Women write literary fiction’s big hitters. So where are their prizes? | Stephanie Merritt

The 2017 bestseller list was dominated by women, with Margaret Atwood at the top, but the Booker still favours menOn the face of it, the revelation that female writers dominated the UK literary bestseller lists in 2017 might seem cause for celebration, a long-overdue correction that seems especially welcome in a year that exposed systemic bias in many forms across the creative industries. According to the Bookseller’s analysis of sales, only one man, Haruki Murakami, made it into a top 10 that saw a new generation of female writers, including Sarah Perry, Naomi Alderman and Zadie Smith, displace venerable fixtures of the literary landscape such as Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan and Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Related: Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation Related: Sexism in publishing: 'My novel wasn’t the problem, it was me, Catherine' Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #creative industries #haruki murakami #female writers #naomi alderman #zadie smith #literary landscape #julian barnes #ian mcewan #kamila shamsie

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Women write literary fiction’s big hitters. So where are their prizes? | Stephanie Merritt'


Big French publishing houses to return to Paris Book Fair

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:03 The new-look Paris Book Fair will open on Friday [18th March] for four days as five of the leading French publishers ponder the raids by the European Commission competition officials a fortnight ago. Hachette Livre, Bayard... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette livre #scaled back #opening hours


Hardback fiction added to UK's shopping basket

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 14:47 Adult hardback fiction books have been added to the basket of goods that the government uses to calculate the cost of living in the UK. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Female authors heralded on International Women's Day

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:40 Inspiring books by and about women are being hailed for International Women's Day, as J K Rowling and Germaine Greer are named among 17 authors on the Guardian's Top 100 Inspirational Women list. Female novelists are holding... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #international women #germaine greer #female novelists


Big Green Bookshop half-way to fundraising target

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 15:05 The Big Green Bookshop has raised nearly half of its fundraising target to secure its future at the beginning of its appeal week. Owners of the London independent bookshop, Simon Key and Tim West, appealed to 1,000 loyalty... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fundraising target #simon key #tim west #extra book


UK's big four could be worst hit in REDgroup collapse

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:45 The UK's big four publishing groups—Penguin, Hachette, Random House and HarperCollins—could be the worst hit in terms of exposure to the ANZ market according to Nielsen BookScan data, following REDgroup's collapse in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #redgroup collapse #random house


Big Green Bookshop appeals for 1,000 customers

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:38 The Big Green Bookshop is appealing to 1,000 of its loyal customers to help secure its future by buying one book each. Owners Simon Key and Tim West of the indie in Wood Green, North London, have also set up an online donation... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #loyal customers #tim west #wood green #north london


Montaigne title wins Duff Cooper Prize

Written By: Neill Denny Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 09:35 Chatto's How to Live: A Life of Montaigne has won The Duff Cooper Prize, beating Costa-category winner The Hare with Amber Eyes and Keith Richards' huge-selling autobiography. Winning author Sarah Bakewell was presented with the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amber eyes #keith richards #andrew marr #french ambassador


Jamie top, while Faulks boosts fiction

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 16:01 Sales of Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) fell 22% week-on-week, but its 39,118 sale in the seven days to 19th February is easily strong enough to ensure it spends another week (its 17th in total) at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Diagram Prize shortlist announced

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 18/02/2011 - 00:01 A Mills & Boon bonkbuster, an examination of the ongoing debate surrounding organ procurement, and a guide to managing a dental practice in a Mongol warlord kind of way, are among the titles vying for the Diagram Prize... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diagram prize #titles vying #latest instalment #avoid boredom #horace bent


Macintyre to chair BBC Samuel Johnson Prize

Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 09:47 Operation Mincemeat author Ben Macintyre is to chair the judging panel for this year's BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. The panel also comprises historian, writer and broadcaster Amanda Vickery, Prospect's editor-at-large David Goodhart,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #judging panel


Jamie scores double non-fiction number ones

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 15:59 TV chef Jamie Oliver has achieved the rare feat of topping both the hardback and paperback non-fiction bestseller lists, helping publisher Penguin score number ones across all four of The Bookseller's main bestseller lists—the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #records began


Myrmidon acquires Commonwealth Writers Prize shortlistee

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 06:35 Independent publisher Myrmidon has bought world English language rights (excluding South Africa) to a novel shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize. Ed Handyside, publisher and founder, bought the rights to Trespass... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #teenage years


iBookstore joins Fiction Uncovered promotion

Publication Date: Mon, 14/02/2011 - 08:31 Apple's iBookstore is the latest retailer to sign up to Fiction Uncovered as the new promotion for midlist authors attracts 80 submissions. The online giant joins Waterstone's and Waterstones.co.uk, Foyles, The Book Depository, Amazon.co.uk, W H Smith... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction uncovered #book depository #smith travel #indie bookshops


Want more women writers in magazines? Get more female editors.

As Meghan O'Rourke reported here last week, VIDA, an organization for women writers, has released a tally of male and female bylines for the 2010 run of 14 high-end, literary-oriented magazines. Despite a couple of relatively bright spots (the New York Times Book Review surprisingly being one),... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bright spots


Debut author wins Waterstone's Children's Book Prize

Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 20:05 Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize for her coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. She was awarded the £5,000 prize this evening [9th February] for Artichoke Hearts, published by Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book prize #macmillan children


Booker Foundation launches Beryl Bainbridge prize

Publication Date: Tue, 08/02/2011 - 08:55 The Man Booker Foundation is to award a special prize to the late author Beryl Bainbridge, who was shortlisted five times for the accolade but never won. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


R&J titles receive a big boost

Written By: Caroline Horn and Philip Stone Richard and Judy’s children’s book club initiative, which launched a week ago, saw average sales across the 18 selected titles grow by some 226%. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big boost #caroline horn #week ago #average sales


Eric Carle to write first book in four years for Puffin

Written By: Charlotte Williams Puffin is to publish a new picture book by The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, his first in four years. The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse will be published in October 2011, in a global, simultaneous publication with Philomel, a Penguin Young Readers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #picture book #eric carle #simultaneous publication #motoko inoue


Big comics line up for this autumn

Written By: Charlotte Williams Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan and John Bishop are among the latest big-name celebrities to have been snapped up for autobiographies, as comedians look set to dominate the hardback celebrity memoir market again this autumn. “Gavin and Stacey” star Rob Brydon’s memoir is... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #steve coogan #john bishop #michael joseph


Poet on winning Costa Book prize

Costa Book of the Year prize-winner, Jo Shapcott, explains her delight that poetry has been recognised by Costa two years running. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #costa book #jo shapcott #years running