“For decades, publishers had confined many black romance authors to all-black lines, marketed only to black readers. Some booksellers continued to shelve black romances separately from white romances, on special African American shelves. Accepted industry wisdom told black authors that putting black couples on their covers could hurt sales, and that they should replace them with images of jewellery, or lawn chairs, or flowers. Other authors of colour had struggled to get representation within the genre at all. – The Guardian
Category: words
Contemporary Poetry Has Devolved Into Banality And Navel-Gazing
Brooke Clark: “Much of contemporary poetry has become something of an assembly line, turning out verbal representations of minor occurrences in the poet’s daily life. Most formulaic are the lyric poets, who often come across like oversensitive souls wandering the world logging every detail of every impression that strikes them … The lyric is, in a sense, the selfie of the poetry world: it provides a perfectly contrived snapshot of the poet at a moment in time.” – The Walrus
Why Printed Books Are Better For Teaching Kids To Read Than E-Books
Electronic books are becoming increasingly popular for storytime, but the researchers found the bells and whistles, such as sound effects and animation, can sometimes distract young children. – CBC
A Data Scientist Makes A Case Against Big Data Analysis Of Literature
“The basic criteria should always be to not confuse what happens mechanically with insight, to not needlessly use statistical tools for far simpler operations, to present inferences that are both statistically sound and argumentatively meaningful, and to make sure that functional operations would not be far faster and more accurate if someone just read the texts. It may be the case that computational textual analysis has a threshold of optimal utility, and literature—in particular, reading literature well—is that cut-off point.” – Critical Inquiry
Authors In The UK Ask For Government Help Against Ebook Piracy
Author Philip Pullman says, “Online piracy of books, music, and other expressions of the human spirit needs to be properly understood: it’s an offence against moral justice. … It’s the very opposite of freedom of speech, because it acts to prevent those who create beauty, knowledge, consolation or delight from earning even a modest living from their efforts.” – The Guardian (UK)
Australia’s Stella Prize Announces Its Shortlist
And here’s a guide: “These six surprising books – four novels, a memoir and a collection of essays – cover subjects as diverse as grief, loss, history, childhood and Indigenous resistance. They make risky aesthetic choices. Some feature dazzling experiments with language, structure and form.” – The Guardian (UK)
Mexican Women In Publishing Have Their Own MeToo Moment, And Movement
The women of publishing in Mexico have had it. In a joint statement published in LitHub, they say, “We will remain firm and united until machismo across cultural fields is no longer normalized. We are creating a counter-narrative for gender equality. We are rewriting the future.” – LitHub
The Intense, Often Silent Relationship Of Authors And Their Translators
The dance of translation can be difficult and sublime, but the author and translator(s) can never forget (or sometime forgive) the fact that “translation is not only a two-way but a three-way relationship, with the publisher – the person who takes the financial risk – as the third partner.” – The Guardian (UK)
How Did The Moomins Get So Popular?
For years, they were a secret of Finnish literature, guarded by those who loved them fiercely. Then the author died, the books were reissued, and the absolute flood of character consumer opportunities began. (And now there’s a new “all singing, all dancing TV adaptation.”) – The Guardian (UK)
Instagram Seduces Booklovers With The ‘Seven Day Cover Challenge’
Bookstagram – that is, reviewers and other book people on Instagram – are addicted to book covers, and book cover posting challenges. One fashionista/book lover: “I got out all the books I had in closets. … I got the boxes out and found myself surrounded by books and thinking about all the feelings I have around books, that visceral connection to them, and not listening to Rachel Maddow for a change.” – The New York Times