Novelist Arundhati Roy leads chorus of protest after publisher settles lawsuit brought by militant groupConservative activists in India have pledged to continue their campaign to purge bookshelves and schools of works they say are abusive to Hinduism, as a fierce row over a 700-page academic work on the faith intensified on Thursday.Penguin Books India agreed this week to withdraw from sale and pulp all copies of The Hindus: An Alternative History, by the US-based academic Wendy Doniger, as part of a settlement after a group of Hindu conservative nationalists filed a case against the publisher."We are going to fight each and every example of this. We will leave nothing unchallenged that is against our customs, our religion, our nation," said Prakash Sharma, spokesman for the hardline Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) organisation, one of a series of conservative religious groups in India that aggressively campaign against artists and authors who they believe malign or misrepresent Hinduism.Penguin's decision not to fight the case has worried many authors, and revealed deep cultural divisions. Arundhati Roy, who won the Booker prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things, said she was shocked by Penguin's decision and uncertain whether to stay with the publisher. "So far I have had been more than happy to be published by Penguin. But now? What you have done affects us all," Roy wrote.An editorial in the Times of India condemned "the growing power of bullying... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
The universities minister Jo Johnson has used a Boxing Day speech to highlight the issue of free speech and debate in universities. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 'New York Times' eliminating its Graphic Novel Bestseller List and the continued growth of manga sales in North America were among PW’s most popular articles about graphic novel publishing in 2017. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Solving challenges around trust, diversity and press freedom are key to safeguarding democracy, says Guardian and Observer editor-in-chief• Read the full speech: A mission for journalism in a time of crisis Facebook has become the most powerful publisher in history by replacing editors with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a world ruled by social media, online image is the key to success, and now a host of services are springing up to optimise your personal brand – by supplying fake followers, monetising your pets or revealing how to write an Amazon bestseller overnightSo you want to write a bestselling book?... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The end of the summer and the beginning of the school year finds a mixed bag of ebooks hitting the Apple iBooks store's bestseller list, including Kendall Ryan's self-published romance at #1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The literary nonprofit world is ramping up for a protracted campaign in favor of free speech in the wake of President Donald J. Trump's call for the elimination of the NEA and NEH. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Manuscripts which help readers escape from the angst of the political climate are tipped to be hot at this year's London Book Fair, according to publishers and agents. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Head of venerable press says his sector has important role in the defence of free speech and champions the revival of literary fiction and traditional booksFaber & Faber’s chief executive has called for publishers to oppose crackdowns on free speech and the rise of so-called fake news.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Defenders of free speech are misguided in championing his cause. Reasoned debate will never arise from his utterances – and others will be scared into silenceA coalition of free speech organisations rallied together last week to defend Simon & Schuster’s choice to publish professional... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ben Mathis-Lilley: Hello, Amanda. Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos has allegedly been given a $250,000 contract to write a book about “free speech” for Simon & Schuster. I think this is bad and that Simon & Schuster should feel bad. You basically disagree. Let’s discuss! Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2017-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After news broke that 'Breitbart Tech' editor and "alt-right" pundit Milo Yiannopoulos received a $250,000 advance from S&S in a deal for his book 'Dangerous,' the book world has taken its grievances to Twitter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hong Kong used to be a place of relatively free speech in China, but that was before Xi Jinping’s crackdown. Now everybody from writers to booksellers, publishers and printers fear they will be next to ‘disappear’Just over a year after five publishers and booksellers disappeared from Hong Kong... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a French woman and a German man living during World War II with poetic and moral themes around music and science continues its streak on the bestseller list. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If Impress is recognised, publishers risk exposure to potentially huge legal costs even if acquitted, argue UK publishersNewspaper publishers have warned that if a would-be regulator funded by Max Mosley is formally recognised it would amount to “an attack on free speech” and expose the press to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World events--particularly those in Turkey, where thousands of journalists, authors and academics have been jailed or dismissed--drew lots of attention at the annual event. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two giants of children’s publishing battle it out for top honors on our bestseller list. Plus Maria Semple follows up 2012’s ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ with ‘Today Will Be Different,’ and much more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Proving that everything good and pure in this world will one day be snatched from us, the news broke this week that Mary Berry, the improbably named, immaculately coiffed cookbook author who has served as a judge on “The Great British Baking Show” since its inception in 2010, will be leaving the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This 1,000-plus-page novel, based on an infamous murder that rocked Rome in the 1970s, has been on the bestseller list in Italy for 22 weeks now. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A book that has topped Germany's bestseller list for the past year is poised to be a North American bestseller for the Canadian small press, Greystone Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild and PEN America have condemned the actions of the Turkish government after the detaining of 61 journalists and the shuttering of 131 media organizations—including 29 publishing houses—in the wake of the attempted coup on July 15. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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