Our publishing industry seems to champion just one or two black and Asian authors at a time. Lack of diversity is a real problemMonths back I was trudging through the streets of Dalston when I spotted a copy of Simi Bedford's Yoruba Girl Dancing in a charity shop window. It evoked the same emotion that stumbling into an old school friend might – part nostalgia and part wonder at the old magic. I found myself inside the store reaching for it, just as I had done years ago as a teenager. The book is a hilarious, touching read about a Nigerian girl sent to boarding school in England. Back then, it resonated with me deeply. I too had been a young Nigerian girl sent to England at the age of eight to attend boarding school in Norfolk. Its recounting of otherness in an unfamiliar land made me laugh and recall my own experiences. There was something about that dancing silhouette on the cover that seemed hopeful, unburdened somehow, and, though I'd been enamoured of the talents of Roald Dahl and Harper Lee, it was refreshing to see an author who looked like me.As I left the shop, it made me wonder: whatever happened to Simi Bedford? I know she wrote another novel, Not With Silver, but whatever happened not just to her, but to the career trajectories of other black and Asian female British authors?I admire the tenacity of writers such as Andrea Levy, who deserved to garner more attention earlier in their careers. Andrea eventually went on to have great success, but there was little... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Man Booker-shortlisted Ali Smith, Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Eimear McBride, and Costa Book of the Year winner Nathan Filer are among the authors vying at the Specsavers National Book Awards this year. Presented in association with high street campaign Books Are My Bag, the awards... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crowdfunding publisher Unbound has launched Women in Print, a campaign to encourage more female writers to submit their ideas for books. Unbound has published 43 books, two magazines and a box set of photos to date, of which 32 were by male authors, 12 by female authors, and two by male and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Bond has taken legal advice on how to stop other authors writing about Paddington Bear after his death, according to the Times. In an interview published in the newspaper on Saturday 1st November , Bond said he has already consulted a lawyer over how to protect his creation and that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author support site The Writing Platform is encouraging writers and technologists to work together, with bursaries to fund new collaborative projects. Two bursaries of £4,000 each will be awarded to teams made up of one writer and one technologist, to fund a three month project. Teams can... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ten roles at the British Museum’s digital media and publishing department, which includes the British Museum Press, are under consultation and at threat of redundancy. The department, which also includes website and broadcast teams, is being restructured to help deliver the museum’s “strategic... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The PEN American Center is putting 75 one-of-a-kind first editions, annotated by America's most famous authors and poets, on the block. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House is to take its interactive narrative gaming experience Black Crown offline at the end of this week, with creator Rob Sherman conceding that "the economics do not stand up". The online narrative gaming project, with Sherman's story set in the shady Widsith Institute,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut novelist Amy Mason, who dropped out of school at 16 and took up writing at 25, wins the Dundee International Book Prize. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a deal begun at the London International Book Fair and consummated at Frankfurt, the Scottsdale, Ariz., press took North American rights to both a classics crime and a classic spy series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has acquired two celebrity biographies by Sean Smith, in a deal with Gordon Wise of Curtis Brown. Smith has previously written unauthorised biographies of celebrities such as Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Robbie Williams, both published by Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anna Lena Films has acquired the film and TV rights for Wilbur Smith’s novel Desert God, published by HarperCollins. The rights were bought from Kevin Conroy Scott at Tibor Jones Management. The deal also includes film and TV rights to River God and The Seventh Scroll, also from the Epic... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WH Smith has reported a 9% rise in pre-tax profits for the year but said books sales continue to be “challenging”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a year in which four publishers closed, paused, or slimmed down their fiction lists, members of the American Christian Fiction Writers held their annual conference Sept. 25-27 in St. Louis to honor their best, talk shop, and see who was still standing, though all agreed there are still... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere has acquired a follow-up to Very British Problems: Making Life Awkward for Ourselves, One... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For every 15 titles that Italian publishers import from the U.S., American publishers import one from Italy; a new program aims to change that. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Not That Kind of Girl is a reminder of the publishing obsession with women divulging their private livesA week or so ago, I went to LA to interview a ridiculously talented young woman. Despite being only in her 20s, she has achieved the kind of success that most people multiple times her age... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author John Curran discusses Christie's writing approach and her never-ending appeal. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers Zadie Smith, Lionel Shriver and Rose Tremain join Tessa Hadley and Francesca Rhydderch on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ali Larter, author of 'Kitchen Revelry' (St. Martin’s Press, 9781250036353) will appear on 'The Chew' on Wednesday, September 17. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Black Balloon is offering $250 to the indie bookstore with the most creative display of its new anthology 'Come Here Often? 53 Writers Raise a Glass to Their Favorite Bar.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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