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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Novelist Eleanor Catton and her editor Max Porter's alliance shows how much more than wielding a blade goes into this relationshipHenry James called editing "the butchers' trade". But he also said, "I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort," so you can see how the old anglophile... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Angie Smith wrote her bestselling children's book in memory of her daughter Audrey Caroline, who died the day she was born in 2008. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Dickens's day, serialized novels were all the rage. Rooster aims to revive that trend, making it easier than ever to find good books (and the time to read them).In the age of abbrevs., sitting down to read a novel can feel like gearing up for a marathon, no matter how much you love books. The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The film rights to Tom Rob Smith’s newly published The Farm (Simon & Schuster) have... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to fit real-life information into your story without sacrificing or slowing down the story. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Gibbs Smith relocated his eponymous publishing company from California to the family farm in Layton, Utah, in 1973 he converted an old barn into offices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hot Key Books has signed a book from actress and writer Emerald Fennell. Emma Matthewson,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The multimedia empire's chief executive on video journalism, North Korea – and why he won't be taken over by a big rivalShane Smith stayed up late getting drunk with one of his presenters, and now he is exhausted, hungover and behind schedule. Bottles of spirits stand, taunting him, from a table... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The news of Ali Gunn’s death is too new and just so shocking and ghastly that it is still... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former The Book Depository managing director Kieron Smith pictured is to launch an online global... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Past winners include Stephen King, Anne Rice, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ray Bradbury. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Little Friendly Orgy and other porn stories have been sold as work by the author of The Eagle Has LandedReaders fancying a journey into the world of the bestselling thriller author Jack Higgins may be getting a different kind of thrill, courtesy of another writer selling erotic novels under... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'HaganThe ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken his silence to describe his months working with the WikiLeaks founder, which culminated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A digital publishing house is conducting a semi-legal, large-scale search for the next great incarcerated author. The reaction from authorities isn't what you'd expect.Jack London, Ken Kesey, William Burroughs, Oscar Wilde, Malcolm X, Voltaire, Cervantes, E.E. Cummings, Martin Luther King, Mark... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Justin Smith, CEO of Bloomberg Media Group, is slated to wrap up a 100-day review of the company in the coming weeks, when he is expected to offer recommendations on the future of the global media conglomerate's TV division and digital and print operations, including Bloomberg Businessweek.His... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There is no need to turn to the US for great writers, the publisher of one of the Folio Prize-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While authors have appeared in person, via Skype or via telephone at book clubs before, Book the Writer has the clubs pay for the author's appearance. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Library chief, Roy Keating, says show will explore field from Misty comics and superhero classics to graphic novelsBoys in the late 1970s probably assumed the girls comic Misty was all boring romance, puppies and ponies. How wrong they were. They were full of "incredibly dark, weird,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The anonymous figure behind the Twitter handle is reported to be releasing a book titled 'Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance and Excess in the World of Investment Banking' this October. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Advocates for women writers – working to counter what is seen as bias towards males in the literary community – suddenly seem to be everywhere. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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