Only one publisher, And Other Stories, has answered Kamila Shamsie’s challenge to publish only female writers this year. But wider lessons are being learned, as the novelist and other industry insiders explain2018 was meant to be the “year of publishing women”, after the novelist Kamila Shamsie challenged the books industry to publish no new titles by men for a year, in order to “redress the inequality” of the literary world. In the end, the tiny independent And Other Stories was the only publisher to rise to her challenge.Her provocation, published in the Guardian back in 2015, saw the novelist lay out in detail the disproportionate space given to male authors and reviewers in the press, the male skew to writers submitted for the Booker prize and the greater number of male protagonists in award-winning novels. “Like any effective system of power – and patriarchy is, over time and space, the world’s most effective system of power – the means of keeping the power structure intact is complex,” she wrote, then suggesting “a year of publishing women: 2018, the centenary of women over the age of 30 getting the vote in the UK, seems appropriate.” Related: Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation I believe we need quite radical means to change this way of thinking. It’s too easy to come up with a sticking plaster Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
After attending a panel discussion on 'The Crisis of American Fiction,' in which an all-male panel discussed only male authors for an entire hour, author Kamila Shamsie began to research the dearth of women in publishing and literary fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
John Spurling has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for his novel set in imperial China, The Ten Thousand Things (Duckworth), a book which is said to have been rejected 44 times by publishers. Spurling beat off competition from Martin Amis, Helen Dunmore, Hermione... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘If a man wants to write about gender and the pitfalls of masculinity, they’re met with sneers,’ says the bestselling author, who disputes criticism that he is antifeministThe author Matt Haig found himself “crucified” online after suggesting that his next non-fiction title could be a book... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Small press And Other Stories will produce no books by men in 2018 in answer to Kamila Shamsie’s call for direct action to beat gender bias in publishingSmall press And Other Stories has answered author Kamila Shamsie’s provocative call for a year of publishing women to redress “gender bias” in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Five writers on the six-strong shortlist for this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction – Rachel Cusk, Kamila Shamsie, Ali Smith, Anne Tyler and Sarah Waters – have all been shortlisted for the award before. The sixth novelist, Laline Paull, is shortlisted for her debut The Bees (Fourth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Publisher and writer with an instinctive eye for a literary hit, he was key to the success of the Booker prizeIf asked in a quiz for the link between Julie Andrews and Alan Clark, Julian Fellowes and Edna O’Brien, you could give only one correct answer: Ion Trewin, publisher. Trewin, who has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
An annual study of the gender balance in reviewers and authors in major literary magazines has found that both are skewed heavily towards men. American organisation VIDA (Women in Literary Arts), looked at publications including the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Women buy two-thirds of books sold but magazine reviews are centred on male authors and critics – though picture is beginning to changeThe continuing bias towards men in the British and American literary establishment has been confirmed by a study released on Tuesday.Vida, a US organisation... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Three male authors are among the many writers shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2015 (full lists below), which are traditionally overwhelmingly dominated by women. Stephen Burke is shortlisted in the Historical Romantic Novel category for his novel The Good Italian by (Hodder &... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Jhumpa Lahiri and Kamila Shamsie are among five writers shortlisted for the $50,000 (£31,829) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Crowdfunding publisher Unbound has launched Women in Print, a campaign to encourage more female writers to submit their ideas for books. Unbound has published 43 books, two magazines and a box set of photos to date, of which 32 were by male authors, 12 by female authors, and two by male and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri and Kamila Shamsie are among the 10 authors longlisted for the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Publishers need to work more closely with charities to ensure a greater number of books are published in fully accessible formats, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has said. The increase in audiobook platforms has led to a surge in the number of audiobooks produced, but... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Women-only literary prizes have been created in both Canada and Australia to help balance the attention given to work by male authors vs. female authors. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Writers Aminatta Forna, Kamila Shamsie, Paul Theroux and Henning Mankell have given support to a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Historical novelist Barry Unsworth, who won the Booker Prize in 1992 for his novel about the 18th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
TV shows and Hollywood blockbusters aren't America's only cultural exports. The book industry is also expanding overseas, according to a report released Friday by the Association of American Publishers that looks at book exports for the first time. Exports by U.S. publishers, which are dominated... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this