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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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 06/10/2011 - 08:40 Jonathan Cape has acquired a second novel from the John Llewellyn-Rhys prize-winning author Evie Wyld. Senior editor Alex Bowler acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Wyld's All the Birds, Singing from Laetitia... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 1999 San Francisco authors/journalists Jane Ganahl and Jack Boulware mused over drinks about getting together a bunch of authors for a big reading. They tapped Phil Bronstein, the editor of the San Francisco Examiner, to foot the $300 bill for 25 authors to read in Golden Gate Park for what... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 15:26 The British Museum Press is teaming up with Japanese star Hoshino Yukinobu to publish its first manga book, featuring the artists most famous character, Professor Munakata. Marketing and publicity executive Sarah Morgan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What better place to be the day after Amazon unveiled its $199 Kindle Fire tablet (plus three Kindle models starting at $79) than a conference on e-readers? Long scheduled for September 29 and 30 in San Francisco, Intertechs two-day eReaders 2011 conference offered an even better platform than... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 28/09/2011 - 14:38 Titan has acquired award-winning fantasy author James P Blaylock's first steampunk novel in 20 years, The Aylesford Skull. Titan fiction editor Cath Trechman bought world rights via John Berlyne and John Parker at Zeno Agency for "a good five-figure... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 27/09/2011 - 15:05 Jonathan Cape has acquired the new novel by author Joe Stretch, with his previous two novels Friction and Wildlife published as Vintage Originals. Senior editor Beth Coates bought UK and Commonwealth rights to The Adult... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 08:45 Zadie Smith, Jeanette Winterson, Blake Morrison and Mark Haddon are among the big names contributing to a Vintage essay collection described as a "mission statement about the paramount importance of reading to our quality of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:05 The number of Americans using an ebook reader has almost doubled during the last 12 months, according to a new survery. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 19/09/2011 - 09:39 A primary schools project that has helped thousands of struggling young pupils to read is being axed by the government, according to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). The Reading Recovery Project involves... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It is, in many ways, a world away from Canadas book publishing center in Toronto. But even three time zones, several mountain ranges, and vast forests away, the West Coast is home to Canadas second-largest concentration of English-language publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 08:45 Faber is to publish a new novel by Australian literary heavyweight Peter Carey next year, with the publisher already billing the dual-narrative title as a classic. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 08:10 People in Huntingdon and Cambridge buy the most books of any town or city in the UK, according to a list compiled by Amazon from its print and Kindle sales since the start of the year. Towns in Kent, Wiltshire and West Sussex... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 13:05 Quercus has bought a children's book by US rapper 50 Cent. Playground, for the 12-plus age group, is a semi-autobiographical novel on the subject of schoolyard bullying. Children's editorial director Roison Heycock bought UK... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 02/09/2011 - 15:00 Teacher and artist Patricia Le Baudrier is using digital printing and marketing to launch her debut novel The Orphans of St Cecile, which she created using dolls she has modeled and using photographs as illustrations. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Half way through 2011, at least four of the major trade publishers continue to find ways to profitably publish despite the challenges posed by the digital transition and the collapse of Borders. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As ebooks become popular, there are increasing opportunities to share and personalize the digital reading experience. That's where the upcoming Readmill iPad app and social network come in. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:18 One in six children do not read a single book per month, according to a new survey by the National Literacy Trust. The research suggested the United Kingdom is polarised between those who do not read and the one in 10 children... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 20:23 Debut novelist Tatjani Soli and theatre critic Hilary Spurling have been awarded the James Tait Black Prizes, Britains oldest literary awards. Solis The Lotus Eaters (HarperPress) was awarded the £10,000 fiction prize at the Edinburgh International... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As publisher of The Lexington Herald-Leader, Creed Black supported an investigation of the University of Kentucky basketball team that led to the first Pulitzer Prize for the paper. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 09:08 The British Library has launched its E-book Treasures series for the iPad, with ancient manuscripts now available for download on the Apple iBookstore. The first manuscripts to be available are Leonardo da Vinci's Codex... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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