Writers attack 'overrated' Anglo-American literature at Jaipur festival

Xiaolu Guo warns that English-language mainstream has warped a broader 'reading habit', on panel with Jhumpa Lahiri and Jonathan FranzenAmerican literature is "massively overrated", the award-winning author and film-maker Xiaolu Guo told the Jaipur literature festival – and fellow panellist and US novelist Jonathan Franzen – this weekend.A session on the global novel in Jaipur on Saturday saw the Chinese/British writer Guo, one of Granta's best of young British novelists who has also been shortlisted for the Orange prize, attack the way "our reading habit has totally been transformed by the mainstream"."Our reading habit has been stolen and changed" said Guo. "For example I think Asian literature is much less narrative … but our reading habit is more Anglo-Saxon, more American … Nowadays all this narrative [literature is] very similar, it's so realism, so story-telling driven … so all the poetry, all the alternative things, have been pushed away by mainstream society.""I love your work, Jonathan," she told Franzen, "but in a way you are smeared by English American literature … I think certain American literature is overrated, massively overrated, and I really hate to read them," she said.The Pulitzer-winning Indian/American Jhumpa Lahiri also laid into America's literary culture, saying that it was "shameful the lack of translation, the lack of energy put into translation in the American market". "It is embarrassing, to me, and I think just getting out of America for a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #literary world #greater diversity

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Writers attack 'overrated' Anglo-American literature at Jaipur festival'


Thayil wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

Indian writer Jeet Thayil has won the third DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, worth $50,000,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dsc prize


Libraries are still vibrant, say Americans – but need to keep up

Libraries are 'important' to their communities, say 91 percent of Americans in a Pew survey, but they need more ebooks and more programs for children. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pew survey


Is Literature Losing a Battle with Commercial Monoculture?

As the world is being set up to facilitate frictionless commercial transactions between diverse cultures, is literary fiction losing its role? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


ALLi attacks Archway venture

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) has clashed with self-publishing company Archway... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


NEA Tabs Black Lawrence Press Writers

Ten-year-old Black Lawrence Press, an imprint of Dzanc Books, had its editorial approach to publishing contemporary literature and creative nonfiction affirmed last month when the National Endowment of the Arts chose three of its authors to receive 2013 Literature Fellowships. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dzanc books #editorial approach #national endowment


Women writers dominate Costa category wins

Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning Bring Up the Bodies (Fourth Estate) has secured a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hilary mantel


Number of Americans reading digitally increases

Nearly a quarter of Americans have read ebooks in the past year, with the number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Bookshops raise festive cheer

A bumper final Christmas sales weekend for 22nd/23rd December is being predicted, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Apps For Everyone: 29th Street Publishing Helps Writers Get Paid

29th Street Publishing sees no reason why selling subscriptions shouldn’t be as easy as blogging. At a time when print magazines such as Newsweek and tablet publications like The Daily are shuttering, the team at 29th Street Publishing is betting on the future of magazines for iPad and... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #print magazines #independent publishing #selling subscriptions


Amazon Kindle bookstore reaches Canada, cuts Americans (partly) out of the loop

Canadians have had to be content with a form of Kindle Store limbo until now. They could buy Kindle ebooks, but they've had to rely on a US-centric portal that scarcely acknowledges their literary tradition. As of this weekend, they don't have to cross the virtual border: Amazon Canada now has... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary tradition #margaret atwood #kindle paperwhite


Literature Prize secures sponsorship

The Literature Prize, the book prize founded by Aitken Alexander m.d. and agent Andrew Kidd, has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literature prize #aitken alexander


Cairo leg of Edinburgh World Writers Conference cancelled

The Cairo leg of the Edinburgh World Writers Conference has been cancelled due to the violent... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Young writers picked for Guardian/Hot Key comp

Ten young writers have been shortlisted for the Guardian Hot Key Books Young Writers Prize, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


'Dark times' for North East literature bodies

Literature organisations in the North East have said they face difficult times with a combination... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark times #literature organisations #north east


Hot Key joins the writers' workshop boom

Bonnier children's publisher Hot Key Books has become the latest publisher to join the boom... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest publisher


A haven for 'late' blooming writers

Perhaps the muse only came to you at the same time those first few gray hairs popped up on your head. But when you pick up the odd book review or magazine, you are disturbed by the cult of youth.You’re a writer of a certain age. Perhaps you started a family when you were younger, and now your... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short story


Walker strong on Educational Writers’ Award shortlist

The shortlist for the 2012 Educational Writers’ Award has been announced today (19th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #award shortlist #walker strong #educational writers


Reality Returns to Young Adult Literature

Doris Janhsen, publishing director of Germany's Verlag Friedrich Oetinger, predicts that we'll see fewer vampires and zombies in forthcoming YA and teen books. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #teen books


American City Business Journals Acquires Streetwise Media

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American City Business Journals, the nation's largest print and online publisher of local business news, has acquired Streetwise Media, a Boston-based digital media company that uses a community ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online publisher


Can Fraudulent Writers Ever Be Redeemed?

Can fraudulent writers, aka Johah Lehrer, ever be forgiven? Or should they simply be cast into permanent exile from the literary world? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary world