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

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Roth, Coetzee, Amis join in authors' letter to Trump

Philip Roth, Zadie Smith, J M Coetzee and Anne Tyler are among 65 leading writers joining with PEN America in an open letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to reconsider his travel ban against visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JKP to publish letters from trans women

Jessica Kingsley Publishers is to publish Letters From Your Trans Sisters – a collection of letters written by successful trans women for other trans women at the start of their transition - edited by trans activist Charlie Craggs. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Letters on Growing Up Muslim: PW Talks to Omar Saif Ghobash

The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Russia addresses extremist propaganda and other challenges modern Muslims face in ‘Letters to a Young Muslim.’ Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poetic injustice and literary look aheads | Letters

Thank you for telling us once again which books we need to read over the next 12 months (Book ahead, Review, 7 January). But how do you know? Presumably no one at the Guardian has read all these books, since they have not yet been published. Nor, it is fair to assume, have you read all the other... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hot Books for the Holidays in Paris: Love Letters to a Mistress

Selling well in France, controversial François Mitterand books, love letters for the former president's mistress, are on offer to international publishers. The post Hot Books for the Holidays in Paris: Love Letters to a Mistress appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A cosy consultation which will pander to the press | Letters

We read with interest Jane Martinson’s article (Paul Dacre to step down as chair of journalists’ code of practice committee, 1 December). The article notes that culture secretary Karen Bradley has launched a 10-week consultation into press regulation. As teachers and researchers in media and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zombies Ate My Library: a love letter to libraries

On Saturday teenagers take over libraries in the West Midlands for A Place Free of Judgement with artists Blast Theory. Author Tony White talks about working on this love song to libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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White House Letter: Lucrative Book Deals Might Finance the Obamas’ Post-White House Life

President Obama on the South Lawn of the White House in July. He could earn as much as $30 million with a two- or three-book contract once his second term ends, said Raphael Sagalyn of the ICM/Sagalyn Literary Agency. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2016-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Historical letters to be released by Bloomsbury, Audible and National Archives

Audible, The National Archives and Bloomsbury are to release In Their Own Words, an exclusive collection of largely unpublished letters from throughout history. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tinder Press to publish wartime suitcase of love letters

Tinder Press has acquired Letters from a Suitcase, a collection of letters spanning the "short but passionate love affair" and marriage between communist couple David and Mary Francis during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Update on: Essential Politics: Oil lobbyist ghost writes letter for lawmakers, Michael Bloomberg hosts Kamala Harris Senate fundraiser

Essential Politics: Oil lobbyist ghost writes letter for lawmakers, Michael Bloomberg hosts Kamala Harris Senate fundraiser Aug. 17, 2016, 12:03 p.m. Welcome to Essential Politics, our daily feed on California government and politics news. Here's what we're watching: Michael Bloomberg, the former... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter: Peter Owen obituary

I first met Peter Owen in the late 1980s, when he published some short stories that I had written about Saudi Arabia. I was invited to interesting parties at his house in Holland Park, west London, and at various embassies where he would launch the many translations of literary fiction he... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter: Nicholas Serota on how Matthew Evans championed regional museums

In addition to his achievement in the literary world, Matthew Evans, Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, had a decisive impact on the work of regional museums. In 2000, in an imaginative move by Chris Smith, then secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Matthew was asked to chair a reformed... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ardagh pens open letter to Simon Cowell

Bestselling children’s author Philip Ardagh has penned an open letter to Simon Cowell recommending he enlist the services of a librarian in discovering good children’s books after he called them all “boring”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman, Rebuck and Daunt back 'Remain' campaign in joint letter

Leading publishing figures, including Waterstones m.d James Daunt, chair of Penguin Random House UK Gail Rebuck, author Philip Pullman and poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, have signed a letter to say they believe leaving the European Union would "severely weaken" the UK's creative industries. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC’s public service remit includes recipes | Letters

The BBC has been in the publishing business, either on paper or online, for its entire 93-year history (Is it really the BBC’s role to publish free recipes for harissa spiced lamb?, 20 May). Why are the Tories suddenly intimidated by this? I thought that capitalism welcomed competition? As a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Peter Dunne letters to Trapeze

New Orion imprint Trapeze is publishing The Fifty Things by Peter Dunne, a book of letters exploring the "social mores and morality of our time" in a bid to answer for his children "the eternal questions that line the path to peace of mind". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A letter supporting Carnegie Library occupiers

A letter from authors and illustrators calling on Lambeth Council to keep libraries in the borough open. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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