Congratulations to Florian Grosset for winning the 2022 Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing. The Chagos Betrayal is a shocking graphic novel account of poverty and discrimination suffered by the Chagos Islanders when their eviction by the British enforced US military control of their Indian Ocean home. This is the first time a work of graphic art has won the Bread & Roses Award and we could not be happier for Florian.
All posts by candida
BBD&P Award Shortlisting for Sabba Kahn and Veronika Muchitsch
A huge congratulations to Sabba Khan and Veronika Muchitsch who have both been shortlisted in this year’s British Book Design & Production Awards (Graphic Novel category) for their works THE ROLES WE PLAY and CYBERMAN.
The BBDPA is a wonderful award and this year’s shortlist is incredibly strong so congratulations to all the shortlisted authors.
Myriad Summer Sale
Summer is not over yet. With plenty of hot sunny days ahead to fill with reading at the beach, in the garden, or hiding in the shade, we have put together a Myriad Summer Fiction Reading List. These ten titles offer something for everyone, from short stories to generational epics, and Ethical Shop are offering 50% off for a limited time. Check out the titles below and head over to Ethical Shop to grab a great deal.
Interview with Charlotte Amelia Poe
This week our Book Sales and Promotions Co-ordinator Alex Thornber caught up with Charlotte Amelia Poe to discuss their award winning memoir How To be Autistic.
AT: Good Morning, and Happy Pride! How are you?
Charlotte Amelia Poe: Hi! I’m good, thank you. Currently listening to My Chemical Romance and blasting it loud.
AT: I thought it would be fun to revisit How to be Autistic and was wondering where the first seeds of that project came from?
CAP: Pretty much as soon as I got home from winning the Spectrum Art Prize, I started writing How To Be Autistic. I really wanted to expand on the ideas the video had, and I felt like I finally had an opportunity to speak about my experiences and share a perspective I hadn’t found before. It was a kind of manic, mad dash to the finish line, and I never expected anything to come of it.
AT: Your voice in the book is so clear and so open, it reads like having a conversation, was that a conscious choice for this project?
CAP: I think part of writing it quickly, and with only a sentence as a plan for each chapter, I think it just made it really honest and a little rough around the edges. I’ve spent my entire online life writing about what I’ve been going through in blogs, talking in vlogs, making graphics – generally just having a conversation with anyone who was willing to listen, and How To Be Autistic was a genuine extension of that. So I don’t know how much of it was a conscious choice, as opposed to what I was used to doing.
AT: Putting yourself, and your inner life, out into the world like your book does must be a daunting experience. How has the books reception been for you?
CAP: Honestly it’s a little bit terrifying. I haven’t read it since I finished it, and it’s sort of this sort of secret locked away thing that I have to accept is out in the world, but I have to separate myself from or I think I’d go mad. I’ve basically given the world all the weapons they need to hurt me. Thankfully, people have been kind, and very understanding, and instead of using it to harm, people have used empathy and reached out to say “hey, I relate to this”, which is hard to read sometimes, because when I wrote it I was half hoping nobody would relate to it, that things would have changed enough that it was irrelevant, but at least it has helped people feel less alone in some way. Which is neat.
AT: What has been the most rewarding part of the process for you?
CAP: Definitely the messages and emails I get from people who have read it. I’m terrible at replying, I never know what to say – I immediately forget how to hold a human conversation, but I read every single one even if I don’t reply and it means so, so much to me. That there are dozens (literally!) of people who have been diagnosed as a result of something I’ve done, that’s amazing. That there are people who understand themselves or a loved one better as a result – that’s just so cool. I think we reach for books to try to understand ourselves, I know I do, and the fact that people found that understanding, I don’t even know what to do with that, except to say thank you for taking a chance on a very strange book.
AT: Are you working on anything at the moment?
CAP: My second book, The Language Of Dead Flowers, my first novel, is coming out at the end of September, preorders open really soon (beginning of July!) and I’ll get to share the absolutely beautiful cover I was lucky enough to have my friend, Tylar, work on, soon. It’s about a nonbinary tattoo artist who just happens to be a necromancer in a world where necromancy is forbidden. I’m absolutely in love with all the characters and I’ve fought really hard for this book to exist, and I’m really excited for other people to read about Tao and Adam and their lives.
AT: If you could recommend one book for people to read this pride month, what would it be?
CAP: That’s so hard! I think, just because it’s one of my all time favourite books and I absolutely devoured it when I read it, it has to be Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. It uses multimedia elements to tell more than one story at once, which I always love to read, and Aled and Frances are both absolutely amazing characters, and honestly having Aled as ace representation (and I headcanon him as nonbinary, to be honest, though I don’t know if he was written to be or not) and Frances as bi representation is really awesome. It’s just a great story and I return to it over and over again.
How To Be Autistic is available now at all good bookshops and at Ethical Shop.
Interview with Lucy Fry
Continuing our Pride Month celebrations, this week we caught up with Lucy Fry and looked back at her memoir Easier Ways To Say I Love You.
Alex Thornber: I thought it would be fun to revisit Easier Ways to Say I Love You and was wondering where the first seeds of that project came from?
Lucy Fry: The project began as I tried to process some of my very intense sexual and romantic experiences about five years ago, during a specific time in my life where I felt like something enormous was happening in my life, both internally and externally. I used writing as a way of getting it out of my head. I never at that stage expected it to become a book, but then it grew, as I started to link up my current behaviours and desires with certain elements of my past. A memoir began to take hold. I was also reading lots of memoir at the time – female writers like Maggie Nelson, Ariel Levy and Deborah Levy and was massively inspired by their style and passion.
AT: The book is exquisitely honest, even about the uncomfortable parts, did you have to really push yourself to put it all on the page, or did you hold back at all?
LF: There is so much that I ended up cutting. People find that hard to believe because the book is so raw as it is, but really, I edited it a huge amount. I always try to write initially like nobody will read it, or at least not worry about that bit. Then, when I edit, I ask myself if any discomfort I feel about this being read is actually worth going through – does it make the work better? Might it help me and my readers grow in some way? Will it seriously harm another? Once I have answers to these questions I can choose whether to follow that discomfort through or cut certain bits. There’s no doubt that I experienced a re-visitation of a lot of shame when this book was published, though. Looking back, I wonder if I did put myself too far out there as it hurt a lot to hear some people’s reactions, but it felt essential at the time to be brutally honest.
AT: Your story is a vital addition to the wider narrative of queer lives but how has the book’s reception, or legacy, impacted you personally?
LF: I think sadly that the book wasn’t read by as many people as it might have been. I have however received some emails from people who were profoundly personally impacted by the story and the honesty. Even one email like that makes it feel worth the uncomfortable exposure, somehow. I do feel though that I’ve now moved on from that stage in my life and wouldn’t write in the same way again, or I don’t need to write about those same things anymore. It was certainly an excruciatingly healing act; painful, important, heart-opening.
AT: What has been the most rewarding part of the process for you?
LF: The most rewarding part was piecing the sections together in a way that fitted with my therapeutic process, rather than the way that suited narrative specifically. Or rather, it was about structuring something in an intuitive way that fits with the way that healing from trauma works, rather than suits a typical narrative structure. I love playing with form. I love finding new ways to tell stories.
AT: Are you working on anything at the moment?
LF: This year in February I had another non-fiction book published called Love and Choice. This book told a little of my story but mostly focused on the stories of others who had gone through difficult or eye-opening relationship journeys, and also incorporated my understanding and experience as a psychotherapist. It’s somewhere between narrative nonfiction and self development. Now I am playing around with ideas, figuring out where to go next.
AT: If you could recommend one book for people to read this pride month, what would it be?
LF: I think for me, The Dream House by Carmen Machado is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. It happens to be a queer memoir and that’s really important too, but I don’t want to say it’s one of the best queer memoirs as that implies it doesn’t stand up against any other memoirs in the same way, and it really, really does.
Easier Ways To Say I Love You is available now at all good bookshops and at Ethical Shop.
Interview with Kate Charlesworth
Happy Pride Month!
Here at Myriad one of our driving tenets has been to amplify and spotlight underrepresented voices, and the LGBTQIA+ community is at the heart of that. So this Pride Month we wanted to share with you some of the amazing books we have published over the years by authors who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community.
This week our Book Sales and Promotions Co-ordinator Alex Thornber had a chat with author Kate Charlesworth to discuss her landmark graphic history Sensible Footwear.
Alex Thornber: I thought it would be fun to revisit Sensible Footwear and was wondering where the first seeds of that project came from?
Kate Charlesworth: I thought about making an LGBTQ+ history years before I began work on Sensible Footwear. When I came out in the early 1970s, the gay scene was changing before my eyes, and I hoped, vaguely perhaps, that somehow it would be recorded.
I began to think I might do something about it myself around the turn of the millennium, because I wanted a record in pictures – I felt words alone could never be enough to describe the LGBTQ+ community…
I started making occasional notes around 2007.
AT: The book itself is beautifully detailed. How long did it take to complete?
KC: Eventually a script began to come into focus and with the firm but fair guidance of Myriad’s Corinne Pearlman, in 2016 I began to lay out the (320) pages and carry on to final artwork for publication in 2019.
AT: In the years since sensible footwear was published, it has become in many ways an iconic piece in LGBTQIA+ literature as well as history, how does the books legacy make you feel? Did you see it coming?
KC: Thinking of the book as an icon in itself is rather awe-inspiring. I was pretty sure there was nothing else around like it; and I did it partly because I wanted to read an illustrated LGBTQ+ history myself (which is how I thought of it in the early stages before it the memoir strand became such an integral part of the story).
I hoped it would be well received, and I thought it might be important because it was unusual – probably unique in terms of lesbian history – so if it is an icon, I’m thrilled.
AT: What has been the most rewarding part of the process for you?
KC: Crossing off the last page of the book on my progress wall chart, and finally holding a copy of the finished book were standout moments but the most rewarding aspect has been comments from readers who’ve been moved by the book, or found it helpful, or bought it for their children – or just plain loved it. I couldn’t have foreseen this and I am beyond words.
AT: Are you working on anything at the moment?
KC: I’ve applied for funding for the next book from Creative Scotland (who generously supported Sensible Footwear) and it will address issues that affect absolutely all of us – and it’s funny.
Spoiler alert: it’s stuffed with lesbians.
