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 ]
News tagged with:
#white writers
#douglas stuart
#james kelman
#irvine welsh
#dolly alderton
#helen fielding
#ali smith
#virginia woolf
#british literature
BookLife talks with Renee Harleston, founder of Writing Diversely, about the value of sensitivity readers Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sensitivity readers
As the middle grade graphic novel category has grown in recent years, the number of graphic adaptations of middle grade books has exploded. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#graphic novel
As the middle grade graphic novel category has grown in recent years, the number of graphic adaptations of middle grade books has exploded. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#graphic adaptations
#graphic novel
Books to read in March include "James" by Percival Everett, "Wandering Stars" by Tommy Orange and "Age of Revolutions" by Fareed Zakaria. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-03-01 11:02:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#percival everett
#tommy orange
#reading list
Every Tuesday, a wave of new books is published, fresh off the printing press onto the shelves of bookstores around the world. Even for a book editor like me, it gets overwhelming to keep track of all the forthcoming titles. So we’ve turned to our most trusted source for recommendations: indie... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#indie booksellers
#forthcoming titles
#electric literature
#book editor
#printing press
This week, four authors of acclaimed debut novels—Xochitl Gonzalez, Rachel Lyon, Lucas Rijneveld, and Adelle Waldman—return for their sophomore efforts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
The biennial Novel Prize comes with a $10,000 purse and simultaneous publication in North America, by New Directions; the U.K. and Ireland, by Fitzcarraldo; and Australia and New Zealand, by Giramondo. In a twist, this year, the three publishers crowned two winners. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#simultaneous publication
Are utopias becoming a trend in fiction during this dystopian era? The debut novel from Phillip B. Williams, 'Ours,' embraces magic without ignoring reality. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-24 11:09:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#road map
#debut novel
The criticism comes after the Autauga-Prattville Public Library’s newly appointed board enacted a new policy suspending the purchase of children’s or young adult books that include "sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender discordance," a move the National Coalition Against Censorship... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sexual orientation
#gender identity
#national coalition
Read an excerpt of Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana, a YA novel about a Muslim girl who writes a protest poem that goes viral, changing her whole life. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-02-21 12:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ya novel
We Solve Murders introduces a new detective duo – but the author has not abandoned his Thursday Murder Club charactersA new crime series by Richard Osman called We Solve Murders has been announced, after the huge success of his Thursday Murder Club novels.The beloved elderly sleuths from the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-20 17:44:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#richard osman
#crime series
#detective duo
#huge success
#pointless presenter
#bestselling series
#coming back
#first novel
This was a regular feature of my childhood, though it feels so long ago and far away, conceptually as well as literally, that I nearly forgot it ever happened: I’d go into town to the mall with my mom, and she’d drop me at the doors of the Borders or Barnes and Noble while she […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-19 09:55:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bring back
#long ago
#barnes
#bookstore
Scott Guild's debut novel (and companion album) 'Plastic' is a dark and entertaining saga about a postapocalyptic world populated by plastic figurines. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-15 21:43:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#debut novel
The Ripped Bodice knows the romance genre inside and out — and they revealed the swoon-worthy books to read right now. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2024-02-13 10:45:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ripped bodice
#bookstore
Published by Dark Horse Books in collaboration with the African American horror publisher Second Sight Publishing, 'Shook! A Black Horror Anthology' collects a dozen tales of hair-raising terror, monsters, and gore grounded in America’s grim racial history and enlivened by humor and hip-hop culture. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
The “Aya” series explores the pains and pleasures of everyday life in a working-class neighborhood in West Africa. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-10 10:02:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#everyday life
#west africa
#graphic novel
Andrew Ewell's debut novel 'Set for Life' is well-written but doesn't fulfill its potential. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-09 16:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#debut novel
Thanks to algorithms, our digital worlds are created for us, not by us. As a result, libraries are seen by some as scary because they reach an entire community—not just an individual. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-02-09 12:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#libraries