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 ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed the Spotify of books has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 09:28 E-books are set to "blow apart" cover design, with designers looking to create "identity packages" that can work for both print and digital editions, The Bookseller Cover Design Conference 2011 was told. Marketing strategist... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Republican candidate has sold his memoir to the conservative imprint of Simon @ Schuster. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you're heading to the beach this summer and you plan to read an ebook, you won't want to take your iPad. Luckily, the latest versions of the Nook and the Kindle offer glare-free screens and other reader-friendly functions. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts editor Will Gompertz's second report into the impact of technology on the publishing industry Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan: "The basic process of writing will stay quite stable, but the authors who will do particularly well are ones who think about how to build a digital audience." Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 08:37 A London indie has called for more retailers to sign up to Independent Booksellers Week next year to help increase publicity for the event. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publisher Algonquin is offering digital books at a discount or free to customers who buy certain trade paperback or hardback books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 08:34 A green charity offering books for free aims to open an outlet in every town in the UK, and has called on publishers to donate titles. The Booksellers Association has come out in support of the programme run by Healthy Planet,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How do you promote a book effectively at a time when ebooks may stay in print indefinitely, but not have a physical presence in a store? Internet book marketer FSB Associates has just launched Amplify, a marketing strategy that brings together a list of related titles and creates a Web community... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zinio announced today its partnership with Recorded Books, making thousands of digital magazines accessible in public libraries throughout the US, Canada, Australia and UK. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 11:32 Walker Books author Patrick Ness has won this year's CILIP Carnegie Medal for his novel Monsters of Men (Walker Books), using the ceremony today to attack the government's library cuts and to accuse education secretary Michael... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After years of refusing to release her boy-wizard books in electronic format, Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling is finally taking the digital plunge, launching an online store that will sell Harry Potter ebooks directly to consumers and a social-networking site designed to keep the Potter... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 21/06/2011 - 08:46 Waterstone's has joined forces with Grazia magazine to launch a book club featuring 10 titles. One Grazia Book Club title will feature in the magazine every week from the next issue, allowing readers to claim 50% off the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 21/06/2011 - 11:08 Alan Bennett, Jilly Cooper and Joanna Trollope are among the authors donating books with personal inscriptions to an auction to raise funds for the National Literacy Trust (NLT). Sixteen authors have donated titles, many from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 21/06/2011 - 11:46 Editors need to have a "vision" of how the content can be used beyond the traditional book, otherwise they risk losing control of the book to the "digital department", Publishers Launch London heard today. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 21/06/2011 - 11:30 Mark Goodwin was the surprise winner of the first ever East Midland Book Award, presented last night at the Lowdham Book Festival. His poetry book Shod (Nine Arches) beat 45 other entries to receive an engraved trophy and a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiction is the leading sales driver of ebooks, and just how dominant that segment has been is clearly seen in a new market study just released by Bowker. According to "20102011 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review," fiction accounted for 61% of unit sales in 2010... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 08:11 A call for the industry to lobby the government to ring-fence students' bursary spend on textbooks has received support from the trade. In a speech given at the BA a.g.m. held in London last Thursday (9th June), Iain... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Rachel Bradley Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 08:07 A guide to astronomy and a pop-up guide to how the world works are among the shortlisted titles for the first Royal Society Young People's Book Prize in three years. The £10,000 prize was not awarded between 2008 and 2010 due... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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