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 Some critics proposed a boycott of Boyne’s novel, which was not withdrawn.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 ]
BBC Books is publishing an in-depth account of the Class of '92’s takeover of Salford City FC, authored by the ex-Manchester United stars Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt, with chief football writer for the Mail on Sunday Rob Draper. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Jones tells the Hay Festival that his wife, who died last month, was the "most important thing" in his life. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC today relaunched Love to Read, a campaign that celebrates reading for pleasure, at Hay Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hay Festival has announced Hay Levels Live, a new initiative offering Sixth Form students the opportunity to quiz distinguished speakers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC will give this year's Hay Festival "unparalleled coverage" across television, radio and online as part of their ongoing global partnership. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon Schama, Germaine Greer, Salman Rushdie and Caitlin Moran are just some of the writers and thinkers lined up to take part in this year’s Hay Festival, which takes place 25th May – 5th June. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You’ve heard about it. You’ve read about it. You may have even Tweeted about it. But it looks as if Twitter’s non-chronological “algorithmic” timeline is almost here.According to a BuzzFeed report published Friday, the company plans to unveil its algorithmic timeline “as soon as next week.” An... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2016-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Journalist and critic Julia Eccleshare right has been appointed children’s director of the Hay Festival. She will programme Hay’s Children’s Festival and the Hay YA programme, succeeding Mary Byrne. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton editor Anne Perry has snapped up two fantasy/crime novels, described as "a cross between Ben Aaronovitch and Lauren Beukes". Perry acquired UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights to Paul Crilley’s Poison City and its sequel, Neon City, from Sandra Sawicka at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller is teaming up with the Hay Festival for next year’s YA Book Prize, whose submissions open today. The Bookseller launched the 2016 prize at its children’s conference in London today (29th September), alongside the winner of the 2015 prize, Louise O’Neill. Submissions are now... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books Ireland (CBI) is hoping to get kids across the country reading in October through the "Read Everywhere in 2015", campaign. For the campaign, also known as "Níl Turas Níos Fearr Ná Turas le Leabhar!" in Irish, CBI will run a range of activities, including a "The Danger is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Slate piece on first-person writing has prompted debate in the digital media community. We asked editors at BuzzFeed, Jezebel and other leading sites to weigh in on the importance of such pieces – and why there is a gender divideOn Monday, Laura Bennett’s Slate piece on the boom of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nielsen is in the testing stage to develop a festival sales channel to record sales from Hay and Edinburgh Literary Festivals. The information company has been liaising with Hay Festival and Edinburgh Book Festival on the prospect of producing a BookScan “festival sales measurement” after... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you don't have a Kindle to read your books on then there's no worries, as apps exist on other platforms like Android. Amazon isn't standing still on this either, now offering customers on Google's mobile platform some new features already available on the stand-alone device. Included are two... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2015-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The newly revealed covers of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird sequel are a graphic illustration of their publishers’ ambition to ensnare her fansCover for Harper Lee’s Mockingbird sequel revealedArguably the most hotly-anticipated novel in the world in 2015, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, had... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beards. If you’ve heard of the Mast brothers, that’s probably the first word you came across, even before chocolate. Yes, Rick and Michael Mast make craft chocolate in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, and they have big, bushy beards. With features in magazines like Bon Appétit, a popular... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading charity is donating around 2,000 books to foodbanks in London and the Midlands this Christmas. The charity is teaming up with The Trussell Trust foodbank network to distribute books to foodbanks in Wandsworth, West Norwood, Manchester, Coventry and Birmingham. Each foodbank will receive... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarra Manning is to move from Transworld to Little, Brown’s Sphere for her next two adult novels. Manning’s move brings her adult publishing into the same house as her most recent YA publishing – her last two YA novels The Worst Girlfriend in the World and Adorkable were published by Atom,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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