AT: If you could recommend one book for people to read this Pride month, what would it be?
KC: Alison Child’s Tell Me I’m Forgiven : The Story of Forgotten Stars Gwen Farrar & Norah Blaney (Tollington Press, 2019). I enjoyed this very much. Lesbian history, show business, classy dyke social circles, celebrity gossip. I want to read it again now.
Sensible Footwear is available now at all good bookshops and at Ethical Shop.
A Q&A with Nicholas Royle by Samantha Harrold
“It’s uncanny – the thought and feeling that someone, in a sense, wouldn’t be identifiable or remembered without this piece of writing. That was a starting point for me. My mother was an amazing person and if I didn’t write about her, well, people wouldn’t even know she had existed!”
Nicholas Royle talks to Samantha Harrold about writing Mother: A Memoir in this richly detailed Q&A – read in full here.
Us and them: the advantages of being both
‘My father was always busy and barely spoke to us – and never in Hindi. He felt that “children were the mother’s province”, so we were brought up without even the basics of Indian culture.’
Umi Sinha talks to Writers Mosaic about her mixed-race heritage and how it informs her novel Belonging.
Umi Sinha delves into her own past
Novelist Umi Sinha delves into her own past to write Belonging, the beautiful and brutal story of Anglo Indian conflict during the days of the Raj.
She is interviewed here by Colin Grant at Writers Mosaic.
Does the writer have a responsibility?
Umi Sinha talks to Writers Mosaic about why she writes and the responsibilities of the writer.
Kathryn Heyman interviewed on Saturday Live
Kathryn Heyman talked to the ‘Saturday Live’ team about her near-death experience aboard a fishing trawler and how through reading she realised she could craft a new story for herself. All is revealed in her extraordinary book Fury: A Memoir: ‘Moving, funny, clever and revealing. Fury is utterly superb.’ Niki Bedi, BBC Radio 4 ‘Saturday Live’
Tyler Keevil on The Worm Hole podcast
Charlie Place asks Tyler Keevil about his latest novel, Your Still Beating Heart.
They discuss using the violence of Snow White in an adult thriller to shocking and literary effect, writing in the second person to tell a story within a story where either – or both, or none – may be ‘true’, and the many hearts at the heart of his novel.
Margaret Busby talks to Writers Mosaic
Margaret Busby CBE talks to the director Burt Caesar for Writers Mosaic about her daring beginnings as Britain’s first black female publisher in the 1960s.
Throughout her extraordinary career, Margaret has championed unknown authors and giants such as CLR James, whose work might have been forgotten but for her intervention.
Her two international anthologies, Daughters of Africa (1992) and New Daughters of Africa (2019), each featuring 200 writers, are widely regarded as monumental achievements that have changed the literary landscape.
‘Worlds After Windrush’ at Bradford Literature Festival
Yvonne Bailey-Smith was joined by novelists Leone Ross and Louise Hare at Bradford Literature Festival’s digital edition to discuss ‘Worlds After Windrush’ – the inspiration for their fiction and their sense of belonging to a Caribbean literary tradition.
Margaret Busby’s Desert Island Discs
Margaret Busby shared the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
Described by novelist Zadie Smith as ‘a cheerleader, instigator and celebrator of Black arts for the past 50 years, shouting about us from the rooftops…’, part of Margaret’s very significant contribution to the publishing world has been two monumental anthologies, Daughters of Africa (1992) and New Daughters of Africa (2019).
Historical fiction: ‘You couldn't make it up, could you?’
We often distinguish between history and story, forgetting that history has always been brought to life by creative artists, whether in the form of carved and painted images, through oral storytelling traditions, or the written word.
Umi Sinha joined playwright and theatre director Patricia Cumper and novelist Ingrid Persaud, winner of the 2020 Costa First Novel Award, to discuss how fiction sits side-by-side with history writing. WritersMosaic’s director, Colin Grant, chairs this essential and timely conversation.
Yvonne Bailey-Smith in The Observer: ‘I was terrified of giving Zadie my manuscript’
Claire Armitstead talks to Yvonne Bailey-Smith about joining the family business, her career in healthcare and how her own early life informed her debut novel, The Day I Fell Off My Island.
BBC News: Brighton artist turns coma hallucinations into graphic novel
Zara Slattery was interviewed about her experience of being in a coma, and the making of the book, by BBC South East health correspondent Mark Norman. A shorter report is available on BBC News online to watch here.
Brighton & Sussex Medical School: Zara in Slattery in Conversation
Bobbie Farsides of BSMS talks with Zara Slattery about the creation of Coma – joined by Zara’s husband Dan, whose diaries and recollections were key to the book; Lucy Pitt, Matron on the intensive care unit in Brighton, who was part of the team caring for Zara; and Dr Barbara Philips, Reader in Intensive Care Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) who met with Zara during the book’s creation. Watch here.
Margaret Busby’s PublishHer interview with BookBrunch
Part of international series of interviews with influential publishing women, PublisHer has a mission to tackle the publishing industry’s entrenched gender imbalances, particularly pronounced at executive level.
In December 2020 Margaret Busby OBE, publisher, writer, editor, broadcaster, activist and Chair of the Booker Prize judges, talked to BookBrunch’s Managing Director Jo Henry about the UK publishing scene.
London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award for Margaret Busby OBE
Myriad is delighted to congratulate publishing pioneer and New Daughters of Africa editor Margaret Busby on the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award 2021.
Myriad’s Publishing Director and Busby’s longtime editor Candida Lacey comments:
‘It is such a pleasure to congratulate Margaret on this richly deserved award. Margaret Busby is quite simply a living legend. She has touched and enriched so many lives, and dedicated her life to championing the work of others, and especially the work of under-represented writers and artists.
‘I first met Margaret 30 years ago when I commissioned her to compile Daughters of Africa (Cape, 1992), a landmark anthology that celebrated the work of over 200 women writers of African descent. With this anthology and its sequel New Daughters of Africa (Myriad, 2019), Margaret charted a literary landscape as never before and inspired a new generation to write their own stories.
‘The legacy of both anthologies is profound: not only has New Daughters of Africa inspired and helped to finance a student bursary in Margaret’s name at SOAS University of London, it has also launched the literary careers of several of its contributors.
‘This award could not be better-timed. Today sees Myriad’s publication of The Bread the Devil Knead, the debut novel by New Daughters contributor, Trinidadian Lisa Allen-Agostini. And on 10 June we’ll be publishing another debut by fellow contributor, Jamaican-born novelist Yvonne Bailey-Smith’s The Day I Fell Off My Island. Bailey-Smith, a psychotherapist, is also the mother of one of our best-known contributors, Zadie Smith.’
Launched at London’s Royal Festival Hall and celebrated at Somerset House and literary festivals from Hay and Edinburgh to Cape Town and Trinidad, New Daughters of Africa was published to international acclaim in 2019.
Love Reading Book of the Month
Love Reading featured The Bread the Devil Knead as Book of the Month and a Star Read. Find out more here about Lisa Allen-Agostini’s terrific debut novel and read on….
On writing her ‘white hot’ memoir – and finding refuge in the Timor Sea
The Guardian’s Jenny Valentish talks to Kathryn Heyman about how she ran away aged 20, following a traumatic sexual assault trial, to become a deckhand on a fishing trawler.
Being adrift both physically and psychologically in the Timor Sea saved her and showed her how to defy low expectations and craft a different story for herself. This is the story of her extraordinary book Fury: A Memoir, available now.
Mansplaining Feminism with Cynthia Enloe
‘Patriarchy is always being updated – being made more modern, being made more hip. That’s how it survives.’
Listen to this epic episode of Mansplaining Feminism with professor, researcher and author, Cynthia Enloe.
Cynthia Enloe’s most recent book is The Big Push: Exposing and Challenging the Persistence of Patriarchy, published by Myriad. The essays within The Big Push explore the resilience of patriarchal beliefs and values, and identify the unwitting nature of our complicity. She shows how, simply by noticing, questioning and crafting fresh feminist concepts, we can update our resistance and challenge patriarchy’s self-perpetuating core.
The Page and the Stage: Favourite Nonfiction of 2020
Bookstagrammer The Page and the Stage chose How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe as one of their Top 3 Nonfiction Reads of 2020.
An urgent, funny, shocking, and impassioned memoir by the winner of the Spectrum Art Prize 2018, How To Be Autistic by Poe presents the rarely shown point of view of someone living with autism.
The Biblio Sarah: Best Books of 2020
Bookstagrammer The Biblio Sara chose Pondweed as one of her favourite reads of 2020. Follow The Biblio Sara over on Instagram HERE and make sure to get yourself a copy of Pondweed today.
Top Nonfiction Read of 2020: How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe
Bookstagrammer Jaclynne Anne chose How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe as her 2020 Top Nonfiction Read. How To Be Autistic also recently won the 2020 East Anglian Book Award for best memoir/biography and was runner up in the 2020 ALCS Educational Book Awards. High praise all round!
Buy your copy of How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe HERE.
Brave New Words essay included in Book 2.0 Journal
Book 2.0 is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles and reviews about historical, modern and contemporary book creation, design, illustration and production by leading practitioners, scholars and theorists. It’s latest issue included Marina Warner’s essay from Brave New Words.
To subscribe to Book 2.0, click here.
Buy your copy of Brave New Words today.
The Indie Insider Issue: Brave New Words
The Indie Insider highlighted Brave New Words in their latest round up. A collection of essays on the value and future of literature, Brave New Words features renowned writers Bernardine Evaristo, Githa Hariharan, Eva Hoffman, Romesh Gunesekera, James Kelman, Tabish Khair, Olumide Popoola, Shivanee Ramlochan and Marina Warner, amongst others. Edited by Susheila Nasta, Brave New Words was published to celebrate 35 years of Wasafiri, the leading magazine of international literature.
Read Issue 9 of The Indie Insider here and sign up to receive their upcoming newsletters directly into your inbox.
The Indie Insider featured title for Black History Month
The Indie Insider chose New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby as their featured read in their fourth issue of The Indie Insider newsletter. They also featured A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf, Round Table Books in Brixton and looked at new bookselling platform, Bookshop.org.
You can read Issue 4 of The Indie Insider here and sign up to receive their upcoming newsletters directly into your inbox.
Books of the Year 2021 from LoveReading
The new paperback edition of New Daughters of Africa was chosen by LoveReading as one of their Star Books and can be found in their Books of the Year selection.
