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 ]
News tagged with: #original form

Other news stories related to: "In the age of Corbyn, is the time right for another Road to Wigan Pier?"

Icon Books scoops Mulhall's 'terrifying and timely' fascism examination

Icon Books is set to publish Dr Joe Mulhall’s The Global Far Right: Its Rise and Our Future next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-20 22:57:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #icon books

It’s Time for Disabled Writers to Tell Their Own Stories

Alice Wong’s work as an activist, podcaster, writer, qualitative researcher, and editor is on full display in her new anthology Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. Her new anthology is an extension of the projects she’s become known when it comes to always... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-19 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #anthology #electric literature #full display #alice wong

A Road Trip With One of the 20th Century’s Greatest Writers

“Borges and Me,” a memoir by Jay Parini, recounts a young poet’s travels with Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine master. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-08-18 09:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #memoir #greatest writers #20th century #road trip

Diane Cook’s ‘The New Wilderness’ is accidentally timely but also timeless

The novel, about a family that gives up modern conveniences to live in the woods, is a brutal, beguiling fairy tale about humanity. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-17 16:10:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #diane cook

Diversity in the Age of Black Lives Matter

Since the killing of George Floyd in late May, the book publishing industry, overwhelmingly white at every level, seems to have reached a period of reckoning about its own history of exclusionary hiring practices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #book publishing #overwhelmingly white #george floyd

Diversity in Publishing in the Age of Black Lives Matter

While recent efforts are encouraging, publishing needs to establish permanent methods to give people of color more opportunities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #give people #recent efforts

'Queen of cosy crime' Rowlands dies, aged 96

Betty Rowlands, dubbed the “queen of cosy crime” by publisher Bookouture, has died at the age of 96. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-10 05:46:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #cosy crime

Hachette UK makes Times list of top employers for women

Hachette UK has been selected as one of the Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2020, while its Gender Balance Network has won Employee Network Group of the Year (Private Sector) at the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI) Awards 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-29 15:13:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #hachette #hachette uk

Just in time for an updated ‘West Side Story,’ a look back at the 1961 classic

Richard Barrios’s new book delves into the history of the film adaptation that did boffo business and won multiple Oscars. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-29 13:56:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #film adaptation #book delves

In turbulent times, culling my book collection gave me the illusion of control. Then the dilemmas began multiplying.

Should I keep the first edition or the fine dust jacket? Deciding what books should stay or go is more art than science. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #turbulent times

It’s Time to Radically Rethink Online Book Events

Before the stay-at-home orders came down in Baltimore, the last thing I did in person was participate in a panel conversation about—ironically—“art and the apocalypse.” In retrospect, we should have cancelled, but the threat in Maryland still felt surreal; those were the days when it seemed like... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #online book #electric literature #stay-at-home orders

'Dark' Is a Carefully Crafted Time Travel Puzzle

Netflix's German science fiction series stuck the landing in its third and final season. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2020-07-24 16:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #science fiction #final season

Dan Peres Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age | People on the Move

National Law Journal EIC departs for Bloomberg, an EIC returns to Gizmodo, TechCrunch COO moves on and more. The post Dan Peres Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age | People on the Move appeared first on Eddie & Ozzie Awards. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-22 20:16:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #move appeared

Dan Peres Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age | People on the Move

[caption id="attachment_182909" align="alignright" width="150"] Dan Peres[/caption] Dan Peres is taking over Ad Age as its next editor-in-chief, succeeding Brian Braiker, who left in April after three years atop the masthead. Peres is best known as the former editor-in-chief of Details, a role... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-22 20:16:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #harpercollins #tech reporters #previous editions #visiting fellows #harvard university #private equity #haverstock arrives #presidential campaign #latest member #chicago sun-times #tina sfondeles #associate producer #on-air reporter #yahoo finance #entertainment executives #penske media

Dan Peres Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age | People on the Move

'A visionary publisher': Tony Elliott, Time Out magazine founder, dies

Elliott developed his London listings and culture magazine into a ‘global media empire’Tony Elliott, the founder of the events listings magazine Time Out, has died after a long illness, the magazine has said.The 73-year-old set up the magazine in London in 1968 and grew it into a major... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-07-17 18:46:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #major publishing #long illness #culture magazine #magazine founder

HC to publish Piers Morgan's 'clarion call' on free speech

HarperCollins has acquired world all language rights to Wake Up: Why the ‘Liberal’ War on Free Speech is Even More Dangerous than Covid-19 by broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-15 12:44:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #harpercollins #acquired world #free speech #clarion call

L.A. Times Book Prize Winners Announced

The 40th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced today on Twitter. The prizes are given in 12 categories, and titles from Penguin Random House took home six. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #times book #penguin random house #announced today

Gill Lewis shortlisted for Little Rebels Award for fifth time

Author Gill Lewis has been shortlisted for a fifth time in the Little Rebels Award's eight-year history for The Closest Thing to Flying (OUP). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-14 03:33:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #rebels award

Hodder embarks on a Scottish road trip with 'Outlander' stars

Hodder & Stoughton will publish Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other, by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, stars of the historical drama series "Outlander". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-05 23:10:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #hodder #graham mctavish #hodder stoughton