Is English literature since 1918 really such a man’s world?

A new book celebrating the best writing of the past century follows a well-worn script when it comes to equalityI’ve been dipping in and out of DJ Taylor’s fat new book, The Prose Factory, a pleasingly gossipy history of literary life in England since 1918, and so far as it goes, it’s very enjoyable: the bits about money certainly put the writers-must-be-paid-to-appear-at-festivals debate in some perspective. But still, I have to ask: where are all the women?Taylor gives Virginia Woolf and Iris Murdoch quite a lot of attention. Also, for reasons that are perhaps less clear, AS Byatt, Margaret Drabble and Brigid Brophy. Edith Sitwell, Penelope Fitzgerald and Lorna Sage are treated sympathetically, and merit several paragraphs, as do a few others. But it’s the omissions that strike you, the many excellent and important female writers who are referred to only in passing, or not at all. Doris Lessing is mentioned just four times, and Muriel Spark and Angela Carter only twice; ditto Elizabeth Taylor. Among those left out entirely are: Sybille Bedford, Anita Brookner, Barbara Comyns, Olivia Manning, Antonia White and – this last truly amazes me – Stevie Smith. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #doris lessing #muriel spark #angela carter

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Is English literature since 1918 really such a man’s world?'


Walter Mosley changes gears with ‘The Awkward Black Man,’ a meditation on health, aging and life

The story collection is a departure for the beloved writer best known for his Easy Rawlins mysteries. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #walter mosley #story collection #beloved writer


'The end of an innocent world': An oral history of the first National Book Festival, which debuted three days before 9/11

Ahead of the 20th National Book Festival, Laura Bush, Scott Turow, Michael Beschloss and others look back at the event’s storied beginning. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oral history #scott turow


J.K. Rowling’s New Book Is Reportedly About A Man Who Wears Dresses To Murder Women

The author has faced backlash after a reviewer said the moral of her book “Troubled Blood” is to “never trust a man in a dress.” Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2020-09-14 23:01:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Sharjah World Book Capital Leads Beirut Library Restoration Aid

As Beirut struggles to move forward, the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi and Sharjah's World Book Capital program step in to help libraries. The post Sharjah World Book Capital Leads Beirut Library Restoration Aid appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-14 18:40:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #move forward #world book


In ‘Young Rembrandt,’ Onno Blom tries to piece together the artist as a young man

The book began as a series of weekly newspaper columns in which the author attempted to trace the path of the Dutch artist’s early years. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-10 13:27:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young man #early years


Izumi Suzuki, counterculture icon and SF legend, will finally be published in English in 2021.

Izumi Suzuki, whose works of science fiction have earned her a special place in Japanese counterculture, will soon make her English-language debut with a story collection whose synopsis sounds almost unbearably cool. Verso Books will publish Terminal Boredom, a short story collection, in April... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-04 16:26:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #izumi suzuki #special place #english-language debut #story collection #verso books #verso #science fiction


S&S acquires Pope Francis' 'inspiring' guidance for Covid-hit world

Simon & Schuster is to publish Let Us Dream from Pope Francis in December.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 17:32:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon schuster


Perfect Reading T-Shirts for the Book Fandom World

Your closet is asking you to add these reading t-shirts to it and up your book lover status. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-09-02 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book lover


The World’s First Novel Is Older Than You Think

What was the first novel? Why was it written? What need did it fill? Who wrote it? And most importantly, can you still read it today? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-09-02 10:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #first novel


Panel Mania: Blade Runner 2019: Off World Vol. 2 by Michael Green, Mike Johnson, and Andres Guinaldo

In this 10-page excerpt from 'Blade Runner 2019: Off World Vol. 2' by Michael Green, Mike Johnson, and Andres Guinaldo, the graphic novel sequel to Ridley Scott’s acclaimed 1982 dystopian sci-fi film, Blade Runner Ash Ashina has been tracked down by another ruthless Blade Runner looking for a... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #10-page excerpt #ridley scott #years earlier #titan comics #graphic novel


Ethan Hawke is now a book critic, thereby completing his Literary World Bingo Card.

Congratulations to Ethan Hawke, star of my favorite film (Gattaca) and arguably the most bookish man in Hollywood, who has, with today’s inclusion in the (web) pages of the New York Times Book Review, completed his Literary World Bingo Card! What is the Literary World Bingo Card you ask? Well,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-01 18:45:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book #literary world


Singapore Book Council Names its 2020 Literature Prize Winners

The Singapore Literature Prize program honors work in the four official languages of the island nation: Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil. The post Singapore Book Council Names its 2020 Literature Prize Winners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-08-31 14:19:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #official languages #literature prize


Yan Lianke, author of Three Brothers, on Chinese Life, Law, and Literature

Hosts Kate, Eric, and Medaya are joined by renowned Chinese writer Yan Lianke, whose latest book is the memoir Three Brothers, about his childhood growing up during the Cultural Revolution. Calling in from Beijing, Yan discusses his life as a writer, being banned and censored in his own country... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-08-28 20:55:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literature appeared #yan lianke #childhood growing #cultural revolution #memoir


Bolinda scoops Mennuti comedy about publishing world

Bolinda has scooped a “laugh out loud” romantic comedy by debut author Aly Mennuti, featuring a literary agent based partly on the author's own, Simon Trewin. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-25 02:20:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing world #simon trewin #literary agent #debut author


Helen Macdonald’s ‘Vesper Flights’ — like ‘H Is for Hawk’ — is a beautiful, poignant celebration of the natural world

These 41 essays tell another type of nature story, one that asks readers to see the natural world as something other than a reflection of themselves. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-24 14:25:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #helen macdonald #vesper flights #natural world #asks readers


The World’s Biggest Brands Are Spending More in Programmatic

Some of the world's largest brands are spending more on programmatic advertising, just as the practice is set to become much harder. Members of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) are directing 41% of their digital media budgets to programmatic channels, up from 16% in 2016. Exact figures... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-08-20 15:32:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #programmatic advertising #biggest brands #digital media


How Yaa Gyasi Found Religion (in Literature)

“There isn’t much literary fiction that deals with evangelicalism. ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain,’ by James Baldwin, was the first book I read that spoke to that part of my life and it moved me so deeply to see faith rendered on the page with such care and brilliance.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-08-20 09:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #james baldwin #literary fiction


Literary world overwhelmed by 600 books to be published on one day

Hundreds of titles will flood the market because of Covid. It’s bad news for minority authors, says former Booker prize judgeOver the summer, novelist and screenwriter David Nicholls has been something of a hero. With a humorous nod to the less glamorous aspects of publishing life – hastily... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-16 07:29:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big names #traditionally published #bad news #writers including #window displays #paperback edition #sweet sorrow


Jean Giorno: Fighting the Battle of Gay Liberation in a Homophobic World

“I don’t know what it means!” Andy Warhol bleats, in John Giorno’s Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment (out now from Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Warhol’s ditzy refrain is a mantra for the perpetually bemused, at once tragicomic and tongue-in-cheek. He says... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-14 08:48:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir