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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Two graphic novels by Steve Sheinkin and former 'Village Voice' cartoonist Stan Mack each took the publishing world by surprise after becoming bestsellers for Jewish Lights recently. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut author Sarah Hilary has scooped the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Someone Else’s Skin (Headline). Hilary was presented with the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark Lawson at the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribner has acquired a novel by French novelist and playwright Karine Tuil called The Age of Reinvention. Editorial director Rowan Cope acquired British Commonwealth rights from Heidi Warneke at Editions Grasset & Fasquelle for Scribner UK. The novel will be published by Peter Borland at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A British speed reader has finished Harper Lee's much anticipated novel, Go Set A Watchman, in less than half an hour. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee's just and gentle lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird is depicted as a bigot and racist in the author's upcoming new novel, which is being published this week 55 years after her portrait of racial injustice in the American South. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The Subversive Science Fi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Harper Lee had plans to write a string of novels after To Kill A Mockingbird, according to a letter she wrote before the book was published. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki snagged the best book award on a night when quite a few women creators took home Eisner book awards. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Reading Agency is hoping to set a new record for "most pledges received for a reading campaign" for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, which launches tomorrow (11th July). The agency has teamed up with Guinness World Records for the challenge and, starting from this weekend, libraries... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scout is all grown up—and Jem is, well, you'll see... Go Set A Watchman Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee's long-awaited prequel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, hits shelves July 14. But if that still seems like too long to wait, both The Wall Street Journal and The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As the first full day of Comic-Con unfolded in San Diego, one of the biggest stories is the continuing push, from publishers, to release more diverse material for a wider audience. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nina George's international bestseller features good food, talk of love, and picturesque scenes of rural France. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former Aitken Alexander m.d. Andrew Kidd has launched Alexi, a book recommendation app giving “people a new channel of discovery”. The app is currently in beta, but users of the full version of the app, available in late autumn, will be able to read books recommended by authors including Ali... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As long as they pay publishers every time a book is read, ebook subscription services are more successful the less people read. The post Netflix-Like Book Services Would Be Happy if You Read Less appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee's sophomore novel, 'Go Set A Watchman,' comes out next week. We want to know if, after all the controversy, you'll be reading it. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When its publisher announced in early 2015 that The Festival of Insignificance, Milan Kundera’s first novel in 13 years, would be a “summation of his life’s work,” fans were giddy with anticipation. With uncanny prescience, Kundera’s previous books all but predicted our Instagram era—what would... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Borough Press has bought The Chilbury Ladies' Choir in a “major” six-figure deal. Kate Elton, executive publisher of fiction and non-fiction, and Cassie Browne, commissioning editor at The Borough Press, have bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, at auction, to The Chilbury... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Allen & Unwin has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to Heart of Jazz by Sara Lövestam, a novel about a bullied schoolgirl and a retired jazz musician. Sam Redman at Allen & Unwin UK acquired the book from Maria Cardona and Marina Penalva at Pontas Literary & Film... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers of shorter works could lose out on revenue as company’s Kindle Owners Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited no longer pay per copy downloadedSelf-published authors could be paid as little as $0.006 per page read under new rules planned by Amazon.Writers who make their works available... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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So much for writing short.Last month, Amazon took a page out of Spotify's playbook, electing to start paying its self-published authors by the page rather than per download. The new model was put into action Wednesday—and it looks like the e-commerce giant may now pay writers no more than $0.006... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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