Authors who write about marginalised communities are facing abuse, boycotts and even death threats. What is cancel culture doing to young adult fiction?Earlier this month, the author and screenwriter Gareth Roberts announced that his story was being removed from a forthcoming Doctor Who anthology. Having been shown Roberts’s past tweets about transgender people, BBC Books said that his views “conflict with our values as a publisher”. At least one of the book’s other contributors, Susie Day, had promised to withdraw from the project if Roberts were included. “I raised my concerns, and said if he was in, I was out,” Day said.A few days before, at the Hay festival, the Irish author John Boyne had described a campaign against his own book, My Brother’s Name Is Jessica, about a boy and his trans sister. He was insulted on Twitter for his appearance and his sexuality. (Like Roberts, he is gay but not trans.) Some critics proposed a boycott of Boyne’s novel, which was not withdrawn. Others made veiled threats to his safety. “I don’t feel it’s my job as a reader or a writer to tell anyone what they can or can’t write,” Boyne said. “We are supposed to use our imaginations, to put ourselves into the minds and the bodies of others.”I've heard of publishers cancelling books and asking their authors to apologise, fearing the consequences if they didn’tThe wars may even spread – there have been two campaigns against adult novels on the basis of identity this year Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-06-15 08:00:15 UTC ]
Three mission-driven indie bookstores well-known for their commitment to social justice have ceased stocking books written by J.K. Rowling, accusing the Harry Potter author of promoting hatred towards transgender people. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation have abolished the post of honorary vice president, previously held by Baroness Emma Nicholson. The decision followed controversy on social media surrounding Nicholson's views on same-sex marriage and her attitude to trans people. A statement this... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-24 23:17:06 UTC ]
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Irish author Christine Dwyer Hickey has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for her “masterpiece” The Narrow Land (Atlantic), exploring the marriage of artists Edward and Jo Hopper. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-14 12:10:56 UTC ]
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Operating outside its usual regal setting in Ovieda, Spain's Princess of Asturias Award honors the Guadalajara International Book Fair and Hay Festival. The post Hay Festival and Guadalajara Book Fair Named Princess Asturias 2020 Laureates appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-06-12 17:20:08 UTC ]
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Hay Festival and Mexico's Guadalajara Book Fair have been jointly awarded the 2020 Princess of Asturias Award for communication and humanities. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-09 19:05:34 UTC ]
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BBC Books, part of Ebury Publishing, has launched an expanded partnership with BBC Radio, giving it exclusive first option on books accompanying series and Sounds podcasts. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-20 17:47:20 UTC ]
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Costa award-winning love story of Connell and Marianne takes top slot from David Walliams’ bestselling children’s book SlimeSally Rooney’s Normal People has flown to the top of the UK’s book charts more than two years after it was published, thanks to the release of the TV adaptation starring... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-13 15:44:19 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Natalia Lomaia Left: Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in Normal People (2020) / Courtesy of IMDB Sally Rooney’s 2018 novel is a meticulous observation, or even a study, of how one human being can have immense, intense power over another.... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-23 13:18:03 UTC ]
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Hachette Books Ireland has acquired two books by Irish author and journalist Emily Hourican who was inspired by the real-life story of the Guinness founder's daughters. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-09 12:27:08 UTC ]
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Hay Festival will hold its first fully digital edition following the cancellation of this year's main event. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-02 08:47:04 UTC ]
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The Hay Festival has soared past the halfway mark of its £150,000 crowdfunding campaign, launched after this year's event was cancelled. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-23 08:08:24 UTC ]
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The Hay Festival has been cancelled owing to the coronavirus outbreak with organisers saying it is now in “immediate financial jeopardy” and has 10 days to raise emergency funds. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-19 09:16:58 UTC ]
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The Hay Festival is still going ahead as planned in May despite concerns around the spread of coronavirus. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-09 22:17:03 UTC ]
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Conversations with Friends will follow Rooney’s Normal People that will air in April The BBC has commissioned a 12-part series based on Sally Rooney’s hit debut novel Conversations with Friends in the hope that fans of the young Irish author will bring in younger audiences.The BBC is to show its... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-25 10:19:05 UTC ]
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As the Hay Festival gets under way in Abu Dhabi, Stephen Fry and Noam Chomsky have signed an open letter calling on the UAE authorities to release imprisoned writers and demonstrate their commitment to free speech. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 05:08:26 UTC ]
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Good news, lovers of brooding Irish actors and tragicomic literary noir: Michael Fassbender—the Academy Award-nominated Hiberno-German star of Inglourious Basterds, Shame, and the latest incarnation of the X-Men movies—has optioned the film rights to Night Boat to Tangier, Irish author Kevin... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-18 17:38:18 UTC ]
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Hay Festival has announced eight “earlybird” events for next year’s activism and climate crisis-themed event. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-11 13:58:34 UTC ]
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Eighty-eight-year-old Irish author Edna O’Brien has won the £40,000 David Cohen Prize for Literature for having “broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland and beyond and moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her writing”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-26 18:17:47 UTC ]
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From meditations on the d/Deaf experience to short stories blurring the mythic and the gothic with the everyday, from mixing the personal and political to a young woman uncover the truth about her family’s past – four outstanding writers have today been named on the shortlist for The Sunday... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-11-04 12:55:09 UTC ]
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Dublin-born Naoise Dolan and fellow Irish author Molly Aitken are among the most hotly tipped début authors for 2020; here they discuss the inspiration behind their first novels. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-18 23:44:32 UTC ]
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