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 ]
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News Corp. (NWSA) for the first time publicly detailed bribery by a journalist at its now-defunct News of the World, telling a court that a former editor agreed to pay a prison guard to get a story about a child killer. Matt Nixson, a features edit ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has acquired an account of this year's Libyan conflict by Sky News reporter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC's award for short fiction is to turn international for one year to celebrate the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 10/11/2011 - 11:05 Over a fifth of North Yorkshire county council's library staff are set to lose their jobs as part of plans to hand branches over to community groups to run, according to a report in the Yorkshire Post. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/11/2011 - 14:52 Digital publisher Andrews UK has released the first 3D video-supported ebook onto the market through Apples iBookstore. The company has included a six-and-a-half minute 3D film within the ebook A Dream of Christmas 3D, a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 11:01 Headline has acquired the next book by Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling, with the Sky Sports football pundit moving with his editor Jonathan Taylor from HarperSport. Publishing director Taylor bought world... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 08:23 Ebury has acquired a memoir written by Shane Spall, wife of actor Timothy Spall, describing their journeys on their boat The Princess Matilda, and his battle with acute leukaemia. Publisher Jake Lingwood bought UK,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 08:10 Author Nick Hornby wants to establish a national network of story centres for children, following a successful first year for the Ministry of Stories in Hoxton, London, which Hornby co-founded with Lucy Macnab and Ben Payne.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 08:30 Waterstone's is set to publish a print and ebook anthology to celebrate the shortlist for the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award. The high street bookseller will publish the titles on 4th March next year, and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 10:36 Pan Macmillan has acquired a collection of short stories from bestselling crime and thriller writer Peter James, with publishing director Wayne Brookes buying UK and Commonwealth rights through agent Carole Blake at Blake... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 11:59 Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg is to join the judging panel for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for a second year in a row. Bragg will be joined by actor Ian Hart, playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi, novelist Joanna Trollope... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 23/09/2011 - 10:45 Canongate has bought a collection of stories by a US marine and veteran of the Iraq war. Senior editor Francis Bickmore pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to the untitled collection by Phil Klay through by Cathryn... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 14/09/2011 - 08:55 Authors including Neil Gaiman and Ian Rankin will collaborate with the public in a short story "Tweetathon" organised by the Society of Authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 08:45 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced on Friday evening (9th September) on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 19:30 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced this evening (9th September) on BBC Radios Front Row. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 31/08/2011 - 14:45 The Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish indie Cargo and US publisher McSweeney's are to team up on a four-volume collection of stories from authors including Roddy Doyle and Ali Smith. Fifty authors are to take part... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 26/08/2011 - 08:48 Penguin is reissuing its collections of short stories for adults by renowned children's author Roald Dahl. The rejacketed paperback versions, priced £8.99, will be reissued in four batches, beginning with Someone Like... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 25/08/2011 - 07:00 The Orwell Prize is to blog George Orwells hop-picking diary entries, which went on to form part of his novel A Clergymans Daughter. Starting today, the political writing award will post a daily blog 80 years to the day that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 09:21 American crime writer Karin Slaughter has written a digital-only short story exclusive to Amazon, with all the proceeds going to benefit libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 10:20 Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired a collection of stories by Nathan Englander, one of the New Yorker's "20 Writers for the 21st Century", whose previous works have been published by Faber. Editorial director Arzu... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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