Monique Roffey, the Costa-winning author of The Mermaid of Black Conch, on the lit-boom that’s happening on the Caribbean islandLast week, Trinidadian writer Lisa Allen-Agostini’s novel The Bread the Devil Knead landed a coveted spot on the Women’s prize shortlist. As a fellow Trinidadian writer, this is both exciting and unsurprising. These days Trinidad is producing world-class female writers hand over fist. Allen-Agostini’s shortlisting comes on the heels of the announcement, two weeks ago, that Trinidadian writer Amanda Smyth had made the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction shortlist, the only woman on the list, and the first Caribbean writer ever to be chosen. Meanwhile, Celeste Mohammed has become the fifth woman (and third Trinidadian woman) to win Trinidad’s regional OCM Bocas prize.Something has happened in Trinidad, in our small but dense hothouse of a literary world. Perhaps it’s 12 years of the Bocas literary festival, or five waves of feminism, or maybe it’s to do with the internet opening up opportunities for those from developing countries, but in the last decade Trinidad has produced a host of outstanding female writers. It’s a trend that anyone in Caribbean literary circles knows about. Myself, Smyth, Allen-Agostini, Mohammed and others are part of a “lit-boom”, and most of this boom is female. We are finding ourselves on the global stage, on prestigious shortlists in North America and the UK. This huge generational and gender shift would have been... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-03 13:03:34 UTC ]
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The Society of Authors (SoA) and the Authors Licensing and Collection Society (ALCS) have written an open letter taking issue with the Publishers Association’s questioning of figures unveiled in a recent survey showing writers’ earnings have fallen by 15% in four years, calling them... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Responding to a survey that found the median author income had dropped to £10,500, Publishers Association said the figures were ‘unrecognisable’The Society of Authors has issued a sharply worded challenge to the UK’s biggest publishers after the chief executive of the Publishers Association... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 26 winners of the Northern Writers’ Awards have been revealed, sharing a prize pot of £40,000, following the “most competitive” ever selection process. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Philip Pullman, Antony Beevor and Sally Gardner call for fairer share of profits, as survey shows full-time writers earn below minimum wagePhilip Pullman, Antony Beevor and Sally Gardner are calling on publishers to increase payments to authors, after a survey of more than 5,500 professional... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fresh from her win of this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, Kamila Shamsie is joining Susan Hill and Andrew Holgate in judging the Young Writer of the Year prize. The post Kamila Shamsie Joins Susan Hill in Judging the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little Tiger imprint Stripes has chosen stories by four unpublished writers to feature in its upcoming Proud anthology by LGBTQ+ authors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Offensive opinions. Bullying. Sexual misconduct. As the literary world is rocked by scandal US publishers are asking authors to sign contracts with ‘morality clauses’. Are they really the answer?When the American Libraries Association awards its Andrew Carnegie medals in New Orleans later this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the nearly half-century that the Boston-based David R. Godine has been publishing books, no book has ever been relaunched—until now. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published author Faleena Hopkins asserted her right to the word, but judge calls attempt to stop other authors using it ‘weak’ Romance writers around the world can breathe a sigh of relief after a US court ruled that they can continue to use the adjective “cocky” in their book titles, after... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Show Daily at BookExpo' asked all six of the Adult Buzz authors what inspired their books. Here are their answers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The critically lauded US author turns his hand to children’s books with a fortuitously timed tale of immigrant experience—and keeps a decades-old promise as a result. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The YA author’s first venture into adult fiction could find a wide readership, finds Alice O’Keeffe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The global chief of Penguin Random House names Kristin Cochrane to the role of CEO in Canada. And in Sweden, the national universities' and research consortium says it can't get the open-access arrangements it needs from Elsevier. The post Industry Notes: Canada’s PRH Gets a Female CEO;... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former literary agent Hannah Begbie has won The Romantic Novelists' Association's (RNA) Joan Hessayon Award for new writers for her novel Mother (HarperCollins). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Johanna Castillo is returning to her roots, leaving her editorial job for a post as a literary agent. The v-p and executive editor of Atria will return to the deal-maker's life on June 6, joining Writers House as a senior literary agent. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Liverpool University Press is partnering with Northcote House Publishers for publication of the series Writers and their Work. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Development agency Spread the Word is launching a new annual development programme for London-based writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Daily Mail and Penguin Random House have launched the third year of their nationwide competition to search for a new writing talent. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A slim, hand-stitched chapbook called 'Against Amazon' has slowly but surely began circulating among independent booksellers. They have Biblioasis, a publisher based in Windsor, Ontario, to thank for that. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent I B Tauris has signed novelist Celia Brayfield’s new book Rebel Writers in a deal made with Curtis Brown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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