The first black woman to win the Booker prize argues that a revolution is sweeping through British publishing. But can it lead to lasting change?Chidera Eggerue, AKA The Slumflower, is a social media star, south-east London homegirl and feminist. She first came to prominence in 2017 when she created the hashtag #SaggyBoobsMatter on Twitter in order to promote the body-positive message that women’s breasts and bodies are fine just as they are. It’s an important idea and antithetical to a beauty industry that berates us for our imperfections. A year later Eggerue published a self-help motivational book, What a Time to Be Alone: The Slumflower’s Guide to Why You Are Already Enough, which entered the Sunday Times bestseller list the week it was published in 2018, when she was 23. In her very pink, zanily illustrated book, Eggerue, a self-styled “guru, confidante and best friend” to her readers, offers advice on self-worth and self-acceptance. An earlier booklet called Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women, by Otegha Uwagba, became a bestseller in 2016, paving the way for Eggerue. This, in turn, was probably influenced by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2014 essay We Should All Be Feminists. These are unprecedented times for black female writers, in no small part due to the internet. It has reconfigured how we present ourselves to the world at large, as well as bringing previously marginalised social groups and writing to the fore in ways hitherto unimaginable. As a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-19 07:00:24 UTC ]
Author Mark Dawson has attracted criticism after bulk buying his own book gave him a high chart position. But that isn’t breaking any rulesFor any author, being able to describe yourself as a bona fide bestseller is key to conferring your career with a certain gravitas – and will often bring you... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-20 15:59:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Michelle Alexander and Ijeoma Oluo among those on list, marking first time top 10 entries are primarily titles on race issuesGeorge Floyd killing – latest US updatesBlack American authors, including Michelle Alexander and Ijeoma Oluo, have surged to the top of the latest New York Times’... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-11 18:10:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi pointed out on Twitter last night that books about racism (including two of his own, How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning) are making up a significant portion of the New York Times bestseller lists. “The resistance is from the loudness of demonstrations to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-11 14:11:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists Hilary Mantel, Maggie O'Farrell and Margaret Atwood are among the list of big-name writers and thinkers taking part in the first fully digital Hay Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-06 10:09:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Vintage has revealed the striking cover for Margaret Atwood's new poetry book, Dearly—the writer's first collection for a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-16 10:47:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As City AM suspends publication, regional print media are coming under increasing pressurePlayboy, the glossy magazine relic of the pre-#MeToo era as well as the occasional publisher of Margaret Atwood, among others, would seem to have little in common with City AM, the business-led freesheet... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-03-22 14:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Virago publisher is eloquent and inspiring on writing – but her memoir lacks grit and gossipLennie Goodings has had a long and highly respected career in publishing. She is chair of Virago Press, the pioneering publishing house that champions women’s writing. She’s been with Virago since the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-23 09:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of Prozac Nation, has died at the age of 52, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Wurtzel’s 1994 memoir, in which she chronicled her experiences with drug use and depression, became a New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a 2001 film starring Christina Ricci.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-07 16:23:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Donald Trump Jr's Triggered hit the New York Times bestseller list with a dagger, an indication of bulk buys. It's far from the first book to do so. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-06 11:35:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From The New Yorker’s archive, pieces about science fiction and fantasy, by John Seabrook, Julie Phillips, Colson Whitehead, Margaret Atwood, and Joyce Carol Oates. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2019-12-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo has criticised the BBC for labelling her "another author" whilst describing her double-win with Margaret Atwood, with Evaristo’s agent calling on the broadcaster to apologise for "their erasure of her historic achievement". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-04 07:00:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Campaigns for Margaret Atwood's The Testaments (Vintage) and Lisa Taddeo's Three Women (Bloomsbury) were among the winners at the Book Marketing Society Awards last night. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-21 01:07:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Ian Williams, winner of this year’s $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his debut novel Reproduction, began his acceptance speech Monday night with an emotional tribute. “Margaret Atwood over there is the first book I bought with my own money at a bookstore in Brampton,” he told the audience.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-19 20:30:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret Atwood is taking her book tour to Australia and New Zealand next year in celebration of the global publication of The Testaments (Vintage). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-18 00:57:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this
New polemic against ‘leftwing hate’ has topped US book chart, but there are indications its success was fed by bulk purchasesMore than 30 years ago, Donald Trump is reported to have ordered key staff to buy thousands of copies of The Art of the Deal to make it seem more popular than it was. Now... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-15 13:40:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret Atwood’s Booker-winning The Testaments (Vintage) is vying with offerings from Max Porter, Greta Thunberg and Candice Carty-Williams in a bumper shortlist for Waterstones Book of the Year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-30 15:29:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Canongate has acquired the second novel from New York Times bestseller Imbolo Mbue. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-25 09:23:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Almost 6,000 copies of Girl, Woman, Other sold in the week after Evaristo’s win alongside Margaret AtwoodBernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other more than doubled its lifetime sales in the week following its Booker prize win, with joint winner The Testaments by Margaret Atwood also flying off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-22 16:25:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
LOOK, IT MUST be said: Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments is a deeply strange text. A page-turning potboiler set 15 years after the events of the first novel and published over three decades later, and co-winner this week of the 2019 Booker Prize, it tells a story only barely connected to the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-19 15:00:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The first black woman to win the Booker prize argues that a revolution is sweeping through British publishing. But can it lead to lasting change?Chidera Eggerue, AKA The Slumflower, is a social media star, south-east London homegirl and feminist. She first came to prominence in 2017 when she... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-19 07:00:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this