The Good Agency wins major grant to boost diversity in publishing

The £580,000 Arts Council England funding will support new initiative to find and develop black and minority ethnic, disabled and LGBTQ writersA new literary agency, which aims to discover “the next generation of diverse writers” and “blow open the pipeline” for them, is being launched by the editor of The Good Immigrant, Nikesh Shukla, with more than £500,000 in funding from Arts Council England (ACE).The Good Agency, the brainchild of author Shukla and literary agent and Julia Kingsford, intends to work with “exceptional” writers who identify as black and minority ethnic, working class, disabled or LGBTQ. It will “identify, nurture and promote” these authors, with the intention of making the UK’s literary landscape more representative. Related: UK publishing industry remains 90% white, survey finds Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Cheer up, Carnegie. It might never happen…

I’ll just say it straight: book awards are ridiculous. They are the garden gnomes of the literary landscape – fun, provocative, but ultimately ornamental. They have no more meritocratic substance than judging jambalaya over jelly at the village fete – it’s all a matter of personal taste. My... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-19 20:01:30 UTC ]
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Hitchens Biography Proceeds, Against His Widow’s Wishes

Carol Blue-Hitchens and her late husband’s literary agent are discouraging friends from participating in a book tentatively titled “Pamphleteer: The Life and Times of Christopher Hitchens.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-02-04 10:00:17 UTC ]
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Christopher Little, Who Built an Empire Around a Boy Wizard, Dies at 79

As a struggling literary agent in London, he took a chance on J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, turning her books into the most lucrative literary franchise in history. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-01-27 22:39:44 UTC ]
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Walters promoted to senior literary agent at DLA

Nick Walters at David Luxton Associates has been promoted to senior literary agent and rights manager in recognition of his "outstanding contribution" to the agency over the years.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-18 12:55:15 UTC ]
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LGBTQI+ Cipher Press opens submissions for new queer voices

New indie publisher Cipher Press has announced its #newqueervoices submissions for UK writers identifying as trans, gender non-conforming, queer, working class and as writers of colour.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-06 21:07:42 UTC ]
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Shukla launches first podcast ahead of Bluebird memoir

Nikesh Shukla is launching his first podcast series “Brown Baby” in January 2021 in partnership with Acast, ahead of his forthcoming memoir of the same name. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-29 12:07:08 UTC ]
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Advice to the New Guard: A Conversation with Translator Jessica Cohen by Veronica Esposito

Interviews Since 2003, Jessica Cohen has published over twenty books translated from Hebrew to English. Among other honors, she shared the 2017 Man Booker International Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of Grossman’s A Horse Walks... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-11-20 16:36:29 UTC ]
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My Frankfurt Book Fair: Robert Caskie

Robert Caskie established Robert Caskie Ltd in April this year. He co-founded Caskie Mushens in 2017, after previous roles as senior agent and chief operating officer at PFD. The literary agent reckons any online equivalent will struggle to live up to the physical book fair—if he can get logged... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-14 10:17:05 UTC ]
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Janet Freer obituary

My mother, Janet Freer, who has died aged 89, was a literary agent for science-fiction writers in the 1960s and 70s. She helped launch the careers of several young SF writers.Janet began work as a commercial artist before starting her publishing career in London around 1962. She spent several... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-10-11 15:38:47 UTC ]
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Resisting censorship

Last month, 58 writers, journalists and artists signed a letter in the Sunday Times in support of JK Rowling, condemning the ‘onslaught of abuse’ she has received regarding her views on sex, gender and trans rights. Signatories included Tom Stoppard, Ian McEwan and Lionel Shriver. Three days... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-04 20:35:25 UTC ]
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Carty-Williams, Shukla and Malik shorylisted for first Diverse Book Awards

Candice Carty-Williams, Nikesh Shukla and Ayisha Malik are among authors shortlisted for this year's inaugural Diverse Book Awards.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-02 16:05:26 UTC ]
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Bolinda scoops Mennuti comedy about publishing world

Bolinda has scooped a “laugh out loud” romantic comedy by debut author Aly Mennuti, featuring a literary agent based partly on the author's own, Simon Trewin. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-25 02:20:12 UTC ]
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My Job in Five: Hayley Steed

Describe your role.  I’m a literary agent and book to screen agent at The Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency. I enjoy the best of both worlds—I’m a primary agent to an amazing roster of writers, selling book rights to the UK, US and Canada, plus I handle the adaptation rights for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-10 08:20:11 UTC ]
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Felicity Bryan dies, aged 74

Literary agent Felicity Bryan has died, aged 74. She died on Sunday (June 21st) at her home in Kidlington "as she had wished", according to a statement from her family. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-22 06:13:43 UTC ]
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Obituary: U.K. Literary Agent Felicity Bryan

Felicity Bryan, founder of Felicity Bryan Associates and one of Britain’s most respected literary agents, died June 21 of cancer. She was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Lockdown diaries: the debut author

It was Sunday 22nd March when I emailed Carrie, my literary agent, telling her I’d had an idea in the bath and although it felt far-fetched, I wanted to explore it and could she please call me on Monday for a quick chat. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-12 11:19:54 UTC ]
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Publishers want more black authors. Why have they silenced us for so long? | Candice Carty-Williams

As Black Lives Matter protests take place across the world, the publishing world is rushing to support those ‘ignored by the mainstream’. Who is the mainstream, then?The publishing industry is stilted and archaic. I worked in it for seven years, and left due to reasons I can’t legally talk... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-11 09:44:22 UTC ]
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Religion Book Deals: June 10, 2020

Zondervan takes a gift book on ‘How Far You Have Come,’ literary agent Blythe Daniel gets her own book deal, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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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 ]
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#PublishingPaidMe lays advances bare

Writers including Malorie Blackman and Nikesh Shukla have urged writers of colour not to give up and that their stories matter, as the #PublishingPaidMe hashtag took off over the weekend to illustrate the disparity between the advances paid by publishers to non-Black authors versus Black authors. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-08 10:07:04 UTC ]
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