‘There is joy, and there is rage’: the new generation of novelists writing about motherhood

From the shock and awe of labour to domestic isolation, a wave of recent novels captures the transformative nature of being a motherThey say nothing prepares you. Before having my baby, I approached the literature of motherhood as though I were about to sit an exam. If my studies tempered the shock of birth and early parenthood, then I didn’t notice. The sheer physical and emotive force of the experience left me profoundly shaken. Words felt insufficient. And yet I kept reading – everything I could get my hands on. I wanted answers. I wanted to feel recognised. I wanted this untranslatable experience to be translated into language. Most of all, I think, I wanted restitution for all the maternal stories that had been left untold by centuries of silencing and minimising, not just for myself, but for all of us.Books about motherhood come in waves: the recent spate only the latest in a long line of literary endeavours. In the 1950s there was Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages. The 1960s wave saw Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone and Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, alongside Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique; the 1970s The Women’s Room by Marilyn French, Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born, and In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker. In the 1980s writing about motherhood became even more transgressive and imaginative, with Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. The early 2000s saw an... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-20 11:00:01 UTC ]

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German Book Trade’s Peace Prize Goes to Canada’s Margaret Atwood

During Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany's publishers and booksellers will honor Margaret Atwood as 'one of the most important storytellers of our era.' The post German Book Trade’s Peace Prize Goes to Canada’s Margaret Atwood appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2017: Dystopia Now: Margaret Atwood

This year’s much-buzzed 10-episode adaptation of "The Handmaid’s Tale," which was streamed on Hulu in collaboration with MGM Television, rocketed Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel back onto bestsellers charts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Hawkins's 'Water' Stays Strong

Readers keep Paula Hawkins's 'Into the Water' swimming along at the top of the iBooks bestseller list, while Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' drops to #5. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Handmaid's Tale tops book charts after TV series UK debut

Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel rockets to number one on Amazon after Channel 4 begins airing series starring Elisabeth MossThe Handmaid’s Tale, the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood envisaging a hellish dystopia where the US is ruled by an ultra-far-right regime that treats women as chattels, has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Le Carre, Atwood and Smith set for Southbank appearances

A rare public appearance from John le Carre, and events by Margaret Atwood and Zadie Smith, are among events to feature in Southbank Centre's summer/autumn 2017 programme. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Baldacci Stays Fixed At #1

David Baldacci's latest Amos Decker thriller, 'The Fix,' remains in the #1 slot on the iBooks list, followed by Margaret Atwood's backlist dystopian novel, 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First Wave of BookCon Panels Announced

The announced panels include appearances from authors Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, Veronica Roth, Rainbow Rowell, and Shea Serrano and pop culture icons including Bill Nye, Jeffrey Tambor, and Krysten Ritter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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G. Willow Wilson Reflects on Margaret Atwood and 'Angel Catbird'

Celebrated comics writer G. Willow Wilson pays tribute to literary icon Margaret Atwood and her geeky love of superhero comics, and to Volume 2 of Atwood's delightful superhero graphic novel, 'Angel Catbird.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rushdie urges Chinese authorities to release jailed writers

Salman Rushdie has put his name to an open letter, alongside J M Coetzee, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman, calling on Chinese president Xi Jinping to reverse his state crackdown on dissidents. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BuzzFeed CMO Frank Cooper Is Leaving the Digital Media Giant

Industry veteran Frank Cooper is leaving BuzzFeed, where he has been CMO for the past 17 months. In marketing circles, Cooper has been seen as a key conduit between the digital publisher and advertisers because of his brand experience. He quit his post as PepsiCo's chief marketer in June 2015... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC shines light on 'inspiring' Virago women

Virago has been praised as "brave" and "inspiring" from people in the trade after a BBC documentary traced the history of the women's publisher from its early-1970s roots to the present day. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bangladeshi publisher Chowdhury shares PEN Pinter Prize with Atwood

Bangladeshi publisher, writer and editor Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury (known as Tutul) has been named 2016 International Writer of Courage by Margaret Atwood. Chowdhury accepted the prize in person this evening (13th October) at the British Library during a ceremony held to celebrate Atwood's PEN... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eerie and Cheery

As recently as six years ago, when the Library of America released a collection of Shirley Jackson’s writings, her legacy was uncertain. “Shirley Jackson?” Newsweek critic Malcolm Jones wrote. “A writer mostly famous for one short story, ‘The Lottery.’ Is LOA about to jump the shark?” True, no... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2016-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Shirley Jackson

Including: she wrote "The Lottery" in a single morning, didn't believe in ghosts, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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San Diego Comic-Con 2016: Graphic Novels, Movies and Margaret Atwood

There were plenty of new graphic novels of all kinds at this year's Comic-Con, including one by acclaimed Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dawkins, McBride and Atwood star at Southbank Literature Festival

Richard Dawkins, Eimear McBride and Margaret Atwood are among the names featuring at Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atwood awarded PEN Pinter Prize ahead of UK tour

Margaret Atwood has been awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize at the same time it is announced she will be embarking on a UK book tour. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild denied appeal to stop Google scanning books

The US Authors Guild’s appeal against the earlier ruling that allows the tech giant to scan millions of books under ‘fair use’ has been rejected by the Supreme CourtA long-running face-off between the US Authors Guild and Google over the search engine’s scanning of millions of books was brought... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Morrison, Coates, Redniss Win 2016 PEN Awards

The ceremony, which honored authors such as Toni Morrison and Ta-Nehisi Coates, was the first one in which PEN American announced the winners live. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is English literature since 1918 really such a man’s world?

A new book celebrating the best writing of the past century follows a well-worn script when it comes to equalityI’ve been dipping in and out of DJ Taylor’s fat new book, The Prose Factory, a pleasingly gossipy history of literary life in England since 1918, and so far as it goes, it’s very... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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