Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system

It wasn’t just luck that steered the Guardian columnist to Oxford and into a media career ... She reflects on the subtle mechanics of class (and an early encounter with a naked future PM)Children know. They breathe it in early, for there’s no unknowing the difference between nannies, cleaners, below-stairs people and the family upstairs. Children are the go-betweens, one foot in each world, and yet they know very well from the earliest age where they belong, where their destiny lies or, to put it crudely, who pays whom. Tiny hands are steeped young in the essence of class and caste. In nursery school, in reception they see the Harry Potter sorting hat at work. They know. And all through school those fine gradations grow clearer, more precise, more consciously knowing, more shaming, more frightening. Good liberal parents teach their children to check their privilege – useful modern phrase – but it swells up like a bubo on the nose. There’s no hiding it.I can summon up the childhood shame at class embarrassments. Aged seven like me, Maureen, with her hair pinned sideways in a pink slide, lived in a pebble-dashed council house by the water tower. They were at the other end of Lindsey, more hamlet than village, half a mile down the road from my father’s pink thatched cottage set in the flat prairie lands of Suffolk, where I spent half my time, the other half in London, shuttling between divorced parents. I envied Maureen for what looked to me like a cheerful large family... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-20 12:00:56 UTC ]
News tagged with: #harry potter

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Polly Toynbee: what my privileged start in life taught me about the British class system'


‘Shadowplay’ imagines Bram Stoker’s inner life and his path to ‘Dracula’

Joseph O’Connor, author of “Star of the Sea,” has written another gorgeous historical novel. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-24 15:59:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Clare Chambers | 'I won’t start anything until I’m absolutely driven'

Clare Chambers’ latest novel, set in England in the 1950s, centres on a young woman’s mysterious claim of a ‘virgin birth’ Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-24 15:23:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young woman


Trade challenged to reach out beyond white, middle-class 'Susans'

Long-held assumptions held by the trade about writers of colour must be challenged and a concerted effort made to reach new and diverse audiences, the industry heard tuning into a webinar launching the Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing report.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-23 18:37:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diverse audiences #rethinking diversity


In “All My Mother’s Lovers,” a Mother’s Secret Letters Reveal Her Secret Life

Not to sound like an assistant district attorney from SVU, but it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that acclaimed essayist and book critic Ilana Masad has carved a prominent space for herself in the realm of mother-daughter literature with her debut novel, All My Mother’s Lovers. It sits upon a... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #secret life #electric literature #book critic


Nibbies on the Ether: The British Book Awards Online at 30

The next awards program to move online is the 'Nibbies,' set for June 29 with access available to readers as well as to book business players. The post Nibbies on the Ether: The British Book Awards Online at 30 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-06-22 09:40:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #awards program #move online #book business #british book


HarperCollins bags Smith's Not a Life Coach

HarperNonFiction has bagged Not a Life Coach, the second book from online personal training star James Smith. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-19 10:39:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #life coach


Panel Mania: Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics by Tom Scioli

In the new graphic biography, 'Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics', comics artist and biographer Tom Scioli pays tribute to Kirby, arguably the greatest superhero comic book artist of all time. In this 11-page excerpt Scioli depicts Kirby’s life on the Lower East Side and the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comics artist #jack kirby #epic life #graphic biography #comic book


Reni Eddo-Lodge becomes first black British author to top UK book charts

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race wins landmark ranking in the wake of worldwide Black Lives Matter protestsReni Eddo-Lodge has become the first black British author to take the overall No 1 spot in the UK’s official book charts.Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-16 14:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reni eddo-lodge #longer talking #white people #top slot #nielsen #uk book #british author


‘Miss Iceland’ is an exquisitely detailed portrait of mid-century life in Iceland

Audur Ava Olafsdottir does a brilliant job of conveying Icelandic life — its harshness, its connection to the land and to history, and its amusing qualities. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-16 08:29:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #brilliant job


To Change How You Publish in the Digital Age, Start with a Question

Publishers considering transforming their businesses from print first or print-centric to digital first or digital-centric should begin by asking lots of people a simple question: what would you like to be able to do that you can’t do now? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital age #simple question


Black British authors top UK book charts in wake of BLM protests

Bernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge take No 1 slots in wake of anti-racist demonstrations, as Waterstones staff ask chain to support causeBernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge have become the first black British women to top the UK’s fiction and nonfiction paperback charts, in a week where... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-10 13:46:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bernardine evaristo #waterstones staff #reni eddo-lodge #hostile environment #black authors #longer talking #white people #michelle obama #hardback #british author #bookshop #british publishing #uk book


Publishers start to plan for staffers' return to the office

Publishers are currently exploring what a return to work will look like, with HarperCollins this week allowing staff to come into the office "for essential reasons" and Hachette and Simon & Schuster confirming a provisional return come September. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-09 22:45:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers start #hachette #harpercollins


We need to call out the lack of support and erasure of Black British voices

Using terms such as BAME and PoC makes it harder to call out the lack of support and erasure of Black British voices (often working class and male) from festivals, prizes, agencies and organisations set up by non-Black PoC in the name of ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-09 05:56:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #working class


Charles Dickens: how two novelists gave Great Expectations a second life in the Pacific

Two sequels which show how the Victorian novelist's stories can be adapted to reflect post-colonial narratives. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2020-06-08 16:19:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #charles dickens #novelists


Life’s humor and heartbreak, and the joy of putting it into words

In his new collection, longtime author Roger Rosenblatt calls writing an “adventure.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-06-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


5 books to start to teach anti-racism to children

A teacher created a reading list for young children to start to understand why there are global protests fighting for racial justice. Who: Brittany Smith, a New Jersey-based pre-kindergarten teacher.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-06-05 10:35:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young children #racial justice


Lorelei Goulding wins Spread the Word’s 2020 Life Writing Prize

First-time writer Lorelei Goulding has won Spread the Word's Life Writing Prize, for her "heart-breaking story" Birdie. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-04 12:18:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #won spread #heart-breaking story


‘No reader is too young to start’: anti-racist books for all children and teens

It’s never too early to learn that racism is wrong and we should be doing something about it. These books will help show our kids how, writes publisher and bookseller Aimée FeloneDo the work: Layla F Saad’s anti-racist reading list The weight of the world seems heavier than ever right now. The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-04 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #george floyd #collective grief #angela davis #bookshop owner #bookshop #bookseller


At Home with 4 Indies partners with British Book Awards

At Home with 4 Indies—the Facebook Live series spearheaded by four independent bookshops—is back with a new programme for June featuring authors shortlisted for The British Book Awards 2020, including Adele Parks, Caroline Criado Perez and Katherine Rundell.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-29 05:14:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #katherine rundell #british book


Lockdown is 'opportunity for systemic change', says Jhalak Prize founder

Sunny Singh, the co-founder of the Jhalak Prize, has said lockdown caused by the pandemic is an opportunity to reassess equality in the industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 11:18:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #systemic change #sunny singh #jhalak prize