75 books to watch out for in 2021 by The Irish Times
The Irish Times picked 75 books you need to watch out for in 2021, all by independent Irish and British publishers. The list includes upcoming Myriad debut novels, The Day I Fell Off My Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith and Hamid & Shakespeare by Majid Adin. See the list in full HERE.
Win Wiacek's MUST READ Comics List of 2020 for Comics Review
‘What a year it’s been. I’m not talking about the other stuff. I can’t do anything about that. As usual, I’m waffling on about comics and 2020 has seen some absolute graphical wonders released: so much so that I’m about to do a thing I hate and list some.’
Win chose two Myriad books for his Must Read Comics from 2020 list: Blackwood by Hannah Eaton, The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs. You can read his review of both books in full on Comics Review, and check out the rest of his Top Ten while you’re at it.
Thanks, Win!
Make It Then Tell Everybody with Hannah Eaton
“The only tool I have a fetish about is Edwardian style dippy-pen. When my Dad died, I found this old OXO cube tin, thinking it was going to be something really weird because one time I was looking through his stuff and I found my umbilical cord in a matchbox. Dried, obviously. Anyway, I found this little tin of nibs. He had a brief stint in the 60’s as a draftsman for hand-drawn adverts, and had a tin of these metal nibs. The funny thing is, they’re not very good quality. There were about 100 rusty, spiky little nibs and they’re amazing to draw with. The ink just sits in them really well and they have the most amazing line. I have about 10 left.” – Hannah Eaton
Dan Berry talks to Hannah Eaton, author of Naming Monsters and Blackwood about drawing tools, dreams, comedy careers and instilling terror through the mundane for his acclaimed podcast, Make It Then Tell Everybody. Listen again now and make sure to subscribe.
Royal Literary Fund Writers Aloud series with Hannah Vincent and Bethan Roberts
“My house is never tidy. It’s filthy. I live in filth because I’d rather spend my time writing.”
Hannah Vincent speaks with Bethan Roberts about how acting led her to playwriting, working as a script editor, her mid-career move into fiction, the ‘core self’ that drives creativity and some of the recurring themes in her work. This recording was made for the Royal Literary Fund Writers Aloud series.
A Studio of My Own: Bobby Baker and Sarah Lightman in Conversation
“Sometimes in the drawings was the only place that I could be where I knew where I was, everything else in the world felt unsteady and frightening.”
The Royal Drawing School’s Online Lecture Series hosted a creative conversation between artist and activist Bobby Baker and author of The Book of Sarah, Dr Sarah Lightman, recorded live on the 20 January.
LISTEN HERE as they talk about claiming time and space to make work, as women and mothers.
Bitches on Comics podcast Comic of the Week: The Book of Sarah
“I can’t imagine there being a more beautiful tribute to one’s own life. There’s so much beauty in this and so much love…that invites you to share… A level of openness that’s so rare even among writers. It’s so rare to be invited into someone’s crises of what defined her.”
Episode 70 of the excellent Bitches on Comics podcast features The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman and boy, it’s a goodie. Listen again HERE and make sure to subscribe to catch all their future podcasts. We’re officially fans.
Warning – there’s a good few swears.
R&R Lab: Real talk with feminist visionaries Episode 63 with: Cynthia Enloe
‘This week’s radical is Dr. Cynthia Enloe, an internationally renowned academic and thought leader on feminism, particularly in the context of militarism. She has taught generations of young minds around the globe, and is a prolific author of books including The Curious Feminist, Seriously! Investigating Crashes and Crises as if Women Mattered, and The Big Push: Exposing and Challenging Persistent Patriarchy, among many others.’
Listen again to the wonderful Cynthia Enloe talk to Continuum Collective in Episode 63 of their podcast, Radicals and Revolutionaries Lab: Real Talk with Feminist Visionaries.
Quick Book Reviews shares Sensible Footwear: A Girl's Guide by Kate Charlesworth
‘9/10. Glorious! This is the most wonderful, endearing, heartbreaking book. One to read and reread.’
Quick Book Reviews shares Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth in episode 71 of Quick Book Reviews podcast. Listen HERE.
Shortlisted: Broken Frontier Awards 2020
‘This has been one of the toughest years that any of us have lived through but one positive we have been able to hang on to has been the plethora of truly excellent and boundary-pushing practice we’ve been able to read and write about over the last few months.’
A lovely end to a very strange year as Myriad and The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs were both shortlisted in the 2020 Broken Frontier Awards. Thank you to the Broken Frontier team and congratulations to everyone else nominated, we were among a truly excellent list of makers and creators.
Head over to Broken Frontier to see who won each of the categories.
Teddy Jamieson chats with Jenny Robins about Biscuits (Assorted) for Herald Scotland
‘Almost everything in the book is drawn from photographs, with certain changes made to the characters of course. But I don’t tend to think of London as a city of scuzzier corners. Here the scuzz can often exist on the very same street as the posh, or at most a few blocks over. The infinite desire for real estate has gentrified so much of the city, but there’s still a lot of communities rubbing elbows with each other – tower blocks or rundown terraces one block over from Georgian splendour or modern chrome. That doesn’t mean the people actually talk to each other of course, or frequent the same establishments, but they are very much in the same space.
I live in Islington, which is very much poshville, but pictures like the stack of discarded market boxes or the broken sofa left in the street were photographed within a three-minute walk of our flat. The image of Jane and Alice walking through what looks like a pretty rundown area is one of the few pages taken almost entirely from one photo – and it’s a photo taken in Bermondsey (also poshville).’
Teddy Jamieson interviews Jenny Robins about her debut comic, Biscuits (Assorted) for Herald Scotland.
NaNoWriMo with the Guardian
Elizabeth Haynes takes part in NaNoWriMo each year – in fact her New York Times bestselling novel Into the Darkest Corner was originally written as part of NaNoWriMo – so she shares her insider knowledge with novelist David Barnett for the Guardian.
“Every year without fail I see something, a tweet, a blog, an article in a national newspaper, the gist of which seems to be, ‘Oh no, not November again. All those people thinking they can write. All of those manuscripts flooding agents’ offices! Please just don’t!’” she says. “It isn’t a competition. The world needs more novels, more readers, more writers. You want to be heard? Ignore everyone else. Work hard.”
Haynes had no intention to publish her first NaNoWriMo effort: “It was purely for fun. Publishing had always felt like something that happened to others, not me. I had three goes at NaNoWriMo before I had something with a beginning, a middle and an end. That was the first time I had something I thought I could actually edit.”
Best Book Covers of 2020 featuring A More Perfect Union, designed by Anna Morrison
Lit Hub chose A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf in their list of the Best Covers of 2020. Designed by the wonderful Anna Morrison, the cover features on the hardback edition, published in Autumn 2020.
‘Anna Morrison is such a talented book designer who can create stellar designs for every genre. This cover balances a bold feel with a subtle fragility through its deft use of type and illustration. The subdued palette is a nice touch as well.’
Brent and Kilburn Times report on Yvonne's upcoming novel
Brent and Kilburn Times shares news of author Yvonne Bailey-Smith’s upcoming novel, The Day I Fell Off My Island, which we are publishing in June 2021.
The Day I Fell Off My Island tells the story of Erna Mullings, a teenage Jamaican girl uprooted from her island following the sudden death of her beloved grandmother. When Erna is sent to England to be reunited with her siblings, she dreads leaving behind her elderly grandfather, and the only life she has ever known. A new future unfolds, in a strange country and with a mother she barely knows. The next decade will be a complex journey of estrangement and arrival, new beginnings and the uncovering of long-buried secrets.
Bookshop.org Book of the Month by Penrallt Gallery Bookshop
Penrallt Gallery bookshop in Wales chose Your Still Beating Heart by Tyler Keevil as their book recommendation for December on Bookshop.org.
Isabel Costello also picked Tyler’s literary thriller as one of the best books of 2020 saying, ‘Your Still Beating Heart has the emotional heft of a character-driven literary novel despite being a palpitation-inducing page-turner, a rare combination. I found it moving, gripping and evocative of place – if you enjoyed Judith Heneghan’s Snegurochka (set in Kiev) or Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs To You (set in Sofia), there are shades of overlap, but this book’s heart beats to its own tune.’
Penrallt is a lovely independent bookshop based in Wales. If you haven’t visited them before, have a look at their website and plan a trip! penralltgallerybookshop.co.uk
Best comics and graphic novels of 2020 with the Guardian
The Guardian chooses the best comics of 2020, with journalist James Smart picking Blackwood by Hannah Eaton and The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs, both from the Myriad 2020 list.
Both books are available to buy now. Please support your local bookshop and buy from an independent.
Shortlisted for the Poetry Book Awards: Summon by Elizabeth Ridout
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Elizabeth Ridout has been shortlisted for the 2020 Poetry Book Awards for her collection, Summon.
The experience of living with the adventures and griefs of bipolar disorder forms the focus for this remarkable collection of poetry.
Ridout uses the language of the fairy story and visceral images of the female form and femininity to explore how personal trauma and instability makes their mark on the wider world. Different voices and twisted accounts of the body and mind are combined with the mythological and the esoteric to create striking, beautifully unsettling and unusual poems—each a celebration of the extremes of being human.
Spotlight Books is a collaboration between Creative Future, New Writing South and Myriad Editions to discover, guide and support writers who are under-represented due to mental or physical health issues, disability, race, class, gender identity or social circumstance.
Summon is available to buy now for £5 at all good bookshops.
Jenny Robins interview with Broken Frontier
AO: Given the diverse cast of players in Biscuits (assorted) how did you approach the responsibility of ensuring an authenticity to the voices you were bringing to life on the page?
ROBINS: Oof. Yeah. I read a lot. I looked at and listened to the world around me. I sought advice when I felt I needed it, and paid for it where appropriate. I probably have messed something up and will end up offending someone. But you can do that even if you only write about people that fit your exact identity profile, right? The scenes or throwaway lines that deal most directly with issues of identity are mostly things that I have seen or heard about first hand. The way that Samarah’s English teacher speaks to her for example, is something I saw happen in real life to a Somali student I knew. And yes of course when I drew her henna I tried my best to get the patterns accurate. But having her know about Pink Floyd, or watch horror films from between her fingers – that didn’t require any research. What I do believe is that we are all a combination of the expected and the unexpected. In London many people do grow up in or grow into a mix of different cultures and there’s a certain amount of common experience here. But no-one is 100% a stereotype, or 100% unstereotypical. As Hana puts it: “we are all simultaneously unique snowflakes and parts of the snowman.”
