What’s in a name? Well, the right letters would help | Noo Saro-Wiwa

I’m used to my name being mangled and botched in every conceivable way, but seeing it wrong on my latest book was too muchIt’s the moment every writer lives for: a box arrives at your door containing copies of the new edition of your book. Beaming with satisfaction, I tear off the binding tape. Years of hard work are stacked and gleaming, ready for display on the bookshelf. But it doesn’t take long for my warm glow to turn frosty. For, when I open the consignment from my US publishers and inspect a copy, I can see that my surname doesn’t look quite right: Saro-Wiwa has become “Saro-Wiva”.Anyone with a complex name will feel my pain. We have resigned ourselves to seeing loose approximations of our names on envelopes, application forms, dinner invitations and event programmes. The issue is so irritating there is even a Facebook support group called “I’m Tired of People Fucking Up My Name” (one of the more polite ways of putting it, in my opinion).So shaky is my faith in society's literacy skills that there is no situation in which I can relax Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #hard work #literacy skills

Other news stories related to: "What’s in a name? Well, the right letters would help | Noo Saro-Wiwa"


Who are the real pirates in academic publishing? | Letters

Readers respond to George Monbiot’s article on the global scientific publishing industryI would like to thank both the Guardian and George Monbiot for pointing out to the public what academics like myself have known for a long time (Those who set knowledge free are heroes, not thieves, 13... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #poverty line #developing world #widely read


The compost chaos of John Calder’s office | Letters

Chris Barlas recalls working in the Brewer Street office of the publisher and bookseller who championed some of the great avant-garde writers of the 20th centuryI worked for John Calder (Obituary, 3 September) for a couple of years in the 70s, as editor of Gambit, the theatre magazine. It was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Calendar Letters: About that Anna March story ...

Regarding “Who Is Anna March?” [July 29] So you think it’s important to use four pages of the Sunday Arts and Books section to write about someone who has never published a book of her own, while at the same time you did not have the space for even one book review? Do you find that acceptable? ... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #books section #anna march #book review


Reflecting Realities: why so surprised? An open letter from a small press

In light of the Reflecting Realities report, Katrina Gutierrez explains how the industry can better support small presses working to increase representation in children's books. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #small press #open letter


Open letter on author earnings

The Society of Authors' Nicola Solomon and The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society's Owen Atkinson pen a letter to the PA's Stephen Lotinga on author earnings. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #stephen lotinga #nicola solomon #author earnings #open letter


David Lynch Writes Open Letter to Donald Trump: “You Are Causing Suffering and Division”

So here we are. In an interview published on Saturday, David Lynch told the Guardian that Donald Trump “could go down as one of the greatest presidents in history.” That fragment, stripped of context and placed in headlines and tweets, stirred outrage among many of Lynch’s fans, but it also... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #facebook post #interview published


An open letter to Lionel Shriver

The 2016 cohort of WriteNow mentees react to Lionel Shriver's ‘When diversity meets uniformity’ Spectator column.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #lionel shriver #open letter


Montefiore to celebrate the letter in next book

Orion is publishing two books by historian and novelist Simon Sebag Montefiore: Written in History: Letters that Changed the World and a new edition of Speeches that Changed the World. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Four Publishing Trade Groups Criticize Google’s Ad Policy Change in Letter to CEO

Announcing its policy change less than a month before GDPR goes into effect, Google has left publishers scrambling to make sense of its new rules. The post Four Publishing Trade Groups Criticize Google’s Ad Policy Change in Letter to CEO appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #make sense #policy change #ceo appeared


An Open Letter to the London-centric Publishing Industry

The Northern Fiction Alliance proposes an eight-point plan to address the issue of regional diversity in publishing.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #regional diversity #eight-point plan #open letter


Will Self should have a paws for thought about dogs’ value | Brief letters

Dogs’ usefulness to humans | Eric Fraser | Tesco | First female newsreaders | London Book FairWhile dogs might not be considered “productive” in the true sense of the word, I feel Will Self (Out in paperback, Review, 7 April) is failing to recall the extraordinary work they accomplish for... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #extraordinary work


British publishing can still lead the world after Brexit | Letters

Representatives of the Publishers Association call on the government to make sure the UK retains its place as ‘the world’s publisher’UK publishing is world leading and a cornerstone of Britain’s cultural and economic influence. The books and journals our authors write have helped shape thoughts... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #continuing success #digital age #academic works


More poetry, please. And pagination, too | Letters

Readers of Review miss the Guardian’s Saturday poem and information about the number of pages in each book reviewedThe poem Do You Think We’ll Ever Get To See Earth, Sir?, by Sheenagh Pugh, appeared in the Guardian many years ago (The Saturday poem, 25 November 2000). It made such an impression... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


The case for abolishing online anonymity | Letters

The Guardian requires a name, address and phone number for all of its letter-writers, points out Dr Monica Threlfall. Nigel Gann, Michael Rundell and Martin Davidson air their thoughts on Cambridge Analytica. And Patrick Cosgrove says just don’t use FacebookWhen democrats fought for free speech,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #free speech #cambridge analytica


Poetry is pleasing, even on YouTube | Letters

Poetry of all tastes and genres should be celebrated, say Angela Croft and Catherine RoomeFurther to the critique in PN Review that you report (Literary world split as poet attacks rise of social media ‘noble amateur’, 24 January), the wonderful thing about the current poetry scene is there is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #kings place #hollie mcnish


Letter from the Editor: Macmillan Stands Up to President Trump

PW' editorial director Jim Milliot examines Macmillan's resolution to stand firm against threats from President Trump, and 'PW' publishes Macmillan CEO John Sargent's letter to staff on the matter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #stand firm #president trump


Literary fiction conveys the human character | Letters

Helen Cross, Andy Stelman, Mark Stewart and Richard Adams respond to a recent Guardian article by Tim LottAs someone whose tiny, grimy literary novels have attracted the interest of the film industry, the truth is the opposite of what Tim Lott (Why should we subsidise writers who’ve lost the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #irish authors #sebastian barry #mothering sunday


Joyce Marlow’s was a life to remember | Letters

The historian did important work on the Peterloo massacre and the suffragette movement, says Lindsey German, and deserves greater prominence than the failed memoir forger Clifford IrvingIt shows a somewhat strange priority that your main obituary on 27 December described the life of Clifford... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #world war


The facts on fiction and Marley’s origins | Letters

Karl Sabbagh says small publishers face with huge obstacles with selling books and even letting anyone know they exist; plus a descendant of Dr Miles Marley sets the record straightWith reference to your leader on literary fiction (28 December), as a small publisher we are faced with huge... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #literary journal #broadcast media #printing costs #cover design #dozen languages #won prizes


Internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter must be made accountable for content they publish | Letters

Ian Bartlett says the ruling that Uber is a transport company not a digital service could also change the way we view other digital giants; and Derek Wyatt suggests a post-Brexit Britain could create a Global Digital Foundation to address these issuesUber is officially a transport company and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #foreign policy #soft power #british council