Zadie Smith on Male Critics, Appropriation, and What Interests Her Novelistically About Trump

In an interview in 2000, Zadie Smith told the Guardian about the pressure she felt after the astonishing success of her debut novel, White Teeth. “I was expected to be some expert on multicultural affairs, as if multiculturalism is a genre of fiction or something,” she said. “Whereas it’s just a fact of life—like there are people of different races on the planet.” Whether it’s indeed a fact of life or, we now fear, a feature of American life that is at risk of erasure, multiculturalism in all its complexity is at the center of Smith’s books. From White Teeth to NW, which was published in 2012, Smith’s characters inhabit mixed urban communities, often in London. Her latest novel, Swing Time, is out this week; set in England and West Africa, the story concerns the friendship of two young girls who meet in a dance class (“our shade of brown was exactly the same”) and traces the paths of their lives over a quarter-century. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2016-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #american life #white teeth #swing time #west africa #young girls

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Zadie Smith on Male Critics, Appropriation, and What Interests Her Novelistically About Trump'


Sepetys and Smith fly the US flag in Carnegie and Greenaway wins

Ruta Sepetys has won the CILIP Carnegie Medal while Lane Smith has scooped the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, meaning that both awards have been taken by Americans for the first time in their history. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ruta sepetys #lane smith


Sepetys, Smith Win 2017 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals

The 2017 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been awarded to a U.S. author and illustrator for the first time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Tracy K. Smith Is the New Poet Laureate

Tracy K. Smith has published three volumes of poetry and won the Pulitzer Prize. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #poet laureate #pulitzer prize


Tracy K. Smith Named U.S. Poet Laureate

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of 'Life on Mars' has been named to the highest public office reserved for an American poet. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #poet laureate #pulitzer prize #winning author #american poet


Meet our new U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith

Tracy K. Smith is a highly accomplished poet (she has a Pulitzer Prize), but at 45, she's several decades younger than many recent US poets laureate Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #poet laureate #pulitzer prize #poets laureate


Hodder wins two by crime novelist Askew after four-way auction

Hodder & Stoughton has acquired two books by poet Claire Askew, winner of the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Prize, following a four-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hodder wins #hodder stoughton


W H Smith names Rebecca the nation's favourite book

In celebration of its 225th anniversary year, retailer W H Smith has revealed Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier to be the nation's favourite book of the past 225 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #favourite book


Apple, Microsoft and others urge Trump to keep Paris climate pact

Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and 21 other companies today published an open letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to keep the US in the Paris Agreement to fight climate change for the good of the country's economy. The letter was posted... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #open letter


Summer Pages: Summer Reading Recommendations, From 6 Novelists Who Own Bookstores

The novelist Emma Straub at her store, Books Are Magic, in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cobble hill


Ali Smith longlisted for Gordon Burn Prize 2017

Ali Smith has been longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2017 for the first in her Seasonal four-part series, Autumn (Hamish Hamilton).  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


NEH Chair Resigns as Trump Renews Bid to Eliminate Arts, Library Funding

The president's latest budget proposal once again seeks to terminate the NEH, NEA, and virtually all federal library funding. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library funding


Should Johnny Depp Take Over for Alec Baldwin as Trump on 'SNL'?

Ad Age "Media Guy" columnist Simon Dumenco's media roundup for the morning of Friday, May 19:I came thisclose to being able to make this a Trump-free edition of your daily media scan, but then, well, see Nos. 5 and 6, below. (Sorry!) Anyway, let's get started ...1. More evidence that Jeff Bezos... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jeff bezos #ve bought #usa today #kindle ebooks #print books


‘A German Life’ Memoir Finds Strong International Rights Interest

A memoir from the Nazi era, ‘A German Life’ has been bolstered by the documentary film on its subject, the late Brunhilde Pomsel. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘Publishers’ Journalistic Obligation’ t’s a very fast takeoff in international sales for the April publication... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #porter anderson #international sales


Head of Zeus lands two on Wilbur Smith Adventure Prize shortlist

Head of Zeus has two books shortlisted for the £10,000 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zeus lands #books shortlisted


How real books have trumped ebooks

The digital revolution was expected to kill traditional publishing. But print books are ever more beautifully designed and lovingly cherishedBooks have always had a fetishistic quality to them, with their dusty secretiveness. Now, though, it feels like we’re living through a special moment in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sarah perry #essex serpent #4th estate


Bill Clinton is writing a political thriller with best-selling novelist James Patterson

Former President Barack Obama might be getting all the attention for that reported $65 million book deal, but former President Bill Clinton is soon coming out with an unusual book: He's writing a novel with prolific thriller writer James Patterson. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bill clinton #political thriller


Le Carre, Atwood and Smith set for Southbank appearances

A rare public appearance from John le Carre, and events by Margaret Atwood and Zadie Smith, are among events to feature in Southbank Centre's summer/autumn 2017 programme. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #margaret atwood #smith set #zadie smith #southbank centre


10 things we learn about Ivanka Trump in her new book on working women

She's the daughter of a billionaire family who married into another billionaire family and she's made millions selling merchandise branded with her name. So what could Ivanka Trump teach America's millions of way-less-privileged working women? Trump's latest book, Women Who Work: Rewriting the... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ivanka trump #working women


The Economist Claims a Trump Bump

The UK-based magazine sees digital subscriptions rise 19 percent YoY in North America. The post The Economist Claims a Trump Bump appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2017-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trump bump


UK ebook sales flounder as interest in print copies rebounds

Book sales in the UK are on the rise, but not because of ebooks. Figures for 2016 released by the Publishers Association show a 7 percent rise over 2015, the largest year-over-year growth in a decade. Physical book sales were up 8 percent, however eb... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book sales