What we're reading August 2019

Lowborn by Kerry HudsonKerry Hudson is best known for her award-winning fiction. Her first book, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, won the Scottish First Book Award and earned her a place on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Her latest book, Lowborn, is a non-fiction account of poverty in the UK today, told from a personal perspective. She recounts a journey across the UK, visiting the seven places she lived as a child. She describes memories of time in care as a looked after child, then with her young and struggling mother, and the all-encompassing poverty which pervaded her childhood, which is still sadly ever visible in the places she visits. Hudson is a masterful storyteller, and this is a brave and honest book that has much to say about the times and society we live in.Sinead Russel, Director LiteratureHend and the Soldiers by Badriah alBeshr, translated from the Arabic by Sanna Dhahir.This beautiful and troubling novel by Saudi novelist and journalist Badriah al Beshr charts a young woman’s childhood and early adulthood, from village life, social ascent during the economic boom, early marriage and divorce. While al Beshr rejects the tag of ‘feminist’ novelist, the picaresque story she weaves lucidly depicts the way gender roles are enforced with martial rigidity by the titular ‘soldiers’ - husband, brothers, extended family, neighbours, and local gossips, who stand guard at the gates of Hend’s world, armed with notions of... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-08-30 08:51:45 UTC ]

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Literature on Lockdown 8: #BlackLivesMatter

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10 Eighteenth-Century Novels Everyone Should Read

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What will post-pandemic fiction look like? The novels that followed 9/11 offer some clues.

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BEYOND THE BARD: Exploring the Teaching of Contemporary British Literature in Global Higher Education

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YA Authors Move Online

Debut and veteran novelists dive into the world of digital events amid the pandemic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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British Book Award chats kick off with Rónán Hession

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The Italian Quarantine, by Baret Magarian

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Pandemics in the Pages of ‘The Stand,’ ‘Severance’ and More

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Harry Potter named favourite Blue Peter Book Award winner of last 20 years

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A new site for headline-inspired fiction launches today with stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Colum McCann, and more.

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