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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Penguin is launching a pop-up bookshop stocked solely with titles by female writers for International Women’s Day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One publishing company has taken up a challenge to put out only books by female authors this year. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2018-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One female writer is setting up a book prize to reward the best crime novel in which no woman is the victim. Some – inspired by the #MeToo movement – are happy with the initiative, others fear it fails to address tough, real life issues. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Southern Independent Booksellers Association is preparing to hold its first ever “EUREKAsiba” on February 20 in Atlanta, a day-long event aimed at inspiring booksellers to think outside the box. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacaranda Books, in partnership with Words of Colour Productions, has launched an initiative to publish 20 Black British writers in the year 2020 across adult fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tanit Koch’s departure as top editor of Bild, a mass-market tabloid owned by Axel Springer, the German publishing giant, comes two years after she took up the post. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2018-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George R R Martin is funding a new annual scholarship at a science fiction and fantasy six-week course to “help the next great fantasist on the long journey ahead”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent poetry publisher Offord Road Books is opening its submissions window exclusively to writers from black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds until March. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus has pre-empted a psychological suspense novel about female rivalry and motherhood by debut author and Faber Academy graduate Charlotte Duckworth. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catherine Eccles reflects on the history of the Eccles British Library Writer's Award and how it supports authors' careers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust has revealed the winners of this year’s New Writers Awards, each of whom will receive £2,000 to help with their career. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish writer Claire McFall’s Ferryman trilogy is set to be turned into films and graphic novels by a US production studio. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Palm Springs compound owned by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk has come on the market at $2.495 million. The stone-walled house, built in the 1940s, was once a retreat of actors Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. One could say a lot of character has developed here during the decades.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women have dominated the winners' list at the Writers’ Guild Awards, with debut novelist Sheena Kalayil honoured along with British playwright Caryl Churchill. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook playing a shrunken role as the de facto regulator of media will be a good thing in the long run. The post ‘A watershed moment’: Publishers find hope in a more rational post-Facebook media landscape appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2018-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cristina Rivera Garza, author of 'The Iliac Crest,' highlights 12 essential female authors from the Spanish-speaking world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Waterstones branch is dedicating its ‘Staff Recommends’ bay to female writers to celebrate the 'Year of Publishing Women'. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan has paid tribute to the late American crime writer Sue Grafton as "a giant in her field" and "an amazing author" who "cared about her readers first and last". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I’m not surprised sales of literary fiction are in decline – too many authors fail to engage their readers with any sort of story• Tim Lott is an author and journalistFollowing the announcement from Arts Council England that sales of literary fiction are plummeting, it is suggested that arts... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US mystery writer Sue Grafton, creator of the Alphabet series of novels featuring PI Kinsey Millhone, has died at the age of 77. She had been suffering from cancer. Pan Macmillan publisher Jeremy Trevathan told The Bookseller: "Sue Grafton was one of the bedrock authors of the Pan Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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