Beyond cliche and condescension: we need new stories about ‘The North’

Barnsley-born poet and novelist Andrew Macmillan on the assumptions and misconceptions that shape our national narratives of the north of England – and the new authors covering fresh groundI’ve lived all my life in the north of England; in Barnsley for 18 years, then Lancaster, then Barnsley briefly again, then Liverpool for a while before settling in Manchester. In my poetry, particularly my debut, physical, and now in a novel, Pity, I’ve always been interested in what role writing can play in celebrating and rethinking place; how it might illuminate silences, or cut through the radio static of assumptions. It’s an interest that was, perhaps, inevitable having a poet for a father, who always encouraged all of us, myself and my two sisters, to see where we lived and how we talked as equal to anywhere and anyone else.The collection physical was my attempt to surface same-sex desire, the fragility of masculinity and the legacy of rapid and often brutal de-industrialisation in the northern town and then the northern city that I lived in. More recently, with Pity, I wanted to interrogate what narratives exist about a place and who gets to tell them. I wanted, in the words of the great north-east poet Barry MacSweeney, to stand at the coalface, like Hamlet, and strike a match.the six of us walk in single fileUp the narrow street that takes uspast The Angler’s Rest and The Shipand the Conservative and Catholic clubsand British Legion and Royal OakAnd The Alma and Little... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-27 09:00:31 UTC ]
News tagged with: #barnsley briefly #rethinking place #collection physical #national narratives #role writing #illuminate silences #radio static #brutal de-industrialisation #northern town #northern city #narratives exist #single fileup #narrow street #takes uspast #royal oakand #macmillan

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Beyond cliche and condescension: we need new stories about ‘The North’'

North Atlantic Books Transforms with the Times

Almost four decades after Richard Grossinger and Lindy Hough founded North Atlantic Books in Vermont, the press, which has been in Berkeley, Calif., since 1977, continues to evolve within the body, mind, and spirit segment. From a two-person operation with roots in the poetry journal Io that... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #community outreach

Booksellers' embarrassing stories in Hart ebook

Hodder & Stoughton has released a free ebook, No, It's Us Too!, today (11th September)... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hart ebook #hodder stoughton #free ebook

Costa launches story prize

Costa has launched a new award for a single, previously unpublished short story, with the winner... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

New Yorker Releasing Story in Tweets

The latest story from a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer will appear in 140-character chunks. The New Yorker is publishing Jennifer Egan's "Black Box" in installments on Twitter, the New York Observer reports. The tweets, which began yesterd ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest story #black box

Same Sex, Different Story: PW Talks with Rodger Streitmatter

Just as president Obama comes out in favor of gay marriage, a new book takes a close look at American same sex couples, from Walt Whitman to Greta Garbo to Jasper Johns. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #president obama #gay marriage #book takes #walt whitman

A Mother Is a Story With Neither Beginning Nor End

Next month, the Slate Audio Book Club will discuss Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother? Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2012-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

HC finds Real detectives story

HarperCollins has bought world rights in The Real Lady Detective Agency, an account of a true-... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Faber ebooks to trace story of British pop

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short ebooks

Stories of the High Line: BEA 2012

Two weeks after BEA ended last year and all the booksellers left town, something magical happened in New York: 10 more blocks of the High Line, our beloved “park in the sky,” finally opened to the public, doubling it in size. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #high line

'Need for stories' as World Book Night celebrates

World Book Night founder Jamie Byng spoke about the "need" for stories as the 2012... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

What To Read On Your New iPad: Fast Company's Retina-Optimized Mark Zuckerberg Cover Story!

The April 2012 issue of Fast Company is now available on the iTunes Store, and it's optimized for reading on the new iPad. The image below shows how much sharper the type looks when viewed on the new iPad with the Retina display. The images are in high definition, too, rasterized at four times... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #single issues #one-year subscription #account information #gain access #kindle edition #kindle store #nook store

"Distinctive" short stories to Chatto

Chatto & Windus has acquired a collection of short stories by Nigerian author A Igoni Barrett... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chatto windus #short stories #nigerian author

Scholastic enters the ebook fray with Storia and 1,000 children's stories

Between Google Books, iBooks, Nook, Kindle, Kobo, Sony... you'd figure the ebook field was crowded enough, right? Well, if you're specifically in the market for children's stories, things might look a little less packed. We guess that's why Scholastic is attempting to enter the fray with Storia,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google books #interactive features #free ebooks