How women conquered the world of fiction

From Sally Rooney to Raven Leilani, female novelists have captured the literary zeitgeist, with more buzz, prizes and bestsellers than men. But is this cultural shift something to celebrate or rectify?In March, Vintage, one of the UK’s largest literary fiction divisions, announced the five debut novelists it would be championing this year: Megan Nolan, Pip Williams, Ailsa McFarlane, Jo Hamya and Vera Kurian.All five of them are women. But you could be forgiven for not noticing it, so commonplace are female-dominated lists in 2021. Over the past 12 months, almost all of the buzz in fiction has been around young women: Patricia Lockwood, Yaa Gyasi, Raven Leilani, Avni Doshi, Lauren Oyler. Ask a novelist of any gender who they are reading and they will almost certainly mention one of Rachel Cusk, Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Kushner, Gwendoline Riley, Monique Roffey or Maria Stepanova. Or they will be finding new resonances in Anita Brookner, Zora Neale Hurston, Natalia Ginzburg, Octavia Butler, Ivy Compton-Burnett. The energy, as anyone in the publishing world will tell you, is with women.It’s only relatively recently that fiction written by a woman about intimate subjects like sex has been classed as literary fictionClass is the dirty secret of publishing. Working-class male writers are now expected to answer for a past that isn’t oursMen think that to be allowed a place at the table, they need to have the right views and be these nice guysWhy wasn’t there uproar in the media... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-16 06:00:48 UTC ]

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The Digital Transformation in Publishing Has Left Plenty of Space for Print

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[ Folio Magazine | 2020-05-07 14:20:39 UTC ]
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Mantel, O'Farrell and Atwood announced for Hay Festival Digital

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 ]
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We Owe More to Our Young Writers: On the Relevance of the Workshop

In post 11/8 America, the citizenry became more aware, more active, more willing to submit themselves to self-examination. Yet while the world of journals both print (Freeman’s), and online (Guernica, Lit Hub, Electric Literature), have increased their commitment to the exploration of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-16 08:49:50 UTC ]
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In Italy, Coronavirus Books Rush to Publication

Doctors, novelists and other writers are exploring, as quickly as they can, the pandemic’s impact on a country that was among its earliest victims. Continue reading at The New York Times

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The Italian Quarantine, by Baret Magarian

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[ World Literature Today | 2020-03-23 21:14:07 UTC ]
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Novelists Ignite A Mighty Blaze in Response to Extinguished Book Tours

Two novelists have partnered to build A Mighty Blaze, a initiative to promote other authors and their new books on social media. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Without Places to Gather, Debut Novelists Reimagine Book Promotion

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Pandemics in the Pages of ‘The Stand,’ ‘Severance’ and More

For centuries, novelists and fiction writers have imagined what plagues and virus outbreaks could look like, and many readers are seeking these books out amid concerns about the coronavirus. Continue reading at The New York Times

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How Content Consumption & Creation Is Changing (and How to Keep Up)

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A new site for headline-inspired fiction launches today with stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Colum McCann, and more.

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New editions of six Stanisław Lem books place the sci-fi icon back in the spotlight.

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The publishing industry is probably even less diverse than you thought.

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