I was called aggressive for criticising passages in Kate Clanchy’s memoir. But the real problem lies deep in the overwhelmingly white world of publishingIt started with a tweet. Kate Clanchy, author of Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me posted on her Twitter account that a reviewer on Goodreads had “made up a racist quote and said it was in my book”. She urged her almost 40,000 followers to flag the review that claimed she had bigoted views on race, class and body image, and had used terms such as “chocolate-coloured skin” and “Jewish noses”. Prominent authors and columnists swooped in to offer support, decrying how Clanchy could possibly be subjected to such inhumane treatment – including the current president of the Society of Authors, Philip Pullman, who declared: “But of all the people and of all the books to have had this happen … It’s hard to stay optimistic about the human race sometimes.”However, it soon emerged that those terms were, in fact, in the book. Incredulous that antisemitic and anti-Black tropes could have made it into a book published as recently as 2019, I downloaded and read it. I recoiled as a Somali boy is described as having a “narrow skull”, while one Muslim girl is “very butch-looking … with a distinct moustache”, and another “looked brilliant because she has such a strong skull shape”, which sounds more like something a eugenicist might observe than a trusted teacher. There is a troubling exchange where Clanchy is baffled by a boy who,... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-13 13:51:20 UTC ]
Continuing on the Barack Obama’s Favorite Media end-of-year march, the former President has released a 20-song playlist to accompany his memoir A Promised Land, composed of songs that recall memories of his time on the campaign trail and in the White House. There’s some Beyonce, some John... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-21 17:24:57 UTC ]
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In this Read Harder Challenge post, we're recommending books for the task asking you to read a a food memoir by an author of color. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-12-21 11:31:00 UTC ]
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Dialogue Books has acquired A Working-Class Family Ages Badly: A Memoir of Love and Life Between Two Pandemics by Juno Roche. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-17 17:09:37 UTC ]
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Acclaimed designer and thought leader Cheryl D. Miller shares her decades-long quest for design justice. Cheryl D. Miller is an acclaimed New York communications designer, artist, and theologian. She is the author of the memoir Black Coral: A Daughter’s Apology to Her Asian Island Mother and... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-12-17 08:00:08 UTC ]
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The 44th president of the United States does more than defend his legacy; he shares the values that have animated his life and political career. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-12-15 00:02:29 UTC ]
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The 44th president of the United States does more than defend his legacy; he shares the values that have animated his life and political career. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-12-15 00:02:29 UTC ]
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The 44th president of the United States does more than defend his legacy; he shares the values that have animated his life and political career. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-12-15 00:02:29 UTC ]
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Lit Lists Literary translation’s 2020 story is one of abundance and adaptation. Like most books published this year, dozens of new translations were published during a global pandemic. Events quickly moved from bookstores to Zoom. Writers and... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-14 20:55:17 UTC ]
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Apologies, but I have to begin my introduction to this list of books by briefly mentioning my own book; shout your aggrievance about this to the heavens if you must. Writing my book, which is a hybrid of memoir and reporting about my dog, was difficult for me at times, because I’m not used to... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-12-11 12:00:43 UTC ]
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Don Winslow sells a trilogy to William Morrow for seven figures, Dey Street buys a memoir from Moon Unit Zappa, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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For a while, Melania Trump has teased that she might write a book after the Trump family exits the White House. I, like many, had mixed feelings. On one hand, it’d be interesting to see the Trump administration from the point of the view of the famously sullen First Lady; but on the other hand,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-10 18:18:04 UTC ]
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“I personally know the author of this story you’re reading.” Oh look, a new story by Rachel Kushner. | Lit Hub Fiction Finding your craft: Wright Thompson on bourbon, books, and writing your way out of small-town America. | Lit Hub Memoir “He ripped his shirt open, revealing the bloody tooth,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-09 11:30:37 UTC ]
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Seven Dials has acquired Dame Elizabeth Anionwu’s memoir Dreams From My Mother, a trailblazing nurse's story of how she overcame a background of shame, stigma and discrimination to dedicate her to life to fighting inequality. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-09 10:06:03 UTC ]
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Bonnier Books UK will publish The Right Sort of Girl, a "deeply personal" coming-of-age memoir from broadcaster Anita Rani. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 17:30:55 UTC ]
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Take a look at previous What We’re Reading blogs for more reading inspiration.Don’t Worry, Little Crab by Chris HaughtonAll Chris Haughton’s delightful picture books for young children open with a quotation, which the story then evinces. His latest, surprisingly, quotes Anaïs Nin: ‘Life shrinks... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-12-08 12:08:02 UTC ]
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Sinéad O’Connor's long-awaited and “revelatory” memoir Rememberings will be released by Penguin General imprint Sandycove in June 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 08:41:00 UTC ]
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THE BASIC POLITICAL BACKDROP of Alex Niven’s New Model Island is that Britain is potentially only halfway through a 20-year period of Conservative governance, and that the union may lose several members before power changes hands at Westminster. But the book, a peculiar volume of polemic and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-12-07 16:00:40 UTC ]
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Grigory Rodchenkov has won this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year award for his memoir The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Putin’s Secret Doping Empire (W H Allen). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 21:02:42 UTC ]
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“I have never in my life met anyone with such an acute lexical feel for the specific word needed, for the hidden rhythm of a prose sentence.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on his beloved wife Aliya. | Lit Hub Memoir “I am no longer acquainted with the people who made drug ingestion easy, or free, or... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-03 11:30:56 UTC ]
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Doreen Cunningham has won £10,000 for her memoir Soundings: A Journey with Whales at this year's Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 05:13:41 UTC ]
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