Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]

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Exclusive Cover Reveal: Emma Copley Eisenberg’s “Housemates”

Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Housemates, the highly-anticipated debut novel by Emma Copley Eisenberg, which will be published by Hogarth on May 28th, 2024. You can pre-order your copy here. When Bernie answers Leah’s ad for a new housemate in Philadelphia, the two find... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-12-21 12:15:00 UTC ]
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The Woefully Neglected (and Partially Unfilmable) Creations of Alasdair Gray

“Gray’s idiom may be modern, but it embraces many traditional things; not only autobiographical realism, but low comedy, afterlife fantasy, scattershot satire, nightmarish allegory, self-referential metafiction, tender eroticism, lunatic scholarship and profuse literary borrowings.” —David... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-19 09:57:38 UTC ]
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Lerner Acquires Gecko Press

Lerner Publishing Group has acquired Wellington, New Zealand–based children’s book publisher Gecko Press. The acquisition involves approximately 200 titles, including 18 to 20 new titles planned for 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A billionaire and a novelist offer two versions of tech's future. Who's right?

Where exactly is tech going? Joanne McNeil's debut novel 'Wrong Way' and billionaire Marc Andreessen's 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' offer some clues. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-12-12 11:00:26 UTC ]
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2023 in books: Protests, bannings and the rise of AI helped shape the story of publishing

The publishing world made plenty of news in 2023, but not only because of the books themselves Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-12-08 14:55:07 UTC ]
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Psychological thriller Eileen is sharp, moody and not quite right — just like its main character

Psychological thriller Eileen is an adaptation of the 2015 debut novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, who often writes about female loners, giving special attention to the parts of her characters that many would consider unbefitting of a leading lady. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-12-08 09:00:00 UTC ]
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The Top 10 Library Stories of 2023

PW looks back at the library stories that captivated the publishing world this year, and what they portend for 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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12 of the Most Prolific Children’s Book Authors of All Time

These prolific children's book authors have written hundreds of books over decades working in the publishing industry! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-12-07 11:30:00 UTC ]
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75 Notable Translations 2023, by Michelle Johnson

75 Notable Translations 2023, by Michelle Johnson Lit Lists [email protected] Mon, 12/04/2023 - 15:13 In an interview up at the Booker Prizes, 2023 International Booker Prize–winning translator Angela Rodel describes the work of author and... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-12-04 21:13:28 UTC ]
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Close-Up on: Jamie Oliver’s ‘Billy and the Giant Adventure’

With the publication of Billy and the Giant Adventure (Tundra), celebrity chef Jamie Oliver becomes a children’s book author. In the inventive and inspiring story, a group of friends enter a portal to another world, where they have a wild adventure and meet a menagerie of creatures. Oliver... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Farah Ali Fictionalizes the Ways Poverty Shapes the Ebbs and Flows of Relationships

Farah Ali’s debut novel The River, The Town is a haunting portrait of lives relegated to the margins by capitalism and its resulting byproduct: the inequitable distribution of resources. The world of the novel centers two places, the Town and the City, and the narrative focus, in typical... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-20 12:01:00 UTC ]
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Inclusive Children’s Book Publishers

Editors at four children’s imprints that focus on promoting underrepresented authors tell 'PW' how they got their start and what they love about their work. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Hidden Pigeon Fills Out Exec Ranks

Hidden Pigeon Company, launched earlier this year to expand the reach of children’s book author Mo Willems’s portfolio, has named four new executives to its management team, including publishing veterans Carol Roeder and Jennifer Levine. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Creators Travel for Conservation and Inspiration: A Photo Essay

Nine members of the environmental group Children’s Book Creators for Conservation spent October 8–21 in the eastern South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, volunteering with the stewardship organization Wild Tomorrow. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Shanghai’s Children’s Book Fair at 10: A Fifth Year for Its Bologna Partnership

The 10-year-old Shanghai International Children's Book Fair welcomes back its partner, Bologna, for collaboration and support. The post Shanghai’s Children’s Book Fair at 10: A Fifth Year for Its Bologna Partnership appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-11-14 22:06:29 UTC ]
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Impossible Love Across the Partition

The moment I learned that Shilpi Suneja’s debut novel House of Caravans was about Partition, I reached out to see if she would be interested in doing this interview. All four of my grandparents lived through this event in Punjab—the state that was split to create Pakistan days after India gained... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-13 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Here’s the winner of the £25,000 British Academy Book Prize.

Today in London, the British Academy announced the winner of the 11th British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding: Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire by Nandini Das. “Nandini Das has written the true origin story of Britain and India,” said Professor... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-31 19:20:23 UTC ]
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Desperate to Make Her Mother Smile, Nina Simon Wrote a Book

The author of “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” started working on her debut novel during a time of tremendous stress. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-26 09:02:09 UTC ]
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Frankfurt: Swedish, Lithuanian Publishers See Booming Children’s Book Sales

Two publishers in Frankfurt are seeing success with up-and-coming children's book authors, both at home and through foreign rights deals. The post Frankfurt: Swedish, Lithuanian Publishers See Booming Children’s Book Sales appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-20 11:38:33 UTC ]
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A new $25,000 book prize will recognize the best new literature about the arts.

Attention all writers who write about writing (or painting, or dancing, or music…): the Interlochen Center for the Arts and The Pattis Family Foundation have established a new annual award that seeks to recognize “outstanding works of fiction or nonfiction” that “inspire, illuminate, or... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-19 16:06:19 UTC ]
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