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
Hot Key Books has acquired a new book trilogy, The Folk of the Air, from bestselling teen and children’s author, Holly Black. Black is known for the Modern Faerie Tale series, as well as for co-authoring The Spiderwick Chronicles and Magisterium. Black said that the trilogy will “delve deeper... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#holly black
It's back-to-school season, so in the spirit of continued education, we asked top editors for their book picks for the fall. Cosmo editor-in-chief Joanna Coles recommended "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow for lovers of American history. The forthcoming memoir of Carrie Brownstein "Hunger... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#alexander hamilton
#ron chernow
#american history
#forthcoming memoir
#carrie brownstein
#hunger makes
#modern girl
#mark forsyth
The Shepherd’s Crown, the 41st book in his much-loved fantasy series, sells more than 52,000 copies in three daysTerry Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna Pratchett has said that “somewhere Dad is raising a glass of brandy to you all” after the late author’s final novel The Shepherd’s Crown topped the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#41st book
#late author
#number sold
#jeffrey archer
Naxos Audiobooks has acquired audiobook rights to five Larkin novels by H E Bates, including The Darling Buds of May. The company acquired an exclusive licence to the unabridged audiobook rights to the novels in a deal with Peters, Fraser and Dunlop in association with Pollinger Limited,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#naxos audiobooks
#pollinger limited
Summer is pretty much over, we're sorry to have to report. So, our question for this week is a simple one: What was the best book you read this summer? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pw asks
Last year was the best year for sales of graphic novels in the UK since BookScan records began in 1998, with the genre bringing in almost £20.5m worth of print sales. Publishers and retailers are crediting the boom to a broadening of range and a diversification of characters and writers within... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print sales
#top draw
#graphic novels
#5m worth
#nielsen bookscan
Chris Bryant, shadow culture secretary, condemns apparent reappointment of Brooks as News UK chief a year after she was cleared of phone-hacking chargesThe return of Rebekah Brooks to run Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper operation has been described as “two fingers up to the British public” by the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#british public
#shadow minister
#chris bryant
#uk operations
#phone-hacking scandal
#phone hacking
MGM has optioned the film rights to upcoming YA novel Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. The production company struck a deal with publisher Penguin RandomHouse Children’s and has already hired J Mills Goodloe, the scriptwriter for Age of Adaline, to develop the project. The novel, which... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#film rights
#upcoming ya
#nicola yoon
#3rd september
#diary entries
Neil Gaiman is no stranger to having his books banned. Here the author of Coraline and The Graveyard Book talks about controversial books in libraries, censorship threats to graphic novels and why freedom of speech is not the freedom to harassDo you remember reading any books as a child that... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#controversial books
#neil gaiman
#graphic novels
#long weekend
More details and the book cover for Morrissey’s novel List of the Lost have been revealed, with publisher Penguin Press describing the title as “extraordinary”. The novel will be published in paperback on 24th September with an r.r.p of £7.99. Morrissey has released some cryptic details about... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book cover
#24th september
Black & White Publishing has signed a psychological thriller, Abigale Hall, by the winner of Faber and Faber Creative Writing MA Prize, Lauren A. Forry. Managing director of Black & White Publishing, Campbell Brown, acquired World English rights for the publication from Sandra Sawicka... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#psychological thriller
#campbell brown
#sandra sawicka
#marjacq scripts
Two science fiction translations, one from the Dutch and another from Chinese, took home the best novella and best novel honors at this year's Hugo Awards. The post Hugo Awards Honor Chinese Novel, Multiculturalism appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hugo awards
Pan Macmillan has acquired a dystopian trilogy, the first draft of which was published on story writing community Wattpad, at auction for a six-figure sum. Senior commissioning editor Bella Pagan bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Slavedays and its sequels by Vic James [pictured] from Robert... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pan macmillan
#dystopian trilogy
#six-figure sum
#robert kirby
#united agents
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett and The Girl in the Spider’s Web, continuing Stieg Larsson’s crime series, are both due out on Thursday Two very different heroines are poised to return to the nation’s bookshelves: Tiffany Aching, teenage witch and protagonist of the late Terry... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#lisbeth salander
#david lagercrantz
#millennium trilogy
#midnight opening
#events planned
Early in 2004, a pair of green folders labelled "Men Who Hate Women 1 and 2" landed on the desk of Eva Gedin, an editor at the Swedish publishing house Norstedts. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#eva gedin
Fansite True to You announces that the book will be published by PenguinMorrissey may have had a troubled couple of years, with health issues forcing the cancellation of gigs, but as he pointed out on the Smiths’ third single, “the devil will find work for idle hands to do” – and in this case,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#idle hands
#nearest thing
#fiction title
#penguin books
#coming week
#south africa
Walker is printing exclusive editions of Patrick Ness’ new novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, as part of its sales and marketing campaign. The special editions (priced £12.99) are case-bound and hardback, and come with a special print. The first 1,000 copies can be pre-ordered through... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#patrick ness
#waterstones website
#marketing campaign
Bloomsbury has promised a “high profile and heavy hitting” marketing campaign for the global release of William Boyd’s new novel Sweet Caress next week (27th August). The publisher said marketing plans include a “major” National Rail advertising campaign, third party partnerships, national... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#william boyd
#high profile
#global release
#sweet caress
Author Ali Smith has used her appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to warn how the closure of public libraries was threatening the “democracy of reading”. Smith, who was interviewed at the festival yesterday (16th August), said the continued closing of libraries would have an... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#public libraries
Zia Haider Rahman's debut novel In the Light of What We Know wins the prestigious James Tait Prize for fiction. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |