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

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-09 05:56:06 UTC ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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‘No reader is too young to start’: anti-racist books for all children and teens

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[ The Guardian | 2020-06-04 07:00:00 UTC ]
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At Home with 4 Indies partners with British Book Awards

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-29 05:14:09 UTC ]
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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 ]
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Helen Monks Takhar | 'I started to get really angry about the hate narrative against Millennials in the mainstream press'

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-22 16:20:58 UTC ]
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How indie rocker Mikel Jollett overcame the toxic events in his life

"Hollywood Park," a new memoir from the frontman for the Airborne Toxic Event, recounts his childhood in L.A.'s Synanon cult — and his recovery. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-05-20 16:33:40 UTC ]
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BEYOND THE BARD: Exploring the Teaching of Contemporary British Literature in Global Higher Education

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[ British Council global | 2020-05-18 09:30:54 UTC ]
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Walker acquires YouTuber Nikki Lilly's motivational life guide

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-17 16:39:01 UTC ]
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Finding your literary voice - with a working class accent

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-15 16:53:37 UTC ]
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Overcoming despair to discover the meaning of life

John Kaag finds wisdom in William James’s philosophy of free will and consciousness. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Morning After: Apple's online-only WWDC starts on June 22nd

If the combined libraries of Steam, Xbox Game Pass, Stadia (now with wireless controller support on PC) and all the rest just aren’t enough for you, Dan Cooper has a recommendation: spreadsheets. His latest obsession is a browser-based version of the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2020-05-06 11:33:37 UTC ]
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Colson Whitehead and This American Life among Pulitzer 2020 winners

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[ The Guardian | 2020-05-04 20:00:59 UTC ]
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Poet and comedian Derrick C. Brown finds the bright spots in quarantine life

For National Poetry Month, Brown launched “Goodnight America,” a weekly series of live performances on Zoom that combine poetry, comedy and lullabies. Continue reading at The Washington Post

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