival is to go ahead with its annual fixture this autumn, reinventing itself as the UK's first drive-in literary festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-14 00:18:18 UTC ]
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It's been almost a decade since Test Drive Unlimited 2 came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but, after a long wait, fans got a first look at the sequel to the massively online racing pioneer. French publisher Nacon shared a teaser for Test Drive U... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-07-07 22:32:58 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has defended David Walliams after food writer Jack Monroe claimed his children's books were “sneering classist fatshaming grim nonsense”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-07 10:29:08 UTC ]
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Michael Dirda is taking a vacation next month, and he’s already getting his to-be-read pile in order. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-01 16:17:23 UTC ]
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The staff and board of the Poetry Foundation said in an open letter that they are committed to "ongoing action in response to the call to dismantle white supremacy." The pledge came after an open letter highly critical of the Foundation's past treatment of marginalized was released and led to... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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