Read the interview between Jenny Robins and Andy Oliver for Broken Frontier in full HERE.
Biscuits (Assorted) is available to buy now.
Positive News share their ethical gift guide for Christmas 2020
Buy the change you want to see in the world with the help of the Positive News magazine ethical gift guide, featuring items that are driving positive change for people and planet, including New Daughters of Africa, an anthology of women writers from the African diaspora, edited by Margaret Busby. Available now in hardback and paperback.
See what else featured in the Positive News gift guide!
10 tips for writing historical fiction with Writers & Artists
Writers & Artists share 10 tips for writing historical fiction, written by Tammye Huf, debut author of A More Perfect Union…
History can be a wonderful source of inspiration, with all those worlds ready for your characters to inhabit, but historical fiction requires a particular commitment from a writer. On top of grappling with the usual elements of story, a writer must authentically represent the historical age.
Writing my historical fiction novel, A More Perfect Union, has taught me quite a lot about the particular challenges of this genre and I’ve boiled down some of what I’ve learned into my top ten tips on writing historical fiction.
1) The importance of research cannot be overstated. You can never know too much about your historical period (although you can certainly include too many historical details in your story – more on that later). Be prepared to go deep with research in order to write authentically. Gain the trust of your reader by providing enough specific historical details…
A Recipe of Hope for Good Chance
Majid Adin has illustrated A Recipe of Hope, a beautiful collective poem of home and hope put together by Good Chance to celebrate their 5th birthday.
Read more about Good Chance and the work they do here.
"But it didn’t matter. Nobody was there to judge my struggles." Tyler on his trip to Prague, written for The Literary Sofa
“I had no contacts there, no friends or relatives to look up. I’d booked a bedsit on the internet, unbelievably cheap for the location, in Vinohrady, within walking distance of Prague 1, the Old Town and tourist district. I paid the equivalent in koruny of about $200 Canadian per month. Eira’s room in the novel is based on it. Too small to be called a studio flat – maybe ten by twenty feet. A shower in one corner. The toilet in the hall outside. A battered cupboard with a single hotplate. A bed that resembled an army cot. Musty carpet and stale smoke. Peeling wallpaper. Cracked paint. It was exactly what I’d wanted.
After deducting rent, I had a budget of about five dollars a day to get me through the autumn and winter. On the hot plate I boiled potatoes and pasta, fried vegetables and eggs. I bought the cheapest beer and cigarettes and spent evenings sitting at my window, smoking and imitating the pictures I’d seen of Camus. It was an act, of course. I was playing at being a writer. But part of my act was writing. And in the mornings I stayed sober and focused: I would boil coffee on my hotplate and write longhand in my notebook. I had the will, but no direction, no craft, no skill. My stories grew too long and got away from me, slippery and unmanageable as eels. But it didn’t matter. Nobody was there to judge my struggles.”
Tyler Keevil looks back at his trip to Prague and the aspects of that journey which made it into his latest novel, literary thriller Your Still Beating Heart.
The Radio 2 Book Club with Tammye Huf
“I myself am in an interracial marriage and know first-hand – even in our modern, enlightened society – my husband and I have experienced moments of disapproval. So to think back to the middle of the 19th century to their situation and their story, and what it must have been like for them… It just really resonated with me.”
Listen to Tammye Huf as she chats with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2.
A More Perfect Union is a current BBC Radio 2 Book Club choice and is available to buy now.
When It Comes To Rape, We’re Still Asking The Wrong Questions by Sanjukta Bose
“We still persist in thinking that some women can’t be raped. Especially ‘bad’ women. If bad women are raped, it doesn’t fit our victim narrative, and so we’d rather ignore it. Or call it sex.”
The way we treat rape survivors also has to do with the way we imagine who gets raped and by whom. When women are raped, we ask them what they could have done to warrant such an action. What were they wearing? Why were they out so late? Were they drinking? We think the solution to rape is to lock up women, to teach girls to occupy as little space as possible, to not exercise their sexual freedom.
Sanjukta Bose writes about rape for Livewire, quoting from What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali. Read the article in full on Livewire now.
On Meeting Margaret Busby by Sarah Ladipo Manyika for Granta
‘March 7, 2019 – It’s cold and gray outside, but inside the Paul Webley Wing of London University’s School of Oriental Studies (SOAS) it’s all sparkle and warmth. For a moment, I stand by the entrance watching the crowd abuzz with laughter, music, and chatter as photographers and a film crew circle the room. Here are mothers, daughters, granddaughters and aunties rocking pantsuits, evening gowns, kente, tie-dye, ankara, turbans, tresses, locks, hijab, and afros of all curl textures, lengths, and colours. We have gathered in our scores on this eve of International Women’s Day, some traveling from as far as America and Nigeria for the launch of the much-anticipated book New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent. As the room fills, excitement builds.’
Sarah Ladipo Manyika shares her memories of meeting Margaret Busby for the very first time, then several times again for Granta. Sarah is an author and contributor to New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. The paperback is now available.
Read the piece in full on the Granta website.
JFA Human Rights Journal feature What We Talk About...
‘Kiran wore a rather fabulous sparkly green blouse on the day we spent together. She took me to Gokulnagar, where she and other sex workers live and work in colourful houses set in a row backing on to an undeveloped parcel of land. It was a peaceful morning scene, with kids running around, smells of cooking and washing, women clustered around a sleeping newborn baby. The baby was so cute I pulled out my camera to take a picture, only to be smacked down. It’s bad luck to take pictures of babies with their eyes closed.’
An extract from What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali was selected by JFA Human Rights Journal and featured on their platform. Visit JFA here and read the extract in full.
Covid Comics with The Lancet
‘Comics of the COVID-19 pandemic are valuable contributions to the outbreak narrative and to the evolving visual culture of contagion. They can help us collectively process and understand this moment. The visual documentation of the pandemic in comics helps demystify the invisibility of contagion, creates personal narratives about the pandemic, provides public health education, and can create a sense of solidarity around shared emotions and experiences resulting from the disruptions to social interactions, bodily integrity, and communal boundaries.’
With a number of the Myriad novelists recording their daily antics while in lockdown, we were intrigued to read this article in world-leading medical health journal, The Lancet, on the value of Covid Comics. Read in full HERE.
East Anglian Book Awards 2020 winners revealed!
The winners for the coveted East Anglian Book Awards 2020 have been revealed and How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe won the Biography & Memoir category!
Here’s what the judges said: ‘As we follow Charlotte’s journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by their extraordinary passion for life as by the enormous privations that they must undergo to live it. From food and fandom, to body modification and comic conventions, Charlotte’s experiences through the torments of schooldays and young adulthood leave us with a riot of conflicting emotions: horror, empathy, despair, laugh-out-loud amusement and, most of all, respect.’
Find out what other books won HERE.
Arnold Bennett Book Prize 2020 winners announced!
We are thrilled that Lisa Blower’s short story collection, It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, has won the Arnold Bennett Book Prize 2020. This joins the hefty award list that Lisa’s writing has already been selected for, including the Edge Hill Prize, Bridport Prize, BBC National Short Story Award, Guardian National Short Story Award and The Sunday Times Short Story Award. Phew!
October Newsletter from Turnaround
‘The art is highly detailed and evokes both time periods perfectly, showing a level of research and care that many reader will appreciate. It is also a style that lends itself to several different tones whether it be gritty murder, or the almost supernatural ambience the story takes at certain times. This is another strong showing from Hannah Eaton and perfect for Halloween reading. All fans of horror comics will want to give this a look.’
Hannah Eaton’s Blackwood is named Graphic Novel of the Month by Turnaround in their October newsletter.
The newsletter also featured A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf, with a reminder to tune into Instagram as we share exclusive content from Tammye at 7.30 pm every night from 12 – 16 October.
'Progress? Yes, really.' A personal blog post by Dan Smith
‘Humanity’s social progress is real. More people live longer, healthier lives than ever. Fewer live in extreme poverty than 30 years ago and a much smaller proportion of the total population than 100 or 200 years ago. The store of human knowledge continues to enlarge. Human rights are respected now in a way that was not dreamed of 200 years ago. More people live in democratic political systems today than ever. And in the first two decades of the 21st century, warfare has taken far fewer human lives than it did in the first two decades of the 20th.”
Read Dan Smith’s new blog post about the state of the world HERE.
Buy a copy of The State of the World Atlas by Dan Smith. Now in it’s 10th edition, this is a groundbreaking atlas and milestone of graphic reporting. Dan Smith is the Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and is also author of The State of the Middle East Atlas.
Bookstagrammer @iambookaanan on What We Talk About by Sohaila Abdulali
‘A woman walks into a hardware store. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s actually the beginning of one of the videos made by the “It’s On Us” campaign to demonstrate just how cracked some of our justifications for rape are.’
Bookstagrammer @iambookaanan on What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali.
The campaign video shared by @iambookaanan can be watched in full HERE.
Buy What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape via myriadeditions.com.
The SOAS Margaret Busby Award will run for years to come...
SOAS has committed to establishing the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award for years to come. Following the successful launch of the inaugural Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award in 2020, the University would like to turn this award into a lasting legacy in Margaret’s name, establishing a new generation of African female writers.
The award supports a black, female African student taking an MA in African Studies, MA Comparative Literature or MA Translation (in African Languages) at SOAS University of London. This award is for a student with a particular interest in African Literature, with the aim to support a new generation of African female writers. This scholarship covers the fees, accommodation and living costs.
To donate to the award, click HERE.
New Daughters of Africa is now available in paperback. To buy your copy, click HERE.
Tammye Huf on Brighton Book Club
“I think knowing your history helps you to understand who you are. I think your past remains with you in your present; we are who we are because of who we’ve been and who our ancestors were.”
“My great-great grandparents were not alone in this interracial relationship in pre-civil war South; I found documentation a number of other couples who actually were able to get past the racial barrier and fall in love and be together.”
“For this particular book, during this strange racial climate that we’re in, with division and strife, I do hope that a book like this could help to…bring people forward.”
