The Booker-winning novelist is relaunching a series of neglected novels by black British writers. She explains why they deserve a new readership In today’s culture, it’s as though black British literary history began relatively recently, and new books are published without reference to or knowledge of what has gone before. This is not the case with white writers. Publishers, critics and readers will often understand where books sit within their literary contexts and cultural ecosystem. We can trace the literary lineage of Douglas Stuart’s Booker-winning Shuggie Bain back to the works of James Kelman and Irvine Welsh. Ghosts by Dolly Alderton is in conversation with Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones series and all the novels that were published in its wake, just as Ali Smith’s postmodern novels are descendants of Virginia Woolf’s modernist oeuvre. And we know that today’s historical novels have antecedents in their earlier counterparts.Our appreciation of literature is deepened when we understand the foundations from which each new generation creates literature anew, but because so much of the body of black British literature hasn’t been taught in schools or universities, or immortalised on television and film, or even been widely or seriously reviewed in the media and academia, it’s as if each new book is published out of a void. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-01-30 11:00:07 UTC ]
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Men are giving up on reading books because they prefer to watch the big screen version instead, a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Early last month Junot Díaz nearly caused a riot when hundreds of fans descended on the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York City to hear the author read from his latest, This Is How You Lose Her. But, to put it mildly, not every author is Junot Díaz, and getting a crowd to hear you read... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are you ready for a bombshell? Turns out people who read ebooks read more books than those don't. That tidbit comes from the number crunchers at Pew. According to a new report titled "The Rise of E-Reading," the ebook readers read an average of 24 books in the past year, versus the 15 books read... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On stage and screen, self-referential works such as A Strange Loop and American Fiction are on the rise, with playful postmodernism a potent weapon in the fight against inequalityOfficers storm a ballroom, releasing a flurry of bullets that pierce through a Black man as he collapses in a pool of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-06 08:00:34 UTC ]
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'Blood at the Root,' LaDarrion Williams' first novel in a three-book deal — a series that centers on a Black boy in a YA fantasy saga — is the kind of fiction he wishes existed when he was a kid. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-05-03 10:00:51 UTC ]
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A new concerted effort, opened during Bologna Children's Book Fair by the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair, has 15 publishing event producers. The post Frankfurt Joins European Network for Youth Reading Events and Festivals appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-05-03 01:02:49 UTC ]
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If you're in the mood for a raucous graphic novel with perfect summer vibes, we got you. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-05-01 11:30:00 UTC ]
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May's most interesting new releases, Independent Bookstore Day round-up, and more bookish news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-04-29 16:15:52 UTC ]
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Readers share their tips on discovering new authors and reading more widelyIn addition to the excellent advice provided in your article on reading (The experts: librarians on 20 easy, enjoyable ways to read more brilliant books, 25 April), I would add the following. The old adage of not judging... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-28 16:39:44 UTC ]
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Journalist Sasha Vasilyuk’s debut novel Your Presence Is Mandatory is a poignant look at the reverberating effects of war through the story of a Ukrainian World War II veteran’s struggle to hide a damaging secret for the sake of his family. Vasilyuk’s book begins with death—the first chapter... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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This spring has come with its fair share of excellent debut novels. Here are three more, for your reading pleasure. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A trio of new contemporary romance offerings from Black authors beckon readers to settings as far-flung as small-town West Virginia and Panama City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In January 2016, I was an unpublished writer working on my first novel when I learned of an artist residency on a tiny island off the west coast of South Korea. Excited, I daydreamed of finishing my manuscript in my motherland, visiting family, and of course, eating an abundance of delicious... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-18 11:05:00 UTC ]
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In September, poet Joan Wickersham’s No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck will be published by Eastover Press. Lit Hub got a sneak peak, and we’re excited to share a new poem from the collection. According to the publisher, No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck is a poetic and philosophical... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-15 13:30:20 UTC ]
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New graphic novels for middle schoolers explore the poignant joys of summer camp for queer and nonbinary kids. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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180 titles have been submitted for this year's German Book Prize, established to 'draw attention beyond national borders' to German fiction. The post German Book Prize: 180 Novels Submitted by 106 Publishers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-04-10 17:03:14 UTC ]
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When I was a child, my grandfather was embroiled in a quiet, and possibly entirely one-sided, feud with his next-door neighbor. Every summer I would visit my grandparents for a week, and follow Grandpa on his morning walks through the woodlot, along a path that skirted the neighbor’s field. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-10 08:54:38 UTC ]
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From books about disintegrating relationships and countries to a worker’s-eye view of Korea and a story of farmers in Brazil, the selected titles engage with current realities, say the judging panelKorean writer Hwang Sok-yong and German author Jenny Erpenbeck appear on this year’s International... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-09 13:00:09 UTC ]
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Every author wants to write a book like David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. Two decades after it first hit the shelves, the author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow celebrates its daring, dazzling appealPity the writer who believes they have written the next Cloud Atlas! A literary agent once... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-06 10:00:31 UTC ]
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