Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina

As a recipient of the Arts Connects Us Grant I travelled to Ghana and Sierra Leone to meet with writers and publishing professionals working in the field of books for young readers to foster creative and collaborative exchanges between those contacts and publishing professionals and readers in the UK. This blog post is by necessity a focus on very specific meetings and conversations and is only a fraction of the encounters and connections I made. I planned my visit to Ghana to coincide with the PaGya! Festival which is organised by Writers Project Ghana and the Goethe Institute. Over the course of three days writers and publishers gathered to talk about everything from poetry to narrative non-fiction, memoir to books for younger readers.  There was a packed programme from morning until night with simultaneous events happening making the festival a positive and vibrant event. Speakers came from all over the world and their backgrounds, interests and perspectives ensured a well rounded and broad look at the world of writing with roots in West Africa. Prior to the festival I had arranged several days of meetings with people involved in the world of children’s literature to talk about their work as writers and publishers and also to get to grips with the market in Ghana.  It soon became very clear that not only is there a thriving publishing scene in Ghana it is one that is self-sufficient both in terms of talent and audience.  I was told often that what readers in Ghana need... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-03-19 11:10:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina"


Who’s in charge? How Anonymous became a star in publishing | Sarah Ditum

From Secret Barristers to pseudonymous paramedics and White House moles, Anon is writing a lot of books these days – and identifying some unexpected truths“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman,” wrote Virginia Woolf. Today, Anonymous is probably an outraged employee in a public service: a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-10 00:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Before “American Dirt,” There Was “The Korean Angela’s Ashes”

THE CONTRETEMPS OVER Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt revolves around a narrative of a publishing industry eager for blockbusters, white authors who inhabit the stories of marginalized people, and embarrassment when the multiple flaws and tone-deaf passages of the hyped-up book are exposed.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-05 18:00:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jessica Simpson's blond bombshell: a memoir that spares no one, including herself

In her new memoir "Open Book," singer and former reality-TV star Jessica Simpson opens up about sexual abuse, addiction and dating John Mayer. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-05 14:54:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Risk, and Reward, of Turning from Memoir to Fiction

I feel creatively lost most of the time. It doesn’t matter if I’m beginning a fresh project, wading through the middle, or racing toward the end—I often find myself in a fugue state that makes it impossible for me to understand what I’m doing, even as I’m doing it. This is what I love about […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-05 09:48:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hillary without Bill: Curtis Sittenfeld rewrites Clinton's personal history

Novelist says that in the run-up to the 2016 election, she began to imagine a life where Clinton ‘made different choices, personally and professionally’Hillary Rodham Clinton recounts, in her memoir Living History, how Bill Clinton “asked me to marry him again, and again, and I always said no”.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-04 12:14:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


For your playlist: three popular and controversial books are already available

A Reese Witherspoon pick, a Silicon Valley memoir and the most talked about book of the year so far. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-04 00:16:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The publishing industry is probably even less diverse than you thought.

Children’s book publisher Lee & Low Books, a minority-owned company that focuses on multicultural literature, recently released the results of a survey geared towards finding out one thing: What do the numbers say about the widely perceived lack of diversity in the publishing world? The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 21:40:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Actual cancel culture: White House threatens John Bolton about impending book.

Because they have nothing to hide about anything, the White House has issued some kind of threat—according to CNN’s Jake Tapper—in a formal letter to former National Security Adviser John Bolton, whose forthcoming memoir from Simon & Schuster contains first-hand accounts of Donald Trump... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 17:43:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: 'Children of the Land' chronicles an immigrant poet's story of hiding in plain sight

In his memoir 'Children of the Land,' poet Marcelo Hernandez Castillo writes of border journeys, family separation and crossing a 'threshold of invisibility.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-29 15:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


She Had a Preemie — and Then She Started to Ask Important Questions

Sarah DiGregorio’s new book combines memoir and reporting to explore changing treatments for babies born early. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-01-28 10:00:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jurij Koch’s Sorbian Memoir of Life Before, During, and After the GDR, by John K. Cox

Book Reviews John K. Cox Jurij Koch / Courtesy of Domowina-Verlag In the 1950s, a girl whom Jurij Koch knew in high school moved away from their hometown of Cottbus in East Germany. It was a case, he says in his recent memoir, of “Weg von Ulbricht, hin... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-27 20:47:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


John Bolton’s memoir probably wasn’t leaked by a heroic assistant editor.

Some very important parts of former national security adviser John Bolton’s forthcoming memoir, The Room Where It Happened: A Washington Memoir (Simon & Schuster, March 17), have leaked. The bit that everyone is talking about confirms that Donald Trump did, in fact, withhold aide to Ukraine... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-27 14:01:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


SHARJAH FOCUS: Which authors are coming to London Book Fair?

Khulood Al Mu’alla Khulood Al Mu’alla was chosen this year as an honorary member of the Costa Rica Poetry Foundation and advisor to the International Poetry Festival of Costa Rica. She was honoured along with three poets as part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Poets of... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-01-27 10:55:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On my radar: Emma Jane Unsworth’s cultural highlights

The novelist on William Blake, crying through Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and an insightful poem about teenage masturbationBorn in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1978, Emma Jane Unsworth studied English literature at the University of Liverpool and received an MA from Manchester University’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-26 10:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Considering Zora Neale Hurston and the Legacy of Fiction

This week, Jabari Asim reviews a collection of short stories by Zora Neale Hurston. In 1978, Henry Louis Gates Jr. wrote for the Book Review about Robert Hemenway’s “Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-01-24 10:00:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Storytelling as Healing in Medicine, by Cecilia Simon

Book Reviews Cecilia Simon Photo by Michael Gaida / Pixabay “Health is whatever works and for how long.” This phrase was announced to our literature and medicine class the first week of the fall 2019 semester. Dr. Ronald Schleifer, the instructor, used... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-22 16:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Frank Cruz had a short fuse for second-class treatment. So he blazed a path for himself

Frank Cruz always told other people's stories. Now, he tells all in his memoir about his days as a reporter, Telemundo co-founder and everything in between. He carved paths for others along the way. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-18 13:48:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Guardian is the latest old-line publisher to reach outside the business for a CEO

As the challenges and competition in the consumer publishing industry intensify, publishers have sought top talent from betting firms, streaming music services and scientific publishing. The post The Guardian is the latest old-line publisher to reach outside the business for a CEO appeared first... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-01-16 05:01:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amanda Yates Garcia on Writing to Find Her True Self

Amanda Yates Garcia is the guest. Her new memoir, Initiated: Memoir of a Witch, is available from Grand Central Publishing. Garcia is a writer, artist, professional witch, and the Oracle of Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in The Millions, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out, LA Weekly, GOOP,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-15 09:47:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Dockrill to launch memoir at London Palladium

The Women of the World (WOW) Festival and Vintage Live have announced a "landmark collaboration" to celebrate the launch of writer and illustrator Laura Dockrill’s memoir What Have I Done? (Square Peg), to "help break the silence around postnatal mental health". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 17:38:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this