Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation

It is clear that there is a gender bias in publishing houses and the world of books. Well, enough. Why not try something radical? Make 2018 the Year of Publishing Women, in which no new titles should be by menSeveral years ago, Martin Amis chaired a literary festival panel on “The Crisis of American Fiction” with Richard Ford, Jay McInerney and Junot Díaz. I was in the audience, and halfway through the discussion leaned over to the person sitting next to me and said: “Clearly the crisis of American fiction is that there are no women in it.” It’s not just that there weren’t any women on the stage. In the entire discussion, which lasted nearly an hour, there was no mention of Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Annie Proulx, Anne Tyler, Donna Tartt, Jhumpa Lahiri or any other contemporary female writer. A single reference to Eudora Welty was the only acknowledgment that women in the US have ever had anything to do with the world of letters. Díaz, near the end of the hour, made the point that the conversation had centred on white American males, but it was too little, too late.I think of this panel when reading yet another article or survey about the gender imbalance that exists in publishing houses, in terms of reviews, top positions in publishing houses, literary prizes etc. The issue can’t of course be broken down into a story of fair-minded women versus bigoted men. Like any effective system of power – and patriarchy is, over time and space, the world’s most effective... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation"


The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has announced its 2024 longlist.

Distinct among the literary prizes for its emphasis on debuts, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has been recognizing “exciting emerging voices in contemporary fiction” since 2006. This year, a panel of readers and judges selected a longlist of 25 novels out of 144 debuts submitted for... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-01 14:21:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Books on the impact of the internet and AI are finalists for the first-ever Women's Nonfiction Prize

Books about the dizzying impact of the internet and artificial intelligence are among finalists for a new book prize that aims to help fix the gender imbalance in nonfiction publishing Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-03-27 18:22:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Bryan Washington’s Family Meal, Mary Gabriel’s Madonna: A Rebel Life, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Roman Stories, andWerner Herzog’s Every Man for Himself and God Against All all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s book review aggregator. * Fiction 1.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-13 11:00:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Gene Luen Yang to Headline 2023 Neustadt Lit Fest at OU

Gene Luen Yang to Headline 2023 Neustadt Lit Fest at OU News and Events [email protected] Fri, 07/28/2023 - 10:38 World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, will award the... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-07-28 15:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Women’s prize to launch annual award for women’s non-fiction writing

The Women’s Prize Trust hopes to make the first award in 2024, after research showed female writers were far less likely than men to be reviewed or win prizes The Women’s prize is to launch a non-fiction award to sit alongside its long-running fiction prize, in response to research that found... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-08 08:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Do You Know If Your Short Story Should Be a Novel?

The list of novels that began their lives as short stories is long and well known. Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides, Eudory Welty’s The Optimist’s Daughter, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (which began as a short story titled “Gogol”), Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (expanded from her 1923... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-15 09:52:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this


PW Picks: Books of the Week, May 16, 2022

The books we love coming out this week include new titles by Jon Mooallem, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Maggie Shipstead. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Anne Tyler’s ‘French Braid’ is entirely familiar, and that’s just perfect

"French Braid," Anne Tyler's 24th novel, will be immediately recognizable to her fans. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-22 12:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘The Latinist’ is the perfect suspense novel to kick off your reading year

Set in the claustrophobic world of academia, this twisty tale by Mark Prins will remind you of Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’ Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-31 23:16:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel ‘Whereabouts’ is a delicate exploration of despair

In her new novel, the author of “Interpreter of Maladies” and “The Namesake” charts the inner life of a lonely woman living in Europe Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-20 15:45:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Aspiring writers, enter that prize. Even if you don't win, you'll be seen | Candice Carty-Williams

Simply submitting your story to be read by someone who knows talent when they see it is important for so many reasonsWriting prizes are massively important for aspiring and emerging writers. I think they are vastly more important than literary prizes. So many aspiring writers don’t have access... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-10-03 07:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: A wicked debut novel about a levitation cult occasionally lifts off

Emily Temple's "The Lightness," about a seeker who loses more than she finds, is a beguiling novel after Donna Tartt's heart, if not her plotting. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-06-24 13:45:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Why book prizes matter more than ever

The pandemic and lockdown have affected the book industry from the fate of distributors to the closure of independent shops to the drop in individual book sales, and many literary prizes have this year postponed their announcements. But the Desmond Elliott Prize, for the first time under aegis... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-16 09:44:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jhumpa Lahiri on Editing an Anthology of Italian Fiction

The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories edited by Jhumpa Lahiri, is available now. * What was the genesis of this anthology? Three years ago, I began teaching creative writing at Princeton. I had just returned from Italy, where I had lived in Rome with my family for three years. During that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-10 08:46:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Week's Bestsellers: September 2, 2019

The #3 book in the country is ‘Thank You for My Service by YouTuber and five-tour Army Ranger Mat Best. Plus Donna Tartt’s ‘The Goldfinch’ flies to the #7 spot in the country ahead of the movie adaptation’s release, and the new novel in Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series, ‘The Last Widow,’... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jhumpa Lahiri and Hari Kunzru Reflect on America’s Immigration Crisis

As America marks this July 4th holiday, an outcry on immigration is leading to national headlines, including from a congressional delegation that visited an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas, this week. PEN America has gathered a series of statements from a number of writers and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-03 08:48:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pictures of the week

A number of literary prizes were awarded this week, while independent bookshops across the country celebrated Independent Bookshop Week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-21 09:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Big Titles U.S. Agencies Will Be Selling at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair

Among the big titles American agents will be talking up at Frankfurt are a memoir by 'New York Times' photographer Bill Cunningham, a first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, a middle-grade adaptation of Trevor Noah's 'Born a Crime,' and a new novel by Julie Orringer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Scribe signs 'masterfully-plotted' intergenerational saga

Scribe has acquired Greenwood by Michael Christie, an intergenerational saga with echoes of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


PEN Brings the Resistance to Its 2018 World Voices Festival

The theme of this year's PEN World Voices Festival, "Resist and Reimagine," brings writers including Colson Whitehead, Roxane Gay, Eileen Myles, Jhumpa Lahiri, Dave Eggers, and Masha Gessen together in New York for six days in April. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this