What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most of whom identify as female, living in London. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through my reading and seeing how their lives are linked or overlap in different ways. What I found particularly interesting about this book is how each character responds in their own way to the universal questions of self and identity, particularly the tensions between personal, public and political gender discourse and the effect it has on the relationships the characters have with others. This feels like a very important book, and a must-read if you’re interested in what’s happening in UK fiction today.Rachel Stevens, Director LiteratureCommon People - An Anthology of Working-class Writers (ed Kit de Waal). An exceptional collection of essays, poems, memoir and short stories celebrating working-class life, culture and literature. There are many highlights, but I especially recommend Lisa McInnery’s essay ‘Working Class: An Escape Manual’, which considers how working-class writers and artists are co-opted into other identities when they achieve success. Debut author Adam Sharp’s ‘Play’, a memoir of his relationship with a substance-addicted father, is poignant and deftly handled - he’s a writer to... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – October 2019"


A Road Trip Across America to Dismantle White Patriarchy

Randa Jarrar’s memoir Love Is An Ex-Country focuses predominantly on the years leading to the 2016 election, a period, which, like now, was characterized by heightened Islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and racism. Jarrar embarks on a road trip inspired by Tahia... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-21 11:00:43 UTC ]
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Miriam Margolyes memoir goes to John Murray

Actress Miriam Margolyes’ memoir of "extraordinary adventure" will be published by John Murray in September.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-19 23:43:16 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: WAKE: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez

'WAKE: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts' by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez is a riveting combination of memoir and inspirational scholarship. In this eight-page excerpt Hall's efforts to research a slave revolt in 1712 mark the first steps of a quest that will take her to 18th... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher stands by 'Flamin' Hot' book after Frito-Lay calls origin story 'urban legend'

'We are proud to stand with our author,' said the head of Portfolio Books, promising that the memoir 'Flamin' Hot' will still be released June 15. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-05-19 00:04:48 UTC ]
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Review: Billie Eilish's new photo memoir is unpretentious to a fault

The pop star seems to have entered her memoir era at 19. Her new book, "Billie Eilish," uses photos and spare captions to document her life for fans. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-05-11 12:00:32 UTC ]
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Fraser and Hindley win £10k Oscar's Book Prize

The Littlest Yak by debut author Lu Fraser and illustrator Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books) has won the £10,000 Oscar’s Book Prize 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-11 04:12:57 UTC ]
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Bonnier snaps up Josh Widdicombe's '90s memoir in 'major deal'

Bonnier Books UK has bought comedian Josh Widdicombe’s first book, billed as part-childhood memoir, part-comic history of 1990s television and culture. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-07 23:03:11 UTC ]
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How a 1981 conference kickstarted today’s quantum computing era

Forty years ago, IBM researcher Charlie Bennett helped usher in the study of quantum mechanics’ impact on computing. IBM is still at it—and so is Bennett. In May 1981, at a conference center housed in a chateau-style mansion outside Boston, a few dozen physicists and computer scientists gathered... Continue reading at Fast Company

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Verso lands human rights lawyer's 'revelatory' memoir

Verso has acquired Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests and the Pursuit of Freedom, a memoir by Derecka Purnell.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-05 20:05:47 UTC ]
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William Collins pre-empts Finkelstein's family memoir of war-time persecution

Williams Collins has pre-empted a memoir by political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein uncovering his family’s devastating experiences of persecution during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller

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Paris Lees | 'I grew up feeling like I wasn’t good enough, so to feel respected for my writing is really moving'

A contributing editor for British Vogue, Paris Lees made her name as the UKs first high-profile transgender woman to break into the mainstream when she was named top of the Pink List of the most influential LGBT people in Britain, and became the first “out” transgender woman to appear on BBC... Continue reading at The Bookseller

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Horror Anthology Books For Some Mid-Year Frights

Here’s a list of 9 great horror anthology books full of monsters and mayhem to satisfy your mid-year frights, including The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume One edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-04-30 10:34:00 UTC ]
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Headline to publish Lil' Kim's memoir

Headline Publishing Group will publish The Queen Bee, the first memoir from Grammy-award winning rapper Lil’ Kim.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-29 09:26:52 UTC ]
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Former Washington Post editor Martin Baron is working on a book about Trump, Bezos and the future of journalism

“Collision of Power” will be part memoir and part investigation into what’s ahead for the free press. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-28 16:45:36 UTC ]
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Before Billy Wilder ventured behind a camera, he was a precocious journalist honing his sharp wit

“Billy Wilder on Assignment” is the first anthology to collect Wilder’s newspaper work in a single volume, and it’s a revelation. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Small Axe picks up 15 nominations for Bafta TV awards

Steve McQueen’s ground-breaking anthology series dominates, with The Crown, Normal People and I Will Destroy You also in the runningSteve McQueen’s ground-breaking five-part series Small Axe has dominated the Bafta TV nominations with 15 nods, in a year when diverse talent was recognised across... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-28 08:14:13 UTC ]
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W.W. Norton will take Blake Bailey books out of print

"Philip Roth: The Biography" and the memoir "The Splendid Things We Planned" are axed as Blake Bailey's publisher plans to donate to charities. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-27 21:01:25 UTC ]
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Norton Halts Publication of Bailey’s Roth Bio

W.W Norton announced that it will cease publication of the newly released edition of Blake Bailey’s 'Philip Roth: The Biography,' as well as Bailey’s 2014 memoir 'The Splendid Things We Planned,' and take both works out of print. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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UK book sales soared in 2020 despite pandemic

New figures from the Publishers Association show fiction and audiobooks did particularly well, with value of consumer sales up 7% on 2019 despite bookshop closuresFiction sales in 2020 soared by more than £100m for UK publishers, as readers locked down at home made their escape into books, with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-26 23:01:49 UTC ]
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Helen Weaver, Chronicler of an Affair With Kerouac, Dies at 89

She was a respected translator from French and a writer on astrology, but her magnum opus was a memoir of her time with Kerouac and the Beats. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-26 17:55:15 UTC ]
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