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 ]

Other news stories related to: "How women conquered the world of fiction"


Who Needs an MFA When You Have This Literary Fiction Trope Checklist?

Writing literary fiction stories? Forget what you’ve learned about complex characters and earned endings. What you really need is to include the required tropes. To help you out, we’ve created this handy checklist. Literary Fiction Trope Checklist _____ 1. Starts with character waking up _____... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-26 11:00:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Literary Fiction Literary Agents Open to Submissions

Literary agents are gatekeepers of the publishing industry. Find literary fiction literary agents open to submissions in this post. List will be updated regularly. The post Literary Fiction Literary Agents Open to Submissions by Robert Lee Brewer appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-07-26 11:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


8 Beer and Book Pairings

It’s a cliché among authors that we write the books we wish existed, but two of the many reasons I set out to write The Lager Queen of Minnesota was because I wanted to read literary fiction set in a brewery, and frankly, I also wanted a reason to bum around the country researching contemporary... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-19 11:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


12 Novels about Historical Women to Inspire a Better Future

The Spanish philosopher and poet George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a genre, historical fiction allows us to shuttle back in time to stand in the shoes, clogs, chopines, and go-go boots of people—real and imagined—to consider the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-07-15 11:00:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Summer reading: dive into the perfect book

As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Can Sci-Fi Writers Prepare Us for an Uncertain Future?

Businesses and public policy makers are tapping novelists to imagine the path forward. But how much stock should we put in the predictions of storytellers? Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-07-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Writers Who Left: Cuban Exile and What Comes Next, by Margaret Randall

Cultural Cross Sections Margaret Randall Children’s choir at the 2014 La Matanza Book Fair / Photo by Mauro Rico / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación / Flickr When good engineers or scientists emigrate, they are able to continue their work. Novelists... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-10 21:07:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What to Expect When You’re Expecting Evil

Literary fiction is increasingly borrowing from the horror genre to explore the fears and anxieties of modern motherhood. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-07-06 09:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Viewfinders: 10 Y.A. Novelists Spin Fiction From Vintage Photos

The New York Times invited Asian-American authors to choose photos from our archives and write short young-adult fiction inspired by them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 17:18:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


For Fans of Ottessa Moshfegh, a Debut Novel of Female Psychosis

Juliet Escoria’s “Juliet the Maniac” sees the life of a bipolar teenager in gut-wrenching fragments. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-06-24 09:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Adam wins Desmond Elliott Prize for 'electrifying' debut Golden Child

Claire Adam has won the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize for first-time novelists with her "electrifying" debut Golden Child (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-18 18:50:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How the New York Public Library Brought Novels to Instagram With Unexpectedly Huge Results

The idea makes practically no sense at all. Full works of long-form literary fiction uploaded to ... Instagram? And specifically to Instagram Stories, a format known for its fast and fleeting posts about nights on the town and outfits of the day? But the New York Public Library pulled it off,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-06-14 20:20:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


TaleFlick Opens Adaptation Marketplace

TaleFlick, a company that fosters relationships between Hollywood and the publishing world, has just launched “The Marketplace,” an online platform where producers, publishers, agents, and writers can connect. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jurors Announced for the 2020 Neustadt Prize

News and Events WLT Norman, Okla. (June 11, 2019) – Robert Con Davis-Undiano, Neustadt Professor and executive director of the World Literature Today organization at the University of Oklahoma, this week announced the names of nine writers to be the jury... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-06-10 16:04:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Licensing Expo 2019: New Directions for Licensing

After several years of conservative views toward licensing in the publishing world, the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward a more expansive outlook. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


BookExpo 2019: Pete Holmes On Losing (and Finding) His Religion

Comedian Pete Holmes brings his serious/funny funny/serious take to the publishing world with 'Comedy Sex God' (Harper Wave, May), a book that is part autobiography, part philosophical inquiry, and part spiritual quest. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


BookExpo 2019: Literary Fiction Gets the Buzz

Indie booksellers raved about both fall/winter fiction and nonfiction offerings at BookExpo, but literary fiction with plots inspired by today's news headlines is what they were most excited about. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Creative writing graduates will 'never make a living as novelists', says Self

Will Self has declared literature to be "morphing into a giant quilting exercise", suggesting that no current creative writing graduates will make a living from literary fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


London Book and Screen Week Names 2019 CAMEO Award Winners

The London Book Fair's public-facing festival, London Book and Screen Week, opens with its annual CAMEO Awards program for adaptations from the publishing world. The post London Book and Screen Week Names 2019 CAMEO Award Winners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Callaway Makes Sure You'll Remember Its Books

Remember Madonna’s 'Sex,' the 1992 succès de scandale that shook the publishing world? Or the Miss Spider books, TV series, and app? Both, and more, are the brainchildren of Nicholas Callaway, founder and CEO of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, which turns 40 this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this