Author Tammye Huf was invited on to Brighton Book Club podcast to talk about her upcoming novel, A More Perfect Union, which is available to pre-order now.
Listen again HERE.
Hannah Eaton and Hannah Berry on Brighton Book Club Podcast
Hannah Eaton: “How could England very quietly sneak in real authoritarian into government? You could do two things. You could deter people for no legal reason. You devolve power to legal councils so that corporations could run the prison system. We’ve got places like Jarls wood. We do detain people for no real reason. It’s not dystopian, its an altered reflection of what actually goes on.”
Listen again as Hannah Eaton and Comics Laureate Hannah Berry chat comics, nightmares and Alison Bechdel (as well as Hannah’s latest graphic novel, Blackwood) on Brighton Book Club Podcast.
This podcast was recorded in September 2020 before the publication of Blackwood.
Africa Writes Newsletter: New Daughters of Africa
Africa Writes featured an exclusive discount for the paperback of New Daughters of Africa in their latest newsletter. Are you subscribed? Head over to their blog to catch exclusive offers and content.
Your Still Beating Heart on BBC Radio Wales with Gary Raymond
Woodrow Phoenix talks to Gill Roth for the Virtual Memories Podcast, episode 389
Who’s driving whom? With Crash Course [published in the UK as Rumble Strip by Myriad Editions] British cartoonist, artist and designer Woodrow Phoenix examines what cars do to us: physically, mentally, and environmentally.
In Virtual Memories podcast episode 389, Gil Roth talks to Woodrow about the evolution of Crash Course, the stint in LA that inspired it, the visual and design choices that make it a haunting piece of art, and how he reconciles driving his Mini Cooper One.
Woodrow also discusses growing up in South London, what being Black means in the UK and US, his compulsion to experiment with styles, why he sticks with pencils and inks, and his typography and design background and how they inform the semiotics of Crash Course.
Literandra interview with Dr Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi
“I, as an African woman, navigate life, work, family, and daily living in America even as my heart continues to reach out, yearning for the smells, tastes, sounds, colours of Africa.” Dr Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi
Literandra interview contributors from the groundbreaking anthology, New Daughters of Africa, to celebrate the newly-released paperback edition.
Follow Literandra on Instagram and read their interview with Dr Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi online now.
A More Perfect Union and New Daughters of Africa in Stylist
Stylist magazine featured A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf and New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby, in their list of Best Books for Autumn 2020.
‘A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf (out 15 October, £12.99, Myriad Editions) is an epic love story between an Irish immigrant and a Black slave that you should pre-order now. There’s also the paperback release of New Daughters Of Africa (£14.99, Myriad Editions, out now) edited by Margaret Busby, which embraces every genre you can think of: fiction, poetry, letters, drama and journalism from such jaw-dropping names as Roxane Gay, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yrsa Daley-Ward.’
Jesmyn Ward on losing her partner to COVID-19
‘My Beloved died in January. He was a foot taller than me and had large, beautiful dark eyes and dexterous, kind hands. He fixed me breakfast and pots of loose-leaf tea every morning. He cried at both of our children’s births, silently, tears glazing his face. Before I drove our children to school in the pale dawn light, he would put both hands on the top of his head and dance in the driveway to make the kids laugh. He was funny, quick-witted, and could inspire the kind of laughter that cramped my whole torso. Last fall, he decided it would be best for him and our family if he went back to school. His primary job in our household was to shore us up, to take care of the children, to be a househusband. He traveled with me often on business trips, carried our children in the back of lecture halls, watchful and quietly proud as I spoke to audiences, as I met readers and shook hands and signed books. He indulged my penchant for Christmas movies, for meandering trips through museums, even though he would have much preferred to be in a stadium somewhere, watching football. One of my favorite places in the world was beside him, under his warm arm, the color of deep, dark river water.’
Acclaimed novelist Jesmyn Ward lost her beloved husband—the father of her children—as COVID-19 swept across the country. She writes through their story, and her grief for Vanity Fair.
Jesmyn Ward’s work features in New Daughters of Africa, a glorious portrayal of the richness, range and diversity of African women’s voices. Now available in paperback.
Hannah Eaton on Books for Sussex Life
The book I’ve never finished
I hated A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara so much I threw it in the recycling to take it out of circulation. I like a lurid, kitschy abuse melodrama as much as the next person, but I’ll stick with Flowers in the Attic, which has deadly doughnuts, a better villain and doesn’t demand tearful reverence.
The book that moved me most
Beloved by Toni Morrison. The adapted film is a soul-rending companion piece… the ghost-laying chorus of holy grandmas at the end. And Oprah as Sethe.
The book I’m reading now
I have four on the go: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, Theodore Zeldin’s The Hidden Pleasures of Life, Rebecca West’s The Fountain Overflows and Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel. I read the last two every year because they’re like amazing panopticons, not only of their particular positions in history and place, but also in a way that reflects your own shifting interiority each time you revisit them.
Author of Blackwood and Naming Monsters, Hannah Eaton talks books with Sussex Life magazine. Read in full.
Dementia Together magazine book group: Mother: A Memoir
‘It’s as though you’ve stumbled across a private letter, not meant to be shared. As intimate as a diary, you’re privy to cherished memories, which the author turns over like something precious in his hands.”
Dementia Together magazine (August/September 2020 issue) chose Mother: A Memoir by Nicholas Royle as their Book Group read and invited readers to share their thoughts: Alzheimers charity website.
Make It Then Tell Everybody with Woodrow Phoenix
Woodrow Phoenix returns to Dan Berry’s creative podcast, Make It Then Tell Everybody, to talk about commercial art, teaching, narrative storytelling and cars. Listen on Spotify now.
Woodrow Phoenix and The War on Cars Podcast
With its stark and beautifully hand-drawn images of roads, traffic symbols, cities and highways, Crash Course [published in the UK as Rumble Strip by Myriad Editions] takes aim at the ways in which cars have shaped the built environment, politics, and even the human psyche, largely for the worse.
Crash Course unpacks the term “road rage,” explains why traffic accidents are anything but, and dispels the notion that people can be neatly separated into categories such as motorist, cyclist or pedestrian. It also examines the dangers of SUVs, the perils of driverless cars and the recent and growing trend of vehicles being used as weapons against demonstrators in places such as Charlottesville, Virginia.
In this episode of podcast The War on Cars, Woodrow Phoenix talks to Doug Gordon about the unique combination of artistry and journalism that makes Crash Course an effective polemic, one that will hopefully persuade people to think carefully about their responsibility when they get behind the wheel of a car.
14 Brilliant New Books... by The Glossary
‘In this high-stakes thriller about organ trafficking, a young woman’s life is changed in the blink of an eye after a stabbing on a London bus leaves her widowed. Isolated and robbed of her future, she books an impulsive trip to Prague, where she and her late husband got engaged.
Wandering the city’s cobbled streets, she is approached with a proposition – pick something up, transport it back to the UK and save a life. Just once. But that once will change her life beyond recognition. Keevil is the director of Cardiff University’s Creative Writing MA, so expect a brilliant read as he shows he can practise what he preaches.’
Tyler Keevil’s new literary thriller, Your Still Beating Heart, is listed alongside new releases from Nick Hornby, Rose Tremain and Elena Ferrante as Must-Reads this month by The Glossary.
"I've always been a clown..." Hannah Vincent Interview
‘I have always been a clown. It can be exhausting at times. As I grow older, I have become more aware of the performance I give out and perhaps I am less compelled to perform myself for others – or at least, if I put on a performance, I am increasingly aware what this is. The stories in this collection describe stages of life when I wasn’t so aware of the performance I was putting on and they project forwards into a future to consider what performances might still be to come.’
Janet Emson interviews She-Clown and other stories author, Hannah Vincent for blog From First Page to Last.
How does migration affect a child's development? Eva Hoffman, Brave New Words
‘Poland was a country ravaged by war, impoverished and stifled by an oppressive regime. Among my most vivid childhood memories are images of ruined cities, of whole streets lying in rubble and gaping windowless buildings with the epidermis of exterior walls torn off and exposed interiors filled with broken stones. (Images of Aleppo in ruins today, which I have watched with a sense of terrible poignancy and rage, have now been superimposed on those early sights of Warsaw.)
Cracow itself had not been destroyed during the Second World War, for reasons which are not entirely clear, and remained a beautiful city, with layers of medieval, renaissance and baroque architecture. But the human losses were everywhere evident: in the history of my parents, whose entire families were killed during the Holocaust; in the presence in the streets of the war-wounded and the orphaned children, whose faces emanated a great sadness.’
How does migration affect a child’s development? Writer Eva Hoffman looks back on her childhood transition from Poland to Canada in her Brave New Words essay, featured in full on The Jewish Chronicle. Read now.
Three Spotlight Books by NB Magazine
Spotlight Books is a collaboration between New Writing South, Creative Future and Myriad Editions. Under this collaborative title, 3 stand along short stories were published. Kirsty Hewitt reviews them now for NB magazine.
Hugely different in style but all three offering glimpses into the lives of characters trying desperately to make sense of their own, unique realities.
Read Kirsty’s 4/4 star review HERE.
Love Reading: Must Read Novels by Black Writers
A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf, New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby and The Bead Collector by Sefi Atta were chosen as ‘Must Read Novels by Black Writers’ by Love Reading.
‘From thought-provoking literary fiction to coming-of-age life-changers that speak to all ages, our ever-growing collection of outstanding novels by black writers presents a richness of reading experiences. ‘
See the list in full HERE.
Special Announcement: Exclusive Pre-Publication Copies of New Daughters
Ahead of the UK paperback release of New Daughters of Africa, we have teamed up with Literandra to announce that the first 100 pre-ordered copies will be signed by editor Margaret Busby.
The copies will be allocated on a first come first serve basis, so order your copy before they run out! Available HERE.
Literandra short story review: ‘A Very Young Judge’ by Leila Aboulela
‘Growing up, most of us probably had that one friend, who we were very fond of but who somehow, wittingly or not, made us feel at once inadequate about ourselves and grateful to be around them. That kind of friendship is what Leila Aboulela’s short story ‘A Very Young Judge’ is about.
The story explores the friendship between the first person narrator and her fashionable, fascinating, and ferocious friend Leena. It examines the role and nature of friendships between women and girls. ‘A Very Young Judge’ shows that women and girls can be each other’s most fierce judges and / or supporters.
