'Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre

Publishing’s long established boys’ club in espionage fiction is having its cover blown by a new school led by Stella Rimington, Manda Scott and Charlotte PhilbyWhen Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5 and spy author, wrote a new foreword last year to The Spy’s Bedside Book, Graham Greene and his brother Hugh’s 1957 anthology , she was glowingly complimentary. She had just one complaint. “After everything we have done for spying, there is, apart from the obligatory reference to Mata Hari, hardly anything in this book about women!” she wrote.The Greene brothers aren’t alone in their short sight. Wikipedia lists 127 notable writers of spy fiction, dead and living, and only seven of them are women. (Rimington is one of them.) Pick any list of the best spy novels, and it will usually be peopled only by male writers such as John le Carré, John Buchan, Rudyard Kipling, Erskine Childers, Joseph Conrad, Len Deighton, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum.Publishing has become much more gender-blind – before it was: ‘Only blokes can write this’ Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-07 09:00:54 UTC ]
News tagged with: #male writers #rudyard kipling #joseph conrad #ian fleming #tom clancy #anthology

Other Publishing stories related to: ''Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre'


ABA Tests ‘Buy Now’ Button to Up Sales Through IndieBound

The effort is aimed at improving the shopping experience offered by the organization's online retail platform, IndieBound. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Jane Friedman on bringing books 'back to life'

Jane Friedman, c.e.o. of Open Road Integrated Media, on ebooks, backlist and drinking "the Kool-Aid very early on digital". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jane friedman #bringing books


3 Witchy Books to Read On Halloween

This year, get in the spirit of Halloween with three outstanding books set to publish this month that center on witchcraft. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Book chain founder Philip Joseph dies

Bookseller Philip Joseph, who co-founded UK bookshop chain Books Etc with his son Richard Joseph, has died. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


International Hot Book Properties, Week of Monday, October 26, 2015

A number of memoirs are heating up internationally, with many having picked up steam at this month's Frankfurt Book Fair. Among the true-life tales gaining traction are a memoir from a Dutch poet about the death of his wife and father, and a Swedish journalist's story about her... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


The Penguin Books story laid bare (even the naked board meetings)

Allen Lane, while knighted for services to literature, was never much of a reader. Were brothers Richard and John written out of their own bestselling story?Eighty years ago, three brothers – Allen, Richard and John Lane – founded Penguin Books in London. The brothers planned the venture in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #modern literature #massive scale


Michael Rosen and the Laugh Out Loud Book Prize

Michael Rosen answers questions about the new Laugh Out Loud Book Prize (the Lollies). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael rosen


Best of the best: a look at the past decade of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

We take a look back at the winners from the past 10 years of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #past decade #baileys women


Irish author Louise O'Neill on her controversial novel Asking For It

The bit in her book that readers are reacting to the most, says Louise O'Neill, is not the gang rape. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #gang rape


James Dawson reveals male-to-female transition

YA author James Dawson has announced that he is transitioning to being a woman. In a statement, Dawson said: “About 18 months ago I started what will be a very long journey into living as a woman. It was while writing This Book Is Gay (Hot Key Books) that I realised I had far more in common... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trans women #gay men #waiting list


Vera B. Williams dies at 88; award-winning children's author and illustrator

Vera B. Williams' family saved pennies and nickels to get by during the Depression. So her mother's purchase of a "real chair" — neither stick-hard nor someone's castoff but brand new and cushiony — was an extravagance. "I don't intend to work all my life and have nowhere to sit down," the woman... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #award-winning children


Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Sequel play to pick up where final JK Rowling book left off

A new play will pick up the story of Harry Potter where the seventh and final volume of JK Rowling's saga left off, with a plot involving a grown-up Harry and his youngest son, Albus. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harry potter #cursed child #final volume #jk rowling


Graphic memoir 'Arab of the Future' takes a look back to the author's childhood in Libya and Syria

The French cartoonist Riad Sattouf spent the earliest years of his life in three dictatorships. One dictator was Col. Moammar Kadafi, the "supreme leader" of Libya, where Sattouf and his parents moved when he was 2. Another was President Hafez Assad of Syria, where they relocated when he was 4.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graphic memoir #supreme leader


Tartans created for comic book heroes

A kiltmaker unveils tartans for superheroes Superman and the Hulk and plans another potential range for female characters. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #female characters


Ehrlin: 'children's book world shouldn't fear self-publishing

The children’s book world should not be scared of self- publishing, according to Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin, the Swedish author behind the bestselling picture book The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, which shot to number one in the Amazon.co.uk book chart before the author signed any deals with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book world #swedish author #fall asleep #traditional publishers


London China Book Festival sees cultural exchange

The Publishers Association's director for publisher relations Emma House met with Guo Guang, president of China Youth Press International, at the launch of London China Book Festival at Hatchards Piccadilly this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers association


Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4: Picking the best came down to just one thing

We love the Surface Book. We love the Surface Pro 4. But what we haven’t told you yet is the question many of you are asking: Which one is better? And the answer is: the other one. For the last week, we’ve tossed the question back and forth: which one do you like? Why? We both agree that the... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #surface book #battery life #spent time


Book Deals: Week of October 26, 2015

Pushcart Prize–winner Stephanie Powell Watts takes her debut to Ecco, Diana Palmer gets seven figures from Harlequin, Juliet Nicolson sells a nonfiction title to FSG, and more in this week's notable book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book deals #pushcart prize #nonfiction title


New events confirmed for Academic Book Week

Academic booksellers and presses are gearing up for the inaugural Academic Book Week, backed by the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association and the British Library, with a raft of fresh events unveiled for the occasion. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #academic booksellers #publishers association #booksellers association #british library


What's Selling at One More Page Books

Chocoholics, oenophiles, and literature lovers are treated to one-stop shopping at One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., where Lelia Nebeker focuses on the store's offerings for readers. The book buyer talked up some of her favorite handsells of the fall season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literature lovers #favorite handsells #fall season