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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Simon & Schuster's Engage: The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson by Paul Kimmage has been... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly a third of British adults (31%) say they are likely to buy an ebook in the next six... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One-time "The Late Show" editor Roly Keating has been appointed as the new chief... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a consultation on plans to transfer the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus' Heron Books imprint has acquired three novels by Ottakar's founder James Heneage... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Reading Agency and the Publishers Association have launched a digital skills sharing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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All hail the ebook! Seriously, if it weren't for this marvelous literary development, try saying with a straight face that you wouldn't at least take pause before adding a new title to your collection. Numbers are in from The Publisher's Association -- a group of 120 companies across the trade... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber is releasing a series of six short ebooks, called Faber Forty-Fives, which each draw... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Data gathered by Nielsen BookScan for The Daily Beast show many of the same titles are popular in American cities – but exceptions include 'Heaven Is For Real' and 'The Great Gatsby.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebury is relaunching its Black Lace erotica imprint, as E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atlantic Books editor-in-chief Ravi Mirchandani signed a deal at LBF for world rights including... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 400 authors are scheduled over the two days at USC. Writers as varied as Anne Rice and Jeff Kinney will hold court.What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They're just a few of the high-profile... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon announced that it has purchased the North American rights to Ian Fleming's James Bond books. James Bond, of course, is the debonair British superspy 007, played on film by a number of actors, including Sean Connery (above). Under the agreement, Amazon will retain republication rights for... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British novelist E L James' much-discussed erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey (Arrow) has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble wants you to take your e-reader to bed. The latest iteration of the Nook, revealed by the book retailer Thursday, is a black-and-white device with a softly glowing backlit screen. It is designed to solve a common problem that co ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist William Boyd is to write the next James Bond book, with 007 set to return to a 1960s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This year's volunteer givers for World Book Night (23rd April) are being encouraged... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A study by the Pew Internet Project finds that consumers who use e-readers are buying more books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One in five American adults read an electronic book in the last year, as gift-giving sped the shift away from the printed page, a Pew Research Center survey showed on Wednesday. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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About a fifth of American adults have read an ebook in the past year, a figure likely helped along by the recent holiday surge in the sale of tablet and e-reader devices, according to a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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