Alongside this, the story also shines a light on the importance of self-determination, discernment, and critical examination of one’s friends and circle. It’s easy to get absorbed by a group of friends and forget to remain critical of one’s own and their morals alike. ‘A Very Young Judge’ also shows how quickly the most popular and revered girl in school (or anywhere else, for that matter) can morph into a deeply problematic, judgmental, and exclusionary person. It alludes to the fact that ‘hero-worship’ and the idolisation of any human being is a dangerous and slippery slope, because we are all fallible and susceptible to change.
Thank you to Literandra for reviewing Leila Aboulela’s short story from New Daughters of Africa. Make sure to follow Literandra on Instagram as they work their way through the anthology.
Read the full review HERE.
Q&A: Margaret Busby with Africa in Words
Africa in Words: ‘So, I think that’s why this anthology is so important, because it is providing a space and providing that platform for so many people.’
Margaret Busby: ‘It’s really just showing that there is more that you could be enjoying, that you could be learning from, that you could be reading. There are things that could open your mind, that could enlighten you that you have to seek out for yourself because it is not being offered within your formal curriculum.’
Read here.
Margaret Busby: What it takes to be the first Black Woman Publisher in the UK
MB: ‘Often, I’m at events or on panels and I ask the audience how many people want to be a writer, and everybody’s hands go up. And then you ask who wants to be a publisher and nobody’s hand goes up. But you can do both; it’s not as if you have to choose. You just have to be involved; otherwise they get to decide that you can come in the door. We have to be there at every level, whether it’s on the newspapers, etc. Otherwise, who chooses to review your show or my book? Who are the gatekeepers? We need to be part of it, so that there can be other perspectives. That way, everybody ends up benefitting. You want a richer literature, a richer artistic community. You don’t want everything to be narrowed down to just a small voice or coterie of people that are all thinking the same way. It would be very strange if you walked down the street and everybody looked exactly the same, spoke the same, or wore the same clothes. How boring would that be? But sometimes you feel that’s how it is. I can still go to a publishing party where I’m the only black person. And it’s not as if they even notice, because that’s the way it is for them – that’s the norm.’
Read this three-part interview with Margaret Busby by Satch Hoyt, as they discuss music, publishing and Black writing for Afro-Sonic Mapping.
Literandra short story review: ‘This Is Not Au Revoir’ by Zukiswa Wanner
‘Zukiswa Wanner’s short story, ‘This Is Not Au Revoir‘ is a feminist story that packs a punch. Set in Johannesburg, it follows the life and times of Naledi, a woman who decides that, in spite of everything she has been through, enough is enough. We follow her journey to self-determination through heartbreaks, mental health issues, and societal constraints.
‘While the story reads like an empowering, snappy, almost coming-of-age-story, it also looks at deeply complex societal and cultural issues. Over the course of the story, we see as Naledi evolves from the woman who unwittingly accepts emotional mistreatment from her lovers, to the one who decides to put herself first.’
Thank you to Literandra for reviewing Zukiswa Wanner’s short story from New Daughters of Africa. Literandra will be featuring the anthology across their platforms over August and September, to mark the publication of the paperback.
Read the full review HERE.
Afrolit Sans Frontières: Online African Literary Festival
Afrolit Sans Frontières is a virtual literary festival for writers of African origin, founded by author and publisher Zukiswa Wanner as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic international lockdowns. There have been four editions running every month since they began in March. Season five is up next and will include New Daughters of Africa contributors Sisonke Msimang and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, as well as editor Margaret Busby.
You can follow Afrolit Sans Frontières on Instagram HERE. The festival is entirely free – head to their Insta Stories to watch each conversation as it happens.
Idza Luhymyo first recipient of the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award
We’re overjoyed to announce that Idza Luhumyo is the first recipient of the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award. Luhumyo will start at SOAS University of London this Autumn and we very much look forward to celebrating with her.
Her writing has previously been published by Popula, Jalada Africa, The Writivism Anthology, Baphash Literary & Arts Quarterly, MaThoko’s Books, Gordon Square Review, Amsterdam’s ZAM Magazine, Short Story Day Africa, and The New Internationalist. Her work has been shortlisted for the Short Story Day Africa Prize, the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, and the Gerald Kraak Award.
The news was shared by 2 Girls & A Pod, Vanguard, James Murua, the African Writers Trust and Brittle Paper.
Pondweed live launch now available to watch online!
To mark the launch of Lisa Blower‘s latest novel, Pondweed, she was joined by author Sharon Duggal to discuss the book and the inspiration behind the two main characters. The event was hosted by New Writing South and introduced by Lisa’s commissioning editor and Myriad publishing director, Candida Lacey.
Watch again via New Writing South’s YouTube channel HERE, and make sure to subscribe to catch all their upcoming online events and content.
4/5 star review for Sensible Footwear from Bookstagrammer Know Thyself
Don’t miss us on Instagram – tag @myriad_editions and share your Myriad bookhselves. Insta reviews feature on our weekly newsletters and also on our website. Here’s a June 2020 round up review featuring Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth. Ida (aka @knowthyself) gives the graphic memoir 4/5 stars.
Kevin Gopal interviews Lisa Blower for The Big Issue North
“I’m not sure if fiction has overlooked restlessness in retirement – I know many strong novels that take on this subject and from various perspectives – and I do have two characters desperate to still matter and go on mattering. My focus on the restlessness was more to do with Selwyn and Ginny trying to fit together because they believe they’re supposed to fit together because they’ve been given this second chance, but neither wants to come fully clean to the other in case it ruins it.”
Big Issue North talks to Lisa Blower about Pondweed, her latest novel. Read the interview in full online now. Show your support for the The Big Issue by purchasing their latest issue from one of their street vendors or subscribe online.
Polari First Book Prize longlisting: Sensible Footwear
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth has been longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. In this exclusive video she shows her storyboards and candidly discusses the book, its title and the prize itself. Watch now.
Elizabeth Haynes on Virtual Noir at the Bar
Virtual Noir at the Bar is an online weekly event where crime and mystery writers read, live, from their works. Elizabeth Haynes was invited by Vic Watson to read from the very crime reports which inspired her to write The Murder of Harriet Monckton.
Sarah Lightman interview for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
“I have worked so hard on not feeling regretful. I think that both my parents had regrets in their lives and they talked about them quite often. Perhaps this was one reason that I had adopted a defeatist approach to many things. I have to work hard each day to live in my now, and not wish for another life. One thing I have found is that my emotions can be quite strong at times, and instead of squashing them with food and crying, which I do as well, I have to remind myself to draw and write and paint them out. Those terrible feelings can become beautiful art.
So the truth is, I can draw these things, they can be cathartic, but I do find some regrets and sadness still linger. And for those, I just need to be mindful each day and let them sit beside me.”
Sarah Lightman talks to Partha Bhattacharjee and Priyanka Tripathi for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. This interview can be read in full here.
The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman is available to buy now.
Edge Hill Prize 2020 Longlist
Lisa Blower’s debut collection of short stories, It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, and Elleke Boehmer’s To the Volcano have both leapt on to the 2020 Edge Hill Short Story Prize longlist – the only UK-based award to recognise excellence in a single-authored short story collection. The first ever all-female longlist features just twelve collections and represents an exciting range of new writing from UK and Irish writers. It will be narrowed down to a shortlist in September, with the winner announced in November.
Congratulations to both Elleke and Lisa!
The Readers Resistance Book Club
Brave New Words, edited by Susheila Nasta is The Readers Resistance Book Club’s current read. The collection of essays on the power of literature features the writing of Blake Morrison, Shivanee Ramlochan, Romesh Gunesekera, Eva Hoffman, Kei Miller, Bernardine Evaristo, Raja Shehadeh, Bina Shah, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Githa Hariharan, Hsiao-Hung Pai, James Kelman, Olumide Popoola, Tabish Khair and Marina Warner. Buy your copy HERE.
West Cork Literary Festival Recommends...
‘Saturday was #WorldRefugeeDay and we’d like to recommend this book by a Greek author Panos Karnezis who should have been in West Cork next month. We are Made of Earth is the timely story of two refugees who seek safety on a Mediterranean island when their overcrowded dinghy capsizes.’
Thank you to West Cork Literary Festival for recommending the wonderful We are Made of Earth by Panos, published last year. A timely tale of crisis, loss and desire to belong.
Lisa Blower on BBC Radio Shropshire
‘I’ve been asked quite a bit recently about the origins of this novel… It’s very loosely based upon a family story about my great-grandmother, who was standing at the bus top when she was in her 80’s and she got chatting to an elderly gentleman aside of her. It turned out to be her childhood sweetheart, who she thought had been lost in the First World War…’
Listen again to Lisa Blower as she discusses the inspiration for her captivating new novel, Pondweed, with Adam Green on BBC Radio Shropshire. From 2 hr 07 minutes in.
'Skilful, honest and evocative writing': Sussex Life
‘Take away the glitz or grit, and many popular memoirs probably wouldn’t keep a reader turning pages for long. What Nicholas Royle, author and professor of English at University of Sussex, demonstrates in this portrait of his mother, Kathleen, is how skilful, honest and evocative writing can bring a person to life better than any film.
‘Royle admits he didn’t set out to write a conventional biography, and the finished book is “less a record of events than a grappling with what escapes words”. Nevertheless, his mother, a no-nonsense nurse and crossword loving autodidact emerges as a forceful, funny, talkative and practical woman whose love for her family knew no bounds.’
Sussex Life review Mother: A Memoir by local author Nicholas Royle for their June 2020 issue. Read online here.
Books to help you escape lockdown by Bernardine Evaristo
‘I’ve been making my way through New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent, edited by Margaret Busby (2019). It’s more than 1,056 pages long and yes, I’m in it, but so are more than 200 other writers. The first incarnation of the book, Daughters of Africa (1992), is even longer and features another couple of hundred writers. Bringing together fiction, poetry, memoir and essays, both books are an incredible introduction to black women’s writing from around the world, and feature every established name you can imagine, as well those who deserve to be better known.’
Bernardine Evaristo, contributor to Brave New Words, New Daughters of Africa and joint-winner of the Booker Prize 2019 with her novel Girl, Woman, Other joins a rich list of authors and politicians discussing the best books to read during Lockdown for The Guardian. Read more.
Marie Claire and This is Book Love choose New Daughters of Africa to educate the masses.
