In the age of Corbyn, is the time right for another Road to Wigan Pier?

It’s no surprise that the Left Book Club is being relaunched now, with the imprimatur of the Labour leader and Ken Livingstone. It began in the anxious 1930s, a decade that has all too many parallels with the current oneAiming to “set the agenda for a new age of political debate”, the Left Book Club was re-launched this week at a meeting at the Conway Hall in London. The Left Book Club last published a book in 1948. Jeremy Corbyn had yet to be born. Nevertheless the Labour leader has generously endorsed the revival as “a terrific and timely idea” that will give “intellectual ballast to the wave of political change sweeping Britain and beyond, encouraging informed and compassionate debate”. He added that he had a large collection of Left Book Club titles, some bought new by his parents and others that he acquired second hand. I speculate that the memory of these books in their plain red or orange covers – their flash upon his inward eye – must have provided Corbyn with a rare pleasurable moment in the past few weeks: the thought of them on his shelves having same kind of heart-filling effect that the daffodils had on Wordsworth.My own collection isn’t so large. In fact, it runs to just one book, Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier, and I didn’t inherit it. I bought it 20 or 30 years ago because I liked the idea of having such a fine book in its cheap and original form – seeing the words and photographs as its first readers must have seen them. Published in 1937, the year after... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stories That Wrestle With Black Girls’ Coming of Age

The flash fiction literary community is like an extended family. If you are a writer and reader of flash, it is in all likelihood that your inner circle of literary peeps are other flash fiction folks or, you at least, know of one another. Six degrees is more like one or two in this community.... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-09-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Sky News Australia rolls out the red carpet for Piers Morgan, who vows to take on ‘woke world’

Another conservative loudmouth comes to town. Plus: a Sunrise interview with Meghan Markle’s father falls flatMove over Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones and Peta Credlin – there is a new conservative loudmouth in town.Piers Morgan, the former editor of the UK tabloid News of the World, has returned to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-17 02:36:53 UTC ]
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Piers Morgan to launch new TV show in deal with News Corp

British presenter Piers Morgan will join News Corp and Fox News Media and host a TV show that will air in the U.S., Britain and Australia Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2021-09-17 00:42:43 UTC ]
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Academic publisher Michael Holdsworth dies, aged 73

Tributes have been paid to academic publisher Michael Holdsworth after his death, aged 73. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-15 13:03:36 UTC ]
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What is the role of art in times of turmoil? ‘A Play for the End of the World’ offers no easy answers.

A novel by Jai Chakrabarti follows two productions of a play staged decades apart as acts of resistance. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-14 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Thames & Hudson former president Peter Warner dies, aged 79

Peter Warner, former president and publisher of Thames & Hudson, has died at the age of 79 from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-12 20:14:10 UTC ]
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Societal expectations? Please. For the female protagonists in these 3 debut novels, it’s time to break the mold.

Writers from different parts of the world weigh in on what it means to be a woman with agency. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-11 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney’s latest novel is a lucid, nuanced story about coming of age in a broken world

“Beautiful World, Where Are You” more than lives up to the promise of its predecessors and even exceeds the hype. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Caldwell shortlisted for BBC National Short Story Award for third time

Lucy Caldwell has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award for the third time, in a year dominated by new voices. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-10 09:37:40 UTC ]
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W H Allen to publish New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project

W H Allen will publish The 1619 Project: A New American Origin Story, created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-09 11:16:58 UTC ]
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Review: Joy Williams' first novel in decades is an astonishing end-times parable

From the acclaimed author of novels and short stories, 'Harrow' is a magnificent, moving story about people picking up the pieces of apocalypse. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-07 13:00:01 UTC ]
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3 great new audiobooks for your weekend road trip — and beyond

For your listening pleasure, books by Jojo Moyes, Katie Crouch and Sunjeev Sahota Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How time was measured, and what it meant, across the centuries

David Rooney explores how ideas about time have shaped cultures and consciousness. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Navigating Uncertain Times

This year's fall regional trade shows will take place as questions abound over how the rest of 2021 will play out. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Time to decolonize and diversify the writer’s retreat?

Trigger warning: unpopular opinion. I have long despised the idea of writers’ retreats. I entirely agree with the concept itself but felt it was in desperate need of diversification in order to suit different personality types and minds.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-02 05:17:10 UTC ]
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Prize-winning author Cathy MacPhail dies, aged 75

The prize-winning Scottish children’s author Cathy MacPhail has died at the age of 75 following a long illness.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-31 17:49:46 UTC ]
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PRH US pays tribute to Seyfried after death, aged 36

Penguin Random House US has paid tribute to 36-year-old vice-president Erika Seyfried, who died over the weekend.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-30 18:31:43 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite drops to all-time low price of $71 in one-day sale

Now might be a good time to buy an e-reader for school — or that end-of-summer vacation. Amazon has cut the price of the ad-supported 8GB Kindle Paperwhite to an all-time low of $71 in a one-day-only sale, well below the official $130 sticker. That's lower than what we saw just two weeks... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2021-08-29 15:44:54 UTC ]
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Aster to publish one from two-time Olympian snowboarder Fuller

Octopus Books imprint Aster has acquired Fear Less, Live More by two-time GB Olympian Aimee Fuller.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-20 08:49:30 UTC ]
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Jill Murphy, author of The Worst Witch, dies aged 72

Children’s author and illustrator Jill Murphy, best known for the Worst Witch novels and Large Family picture books, has died aged 72.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-20 03:26:07 UTC ]
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