Stories should come from all parts of society – not just from the well heeled and the middle classLiterary fiction, you might think, is in wonderful health. Book festivals, from Edinburgh and Wigtown in Scotland, to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, to Cheltenham and Bath in England, are flourishing. There is certainly no shortage of people eager to become authors of literary fiction: creative writing courses have proliferated. The British, you could argue, are more at home tucked up with a decent novel than with any other artform. Britain is, after all, the country of Austen, the Brontës and Eliot; of Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Hilary Mantel.Look at the facts, though, and a more worrying picture emerges. It is well known that financing for the arts in Britain suffered a great blow after the global financial crisis: public funding for cultural organisations took a hit, the art market was severely knocked, and spending on theatre and concerts became impossible for many. A decade on there have been some signs of a recovery, albeit patchy and fragile. But this is not so for sales of literary fiction, which have not recovered from the recession. According to new research commissioned by Arts Council England, the problem affects literary fiction in particular. Genre fiction is doing better, dominating digital sales (the popularisation of the e-reader followed swiftly on the heels of the financial crisis; Amazon energetically promoted its Kindle for Christmas in 2010). The arrival of the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Iraqi writer Hassan Blasim has won the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his second... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joanne Harris says the book industry is sexist. Why else are there categories for 'women writers' and no equivalents for writers who happen to be men?This is the year of reading women, people, remember? We're all reading female writers and helping address the literary gender imbalance which is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The latest literary-oriented startup to join Boston’s Innovation District combines video chats by authors and other leaders, or “wizzes,” for a cause. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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They are railing against the South Carolina politicians who want to strip funding from schools teaching LGBTQ materials in the classroom. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#literary censorship
The book world has been stunned by the sudden death of Deborah Rogers, co-founder of Roger, Coleridge & White, and a woman who was midwife to some of contemporary fiction’s most significant authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Guardian Faber has acquired a new book by actor and comedian David Mitchell. Commissioning... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Part of the region’s success in the book world is due to deeply committed men and women from all parts of the industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As early as this August, Boston could become the first American city with a Literary Cultural District. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Smerconish's "Talk" is the first novel acquired by the Kennebunkport, Maine-based publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the forty years since she founded the Wallace Literary Agency, she has represented authors like William F. Buckley, Joan Didion, and Don DeLillo. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Myriad Editions has signed a debut novel, discovered during the publisher's annual Writer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ted Hughes' widow Carol has withdrawn her co-operation on a biography of the poet by academic... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chatto & Windus has acquired a “genre-blending non-fiction” book by Lauren Elkin... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Veteran author Christian Jennings offers tips, techniques and strategies on how to write a good non-fiction proposal for submission. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones, children's laureate Malorie Blackman, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Phillip Pullman among supportersA national campaign to stop children's books being labelled as "for boys" or "for girls" has won the support of Britain's largest specialist bookseller Waterstones, as well as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wins the US National Critics Book Prize for her novel Americanah. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While e-commerce is a new territory for many publishers, Dwell has taken a decidedly integrated approach between what they feature in their magazine pages and what they sell in their online store. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anna Soler-Pont of Barcelona's Pontas Literary & Film Agency discusses the her dual careers in books and movies, and role as an agent, writer and producer. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Both acclaimed author Karen Russell's new novella 'Sleep Donation' and debut author Kenneth Calhoun's novel 'Black Moon' take place in a future world where sleep problems abound. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is there lingering sexism in the world of books and art galleries? Many female novelists have ardently argued that their novels haven’t received the laurels and attention of Great Male Novelists, but they have not been able to deftly, subtly attack the larger problem the way Siri Hustvedt does... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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