What We're Reading – February 2020

Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate CharlesworthMy favourite place to be is partway through a book that I have just realised is becoming an all-time favourite. This month, it happened with Kate Charlesworth’s graphic memoir, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, a political history of gay rights in the UK and a personal history of her place in the struggle.Born in 1950, Charlesworth left for university as a not-yet-out lesbian in the year that homosexuality was decriminalised. She renders her childhood home, cramped yet somehow empty, with stark precision, then offers sweeping full-page drawings of her first gay bars – or rather, spaces coded as gay because of their dingy corners, daring clientele, and raucous singalongs of Gilbert and Sullivan. Gay rights marches, Section 28, the AIDS crisis, second-wave feminism and the journey towards civil marriage all appear, threading in and out of Charlesworth’s life in traditional comic book panels, or captured in colourful spreads like a dreamed scrapbook.Beyond the fight for rights and recognition, Sensible Footwear also celebrates the joyful community spirit of queer culture, where a single kiss on television, or a shared passion for a poet, can have a deep emotional resonance for LGBTQ+ people to connect over. From the overlapping dialogue balloons as Kate and her friend Jacky both dance around coming out to one another – each trying to admit their sexuality in subtle, abstract ways – to the page on Drew Griffiths of the... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2020-02-14 09:49:28 UTC ]
News tagged with: #late 80s #graphic novel #comic book

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Exclusive: Read a new poem by National Book Award finalist Joan Wickersham.

In September, poet Joan Wickersham’s No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck will be published by Eastover Press. Lit Hub got a sneak peak, and we’re excited to share a new poem from the collection. According to the publisher, No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck is a poetic and philosophical... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-15 13:30:20 UTC ]
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Oh, Queer Canada: A Reading List for Americans in Search of LGBTQ Canadian History

When I was a child, my grandfather was embroiled in a quiet, and possibly entirely one-sided, feud with his next-door neighbor. Every summer I would visit my grandparents for a week, and follow Grandpa on his morning walks through the woodlot, along a path that skirted the neighbor’s field. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-10 08:54:38 UTC ]
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‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’Before parched and dusty towns across Australia became full of fictional sinister people; before the explosion of outback noir and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
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Why you should read some Samuel Delany today (and every day).

Today Samuel Delany–inventor/expander of several galaxies–turns 82. And I for one would like to throw some birthday love towards this greatest of octogenarians. Known for his high-concept science fiction and his sharp theories on social contact, Delany’s canon spans genres and generations. I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-01 17:53:48 UTC ]
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17 New Books to Read in April: Salman Rushdie, Emily Henry and More

New novels from Emily Henry, Jo Piazza and Rachel Khong; a history of five ballerinas at the Dance Theater of Harlem; Salman Rushdie’s memoir and more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-03-28 20:59:48 UTC ]
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The Books Women’s Rights Activists Recommend Your Children Read

A reading list about inspiring figures, empowerment and intersectional stories to help kids navigate the world. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2024-03-27 09:45:24 UTC ]
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Jenny Odell on Reading the Rocks

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-27 08:36:11 UTC ]
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At Leipzig Book Fair: Young Germans’ Engagement With Books and Reading

Results of a new study presented at Leipzig Book Fair show young Germans reading more but later, buying fewer books but at higher prices. The post At Leipzig Book Fair: Young Germans’ Engagement With Books and Reading appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-25 20:27:54 UTC ]
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Everyone’s Reading Books About Hot Faeries Now. This Bestselling Author Has Been Writing Them for Decades.

The Prisoner’s Throne author Holly Black reflects on the rise of “romantasy” novels, explicit sex scenes, and BookTok. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2024-03-18 21:31:31 UTC ]
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February Print Sales Dipped 0.5%

Unit sales of print books dipped 0.5% in February compared to February 2023, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Kristin Hannah's 'The Women' was the top seller in the month, followed by Laura Nowlin's 'If Only I Had Told Her' and Sarah J. Maas's 'A Court of Thorns and Roses.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ask an Expert: Sensitivity Reading and Diversity

BookLife talks with Renee Harleston, founder of Writing Diversely, about the value of sensitivity readers Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Annotated Nightstand: What Diane Seuss is Reading Now and Next

I start this post with the confession that I’m relatively late to the Diane Seuss party—it was only after she won the Pulitzer Prize and NBCC in Poetry for frank: sonnets that I opened the door with the thumping bassline behind it. The ways in which the collection was wonderfully stunning was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-07 09:52:26 UTC ]
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7 Books By Black Authors That Might Not Be On Your Reading List, But Should Be

“I Don’t Want To Die Poor” author Michael Arceneaux discusses his upcoming book and his fight for representation. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2024-03-04 10:45:07 UTC ]
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10 books to add to your reading list in March

Books to read in March include "James" by Percival Everett, "Wandering Stars" by Tommy Orange and "Age of Revolutions" by Fareed Zakaria. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-03-01 11:02:40 UTC ]
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What You Should Be Reading This Winter According to Indie Booksellers

Every Tuesday, a wave of new books is published, fresh off the printing press onto the shelves of bookstores around the world. Even for a book editor like me, it gets overwhelming to keep track of all the forthcoming titles. So we’ve turned to our most trusted source for recommendations: indie... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 29, 2024

“At a time when books are being banned in schools and public libraries in unprecedented numbers, it’s alarming how writers have been reproached simply for signing letters that call for peace.” Maris Kreizman on the Jewish Book Council’s new initiative. | Lit Hub Politics The best book covers in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-29 11:30:17 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 28, 2024

“These girls thought themselves saints of something, and I nodded and kneeled.” Emmeline Cline on eating disorder memoirs and the contagion of identification. | Lit Hub Memoir Steven W. Thrasher on the murder of journalists in Gaza and the loss of critical American voices in journalism: “What... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-28 11:30:35 UTC ]
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The Best New Book Releases Out February 27, 2024

Today's new releases include a follow up to Tommy Orange's THERE THERE, a memoir of grief, a secret, anti-Confederacy spy society, and more. Which ones will you TBR? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-02-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: February 27, 2024

“I was still reporting to my father, the things I had read and all that I had remembered.” Amitava Kumar on family, loss, and resonating with the words of other writers. | Lit Hub Memoir “Even in the worst of times, humans have a way of coming together to lighten the load and provide hope […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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