Marie Claire asked Samantha Williams, campaigner and founder of independent multicultural book supplier This is Book Love to hand-pick a selection of titles to help educate yourself and your children – on race and racism. Included in her list was New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and available to buy here.
Bernardine Evaristo on Brave New Words and the power of campaigning
‘If those of us who are considered marginal (in some contexts this includes all women) stop campaigning, we experience social regression.’
Bernardine Evaristo tweets a quote from her essay within Brave New Words, a collection of essays by distinguished authors exploring the value of literature. Available to buy now.
In Conversation with Carol Isaacs for Iraq Solidarity News
ISN: Music is a feature in The Wolf of Baghdad and plays a distinctive role throughout the story, can you please explain why?
CAROL: Music can be incredibly powerful, eliciting emotions from deep within the listener and performer. It is also the reason I decided to turn the book into a semi-animated film with its own soundtrack.
As the book is wordless the music chosen to accompany the images have very specific purposes, they all play their part in telling the story of our community using religious prayers, traditional folk tunes and popular Iraqi songs.
Hussein Al-alak from Iraq Solidarity News talks to Carol Isaacs about her 2020 graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghdad.
Bad Form Young Writers' Prize 2020
Elaine Chiew on BBC Radio 4: Open Book
In a ‘Postcard from Singapore’, Elaine Chiew talks about Singlit (Singaporean literature) and the role history has played on the development of the literary scene.
In the rest of the show, Alex Clark talks to Andrés Neuman about his new novel, and William Boyd makes the case for revisiting two novels written by soldiers reissued 75 years after the end of World War Two.
Available now on BBC Radio 4: Open Book, 22:17 minutes in.
Elaine is author of The Heartsick Diaspora, and other stories.
Books for Pride 2020 - a Foyles selection
‘To say that 2020 has been a rough ride so far would be an understatement, and while there is no avoiding the need for continued social distancing, we can still celebrate Pride this month from the comfort of home. For this year we’ll have to leave the glitter cannons and find others way to celebrate, rather than parades or large celebrations, and there is still plenty of joy, community and comfort to be found within the pages of the books featured within the selections below.’
Foyles curated a visually stunning and diverse list of LGBTQI+ books to celebrate Pride 2020, including Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth – available now.
Books That Matter: Books and Treats Package 2020
Sold out in 30 minutes! Thank you to everyone who bought the latest Books That Matter gift box, which included To The Volcano by Elleke Boehmer and Cora Vincent by Georgina Aboud, along with treats from Bird and Blend, Kookie Cat Cookies and Candy Kittens. Did you manage to order your box in time?
Thank you to Lizzy Dening, Clare Burgess, Simply Steph 101, Siobhan Kangataran, Amy Parsnips and Holly & her Hardbacks on Instagram for featuring the box – we hope you’re now firm fans of both books and look forward to hearing your reviews.
Alzheimer's Society Book Group
Mother: A Memoir by Nicholas Royle is a beautiful and poignant look at family life, bereavement and the effects of dementia on a mother-son relationship. It has been chosen as the June/July Alzheimer’s Society book group read. Reviews of the book will be included in the next Alzheimer’s Society magazine, which is available on a subscription basis. (sign up here.)
Listen in: Nicholas Royle and Andrew Bennett on Crossed Lines
‘As I was writing, I was stumbling upon new memories or a new voice track. That moment in the book where I recount my mother’s reading of Iris Murdoch… I haven’t remembered this for ages but it triggered the memory of me phoning John and Iris at their house in Oxfordshire… It was always a very strange, surreal, poignant, comical experience because every time I did it I had to wait several minutes before one of them picked up the phone. It was always a long time and there’s something about that experience of waiting for someone to answer the phone, maybe patience, maybe suspension of life, feeling a strange languidness which went with phoning that number.’
This talk takes the shape of a phone call between Nicholas Royle and Andrew Bennett. They discuss nostalgia, family, homesickness, Iris Murdoch and Raymond Chandler. Listen in here.
Independent publishing in a time of Covid-19 with NB magazine
‘As dedicated readers we’re always searching for the next title but Covid-19 has made this much more difficult. Writers and publishers need our support more than ever. I spoke to a few independent publishers about their new books, where they can be purchased and how the pandemic has affected them. For some small publishers this is a battle for survival.’
The wonderful NB magazine discuss publishing under lockdown, highlighting several independent publishers and their latest releases including Mother: A Memoir by Nicholas Royle, She-Clown and other Stories by Hannah Vincent, and The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs.
Short Story Month featuring Elaine Chiew and Hannah Vincent
‘May is Short Story Month! I am so excited to share my favourite short story collections with you all … I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without recommending The Heartsick Diaspora by Elaine Chiew and She-Clown and Other Stories by Hannah Vincent. Both of them were incredibly written and memorable in their own ways. I highly recommend picking these up.’
The Biblio Sara shares brand new short story collections by Elaine Chiew and Hannah Vincent to celebrate Short Story Month on Instagram. Scroll through the rest of her posts here.
The Women's Atlas, German edition
Hanser: “You have authored The Women’s Atlas since 1987 to great international acclaim. What are the longterm developments that strike you?
Joni: “I would say two main areas of change:
• feminist organizing has become more globally connected, which means there’s a lot more cross-national and cross-coalition lesson learning going on. This is particularly apparent around organizing against violence against women.
• the gender gap across all economic domains is becoming more visible and difficult for entrenched interests to sweep under the rug; this is true across the economic board, from increasing awareness of the gender gap in pay (which now needs to be accounted for and is made illegal in several countries) to an understanding that women’s labour, both paid and unpaid, is the backbone of most economies
Hanser interview Joni Seager to mark the publication of The Women’s Atlas in German. To see all available editions head HERE.
Marbles on Bookanista
‘I have lost plenty of people. Every loss is a lessening. Every loss makes one more aware of how much there is to lose. But the death of my mother was something else. I don’t know when she died. She had dementia. For ten years she was among us in the midst of life cut off. An island going down under rising sea-levels. A skyscraper collapsing in a decade-long earthquake. A sunset sleepier than a druid’s daydream. It began in her mid-sixties. It was over before her seventy-fifth birthday. It wasn’t like an island or a skyscraper or a sunset. These similes are to no purpose. Nothing captures the pace of her descent into where she went.’
Bookanista shares Marbles, a chapter from Mother: A Memoir by Nicholas Royle (available to order now).
The world from a female perspective: Joni Seager interview with Il Libraio
‘This project is not just an atlas on women: it is a remapping of the world that takes women seriously. And regarding this, Seager declares: “For me, feminism means giving the lives of women the same attention, curiosity and analysis that men’s routines receive . The ordinary lives of women and men seem to have much in common, and sometimes they do; but the truth is that the way in which relationships are formed, earn a living and ensure autonomy varies significantly between women and men, as well as between women themselves at the intersectional level.”
Il Libraio interview Joni Seager to mark the release of The Women’s Atlas in Italian. Read the interview in full HERE, and head to The Women’s Atlas Myriad page to browse through the various editions now available.
Exploring the plurality of female experience; an interview with Hannah Vincent
Q: What do you hope readers take away from She-Clown and Other Stories?
A: I hope readers might consider these stories as describing the different stages of one woman’s life as well as exploring the plurality of female experience.
My hope is that readers might be inspired to think about this cultural, historical moment as a moment in which patriarchal ways of organising society, government, business, and home might usefully give way to female methods – it’s about time, yes? It’s our time.
Fantastic new interview with She-Clown author, Hannah Vincent. Read here.
"We aren’t all in this together. We’re in the same rough seas, but we’re in very different boats."
‘The idea that the coronavirus pandemic might have some upsides that could help us live better lives seems almost distasteful in the face of the destruction and death it has caused so far. Domestic violence has surged in the UK, low-paid workers on zero-hours contracts are sleeping rough on the streets, and poor families in Britain are experiencing worsening food insecurity.
‘Even for those with a stable income, managing childcare, home schooling, domestic chores and work from home can be overwhelming, with a disproportionate burden falling on women. And it’s still early days. We have yet to see what the full extent of the fallout from this pandemic will be on our mental health, particularly for the most vulnerable people. As academic Cynthia Enloe put it, “We aren’t all in this together. We’re in the same rough seas, but we’re in very different boats. And some of those boats are very leaky. And some of those boats were never given oars. And some of those boats have high-powered motors on them. We are not all in the same boat.”’
Cynthia Enloe is quoted by Farrah Jarral in this piece on the current coronavirus lockdown for The Guardian.
Speak Up: Conversations about Women's Issues with Sohaila Abdulali
Sohaila Abdulali talks to Revolution Books, New York
Sohaila talks about Indian brothels, trauma dentists in Australia, rape survivors and the new normal. Thank you to Revolution Books in New York who arranged this online event. Watch again here.
Sohaila Abdulali and Ashwini Desphpande on measures to curb domestic violence during global lockdown
Sohaila Abdulali joins fellow author Ashwini Desphpande with straight-forward and urgent measure governments can put in place to curb domestic abuse and sexual violence during the global lockdown.
– There is a shadow pandemic on the rise and it is following the trail of the spread of COVID19 from China to Europe and the USA – rising cases of domestic abuse against women.
– In India the National Commission of Women has seen a spike in reported cases of domestic abuse during the lockdown. This is worrying particularly because there is massive underreporting of domestic abuse in India.
– Underreporting occurs because women are scared, lack resources and/or self-confidence, don’t know about hotlines, are culturally conditioned to believe abuse is acceptable. Data from the National Family Health Survey revealed that 52% of women think it is okay for their husbands to beat them up. In contrast, 42% of the men think beating their wives is par for the course.
Read their article in full here.
Tell Me About Your Father podcast with Sohaila Abdulali
Sohaila Abdulali, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, talks to much-heralded US podcast, Tell Me About Your Father about growing up in an eccentric, upper-class Muslim family in India and how her father played a central role her in recovery from a sexual assault when she was a teenager.
The Mermaid and the Tick, an extract on Minor Literature[s]]
‘A husband and wife lived by the sea. He was a handyman and she was a baker. Every day, after her baking was done, the wife would go down to the beach for a swim. In summer she lay on the shingle to dry off in the sun, and in winter she played chicken with the waves. Her husband joked that she was part mermaid, she loved the sea so much.’
