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'


WordPress quickly patches second critical vulnerability

WordPress patched a second critical vulnerability in its Web publishing platform on Monday, less than a week after fixing a similar problem.Administrators are advised to upgrade to WordPress version 4.2.1. Some WordPress sites that are compatible with and use a plugin called Background Update... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2015-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Booksellers Losing Interest in Audio

Since the collapse of Borders, independent booksellers’ role in the sale of print books has increased, but that does not seem to be the case for physical audio. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #physical audio #independent booksellers #print books


MH Abrams, Norton anthology founder, influential critic, dead at age 102

Esteemed critic, teacher and tastemaker helped shape the modern literary canon and wrote one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed works of criticismMH Abrams, an esteemed critic and teacher who helped shape the modern literary canon as founding editor of the Norton Anthology of English... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #acclaimed works #helped shape #founding editor #norton anthology #english literature #give details


Filling in the Blanks: PW Talks with Judah Smith

The new book from Seattle pastor and bestselling author Judah Smith asks what love is. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #judah smith #seattle pastor


Clinton Cash: controversial book promises fresh criticism for Hillary Clinton

Exposé published by Murdoch-owned HarperCollins claims State Department gave favourable treatment to those who donated to her family foundationA mudslinging, Murdoch-approved bestseller-in-the-making is ready to provide conservatives with their most potent fodder yet to cast the Clinton family... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #untold story #foreign governments #rupert murdoch #news corporation #state department #radical islam


Smith's Mainlander optioned for TV

Mainlander by Will Smith has been optioned for television by See-Saw Films. The book, published by Fourth Estate in February, follows a British man who moves to Jersey, where he becomes involved in the case of a missing child. Smith is a writer, actor and comedian who has appeared in TV... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tv programmes #fourth estate #previously produced


Kobo, Mills & Boon and W H Smith launch competition

Mills & Boon, Kobo and W H Smith are launching a Romance Writing Life competition, offering authors the chance to win a book deal with Mills & Boon, ebook promotions from Kobo and in-store support from W H Smith. Entrants must submit a synopsis of their novel and its first chapter via... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mills boon #offering authors #book deal


Smith to Retire from Wiley; Allin Named New CEO

Steve Smith will be retiring, due to medical reasons, as of June 1. The company's board has elected current executive v-p and COO Mark Allin as his successor. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #steve smith


UK reprint for Eat. Nourish. Glow. after Sam Smith plug

HarperCollins is reprinting 150,000 copies of Amelia Freer's Eat. Nourish. Glow., after it was recommended by singer Sam Smith. Freer's book is one of the first to be released under the revamped Harper Thorsons list, dedicated to mind, body and spirit. It was published in print and digital on... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amelia freer #1st january #lead title


Censorship criticism at IPA Congress

Criticism of the Thai government's crackdown using the lese majesté law forbidding insults against the monarchy was voiced at the International Publishers Congress in Bangkok today (25th March). Article 112 of the Thai penal code carries a maximum of seven years imprisonment for anyone... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ipa congress #years imprisonment


Does the critical reaction to The Jinx make you uncomfortable? | Erin McCann

Spare me your hipster hand-wringing: the only thing new about ‘true crime’ stories is that the people who normally feel themselves above it are now tuning inEveryone wants to think that they are above the baser things in life – special snowflakes who consume the products of Sunday-night HBO and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news media #final episode


John Smith’s triumphs at APS awards

John Smith’s Bookshop chain has triumphed at the Academic, Professional & Specialist Awards, scooping all four titles it was eligible for. Meanwhile Oxford University Press has won Publisher of the Year yet again. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john smith #bookshop chain


Tyler, Waters and Smith on Baileys Women's Prize longlist

Anne Tyler, Sarah Waters, Ali Smith, and five debut novelists including Emma Healey and Sara Taylor are on the longlist for this year's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.  Meanwhile chair of judges Shami Chakrabarti has told The Bookseller: "Until you can honestly see that women are getting the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #baileys women #anne tyler #sarah waters #ali smith #sara taylor #20-strong list #titles coming


Smith wins Kitschies' Red Tentacle

US author Andrew Smith has won the Red Tentacle award at the Kitschies for his YA novel Grasshopper Jungle (Electric Monkey). Smith’s prize of £1,000 and a hand-crafted tentacle trophy was given by judges Adam Roberts and Frances Hardinge at a ceremony held at the Seven Dials Club. Fellow judge... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #red tentacle #frances hardinge #ceremony held #young person


Martin Amis’s Holocaust novel The Zone of Interest finds German publisher

Having been turned down by his long-standing publisher Hanser Verlag, dark comedy finds home with Kein and AberMartin Amis’s latest novel, The Zone of Interest, has finally found a German-language home six months after it was turned down by his long-standing German publishing house, thought by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #finally found #fictionalised auschwitz #commercial success


Tom Rob Smith thriller tops chart

Tom Rob Smith scores his first UK Top 50 number one with the paperback of his latest thriller, The Farm. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest thriller


Graphix celebrates its 10 year anniversary with Jeff Smith’s 'Bone'

The Scholastic imprint releases a tribute edition of their first graphic novel for young readers Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jeff smith #young readers


Bloomberg’s Justin Smith: ‘Platforms have done a better job at media.’

It's been a year since Justin Smith became Bloomberg Media's global CEO with the mandate of raising the financial news and information brand's awareness with business executives. We chatted with him about how publishers can Facebook-proof their business, why print still has a future, and working... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bloomberg media #post bloomberg #justin smith


Teen novelists: the perils and positives of publishing early

Helena Coggan is only 15, and yet her debut novel has all the assurance of a writer in mid-stride. If young writers can overcome the stare of the blank page – and take care with characterisation – they can stand as an inspiration to allHelena Coggan’s debut, The Catalyst, is an accomplished... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #helena coggan #young writers #blank page