The Mermaid and the Tick, a short-story from Hannah Vincent’s debut collection, She-Clown and other stories is cherry-picked by Minor Literature[s].
Not the Wellcome Prize
Bookish Beck has announced that in place of the Wellcome Prize (which is taking a year off) she will be hosting a ‘Not the Wellcome Prize’ blog tour, featuring books which disseminate crucial information about medicine and/or tell stories about how health affects our daily lives. The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams features on the longlist, with the winner being announced on the 11th May.
Please join us in following Bookish Beck and her fellow judges as they delve into each of the longlisted titles.
Listen to Me Sister, International Women's Day
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, Ros Martin organised Listen to Me Sister, celebrating writing from New Daughters of Africa and honouring the words of African women.
The event brought alive a range of writings: essay, commentary, provocation, short story and poetry from women of the African continent and its diaspora in US, Caribbean and UK others, their struggles past & present and view on life and the world around them from over 200 hundred years.
This public event was supported by the University of Bristol’s Centre of Black Humanities.
Photograph of Ros Barber by Christelle Pellecuer.
Elaine Chiew on The Heartsick Diaspora with Jessica Tay
Q: Most of the endings in this collection are open ended or very loose. Could you share with us why you decided to do so?
Elaine Chiew: E.M. Forster says, “The plot-maker expects us to remember; we expect him to leave no loose ends.” Realistic short stories (as a genre), however, by nature of the format, aren’t so much about plot as they are about change. The change is often in the heart, minute or invisible; in a hidden glance, a small gesture, a sudden apprehending, sometimes even a withdrawal. Even stasis, a character refusing to admit emotional change when a situation has changed, is a fundamental shift in psyche. The best short stories are windows into lived lives, and neatly tied endings would, in the end, do the reader a disservice because they are gimmicky and not true to real life. Our lives don’t consist of neatly tied chapter-by-chapter anecdotes or stories, do they?
The Heartsick Diaspora author Elaine Chiew is interviewed by book blogger Jessica Tay (AKA Endless Chapters on Instagram). Read the interview in full now.
Must-Reads with Sussex Life magazine
The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould and Cora Vincent by Georgina Aboud from the Spotlight Books series were both chosen as must-reads by Sussex Life magazine.
‘Of the first six books, five are by Sussex-based authors. Tara Gould is one, with a beautifully-written tale of a motherless girl growing up to become a mother struggling against her destiny. Hove resident Georgina Aboud’s story is very different: a disjointed account of scenes and events in an actress’ life as she prepares to return to the stage. Judging by these excellent little books, Spotlight Books deserves success.’
100 Pioneering Women of Sussex with Margaret Busby
Amy Zamarripa Solis features Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa, in her 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog series for Brighton Museum.
‘In the 1990s, she edited the ground-breaking anthology Daughters of Africa (Jonathan Cape, 1992) and its 2019 follow-up New Daughters of Africa, published by Myriad Editions, who has an office in Brighton. The 2019 anthology has been nominated for NAACP Awards for Outstanding Literary Work 2020 and a Lifetime Achievement in African Literature by Africa Writes in 2019. Each anthology compiles more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora.
The title references a call to action from first African-American public speaker Maria W Stewart, who said in 1831:
‘O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.’’
Amy is one of the creative team behind Writing our Legacy, raising awareness of the contributions of Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) writers, poets, playwrights and authors born, living or connected to Sussex and the South East.
COVID-19: Turning Swords into Ventilators? Or is it Ventilators into Swords? Cynthia Enloe for WILPF
‘They weren’t dressed in their usual khaki. They weren’t wielding guns or grenade launchers. Their combat zone was a civilian airport, not a battlefield. Their enemy was invisible to the naked eye.
Yet these were soldiers. Outfitted in bulky, white hazmat suits and wielding elongated disinfectant hoses, they were Spanish military personnel, spraying down Barcelona’s airport, to protect members of the public from coronavirus infection.
For a critic of militarism, is this a reassuring sight?
This is not a new quandary. Those resisting militarization have tussled with this puzzle before. In the wake of the tsunami, Japanese feminists pondered the implications of the Japanese Self-Defense Force being deployed to clean up the Fukushima region after the terrifying nuclear reactor meltdown. Chilean and Turkish feminists have debated the post-disaster consequences of their states’ militaries taking on the roles of first responders in the aftermaths of devastating earthquakes. While most Americans seem to have taken pride in their soldiers being sent to Thailand and the Philippines to aid in natural disaster relief efforts, many American feminists remained skeptical.’
Professor, feminist and theorist Cynthia Enloe writes about the harm done by using the military in disaster relief. Read the article in full on the WILPF website.
The Quarantine Files with Cynthia Enloe for LARB
Brad Evans, writer for the LA Review of Books invited several critical thinkers, artists and poets to share their thoughts and concerns about COVID-19, including Cynthia Enloe.
‘It has sounded so normal: “We’re in a war zone.” “We’re all soldiers now.” “We’ll defeat this enemy.” None of us seems to be immune to drawing on the language of war to describe this current state of affairs and this odd new way of living. It’s as if wartime were the only remembered (even if vicariously) time that can provide us with the metaphors and similes we need to address the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. The virus is new. The scale of our collective effort to address it is new. But the linguistic repository we’re drawing upon to describe both is ancient — and unhelpful at best, risky at worst.’
Read Cynthia’s piece in full on the LARB website.
Carol Isaacs for Songlines magazine
Writer Robin Denselow talks to Carol Isaacs about music and its influence on graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghdad for the latest issue of Songlines magazine. Subscribe to the magazine here.
Special Mentions in the 2020 Saboteur Awards
We’re so pleased to announce that several Myriad authors received special mentions for the 2020 Saboteur Awards, including Elaine Chiew for The Heartsick Disapora and our Spotlight Authors Ana Tewson-Bozic, Elizabeth Ridout, Georgina Aboud, Jacqueline Haskell, Tara Gould and Sarah Windebank for the Spotlight Books series. Tara received a second mention for her novella, The Haunting of Strawberry Water.
You can review the entire shortlist here.
Living Apart with Love by Lucy Fry for The Gottman Institute
‘The space B and I need, to grieve and heal our twelve-year-long relationship, and to allow it to evolve, is being tightly squeezed by external pressures; widespread fear, a lack of work and all the usual things to do. Yet there is a sense running alongside this that we all need to be better, stronger, and more compassionate than ever! In essence, we are required to step up when we are feeling most like lying down, something that I suspect applies to each and every family, since being forced to remain in close proximity with loved-ones for weeks is arguably just as challenging as enforced separation or other complicated scenarios.
So we wait, and watch, and grow. Some families will become more unified, and others might break apart and reconfigure. One town under quarantine in China, Xi’an, reported unusually high divorce requests, and I suspect that isn’t a coincidence. Rather, these extraordinary circumstances will amplify all existing interpersonal dynamics – positive or negative – and it is our choice whether we wish to use this as an opportunity to notice and nurture such dynamics and do what’s necessary to help them shift.’
Lucy Fry discusses the pressures of COVID-19 lockdown on relationships for The Gottman Institute. Read in full here.
From surrendering to meltdowns, what being treated for addiction taught me about coping during lockdown
‘Eight and a half years ago I spent five weeks in quarantine, just outside London in an addictions treatment centre, in an attempt to give up drinking.
I’ll never forget that first, shocking week, when all the usual physical freedoms and emotional crutches were unceremoniously stripped away. I was not allowed a mobile phone or a computer, nor access to internet at any point. Meals were the same time every day, and snacks were strictly forbidden. There was no alcohol or caffeine, and nothing resembling a proper gym. Visitors were permitted, once a week, for just two hours. I could make one call, and take one walk each day, but neither for more than 30 minutes.
I raged and sobbed, a lot, in those five weeks, just as I have in these last three. Of course, it would be ridiculous to compare the enormous hardships that individuals and families are experiencing right now amidst Covid-19 to my rock bottom as an addict, or ensuing recovery….’
Read Lucy Fry’s article for iNews in full here. Lucy is author of Easier Ways to Say I Love You, available now.
Aisha Phoenix interview with poet Jacqueline Haskell
What did winning the Spotlight Books competition mean to you and how has it helped to advance your career?
This win led to my first full-length poetry collection being published, which these days is so hard to achieve for an unknown poet – I have had some competition wins and single poems published in magazines, but no pamphlet. That meant everything to me in terms of advancing my career, as being published in this way means I can apply to a wider range of presses, and opportunities that were previously closed to me are now within my grasp. The book has only recently been published, so longer term, it is too early to say, but I know I have only just started to reap the rewards. I was also introduced to amazing organisations and individuals who all continue to support me.
Aisha Phoenix interviews Jacqueline Haskell about her new collection, Stroking Cerberus: Poems from the Afterlife, for The Mechanics’ Institute blog.
Meet the Locals: Jacqueline Haskell
‘Drawing insight from a number of sources, [Jacqui’s] poems look at the occult, mythology, life after death, spirit appearances from beyond the grave, and grief and loss in this world and the next.’
Columnist Nick Saunders found time to chat about hearing loss, communication and poetry with Spotlight poet Jacqueline Haskell. The piece featured in New Milton Mail, April 2020, which you can read online here.
Be Curious, Do Research: An Interview with Professor Cynthia Enloe for PRAXIS
How do you define human security?
I have a really broad notion of security. Something I’ve learned is that people are very insecure in a lot of different ways. One really has to be curious about what makes somebody feel insecure, or what makes somebody feel secure. I think unless you’re curious, you won’t actually know what that person’s sense of security is because you don’t know what their insecurity is like. So, the first thing about human security is that one has to really listen to people to find out what makes them feel secure or insecure. It’s not a given.
The other thing to think about is about the word ‘human.’ There are some things that all humans share. Still, women and men can experience security and insecurity so differently. As a feminist, I never take “human” as my starting point. I’m always interested in a more intersectional and especially an intersectionally feminist curiosity about what an individual human person is experiencing. So, curiosity, I think, is where I start when I investigate both “human” and “security.”
Cynthia Enloe is interviewed by PRAXIS, the Fletcher Journal of Human Security (FULL INTERVIEW HERE).
“Waging War” Against a Virus is NOT What We Need to Be Doing: an article by Cynthia Enloe for WILPF
‘As towns and whole countries shut down in order to “flatten the curve” of outbreaks of the coronavirus, we are at risk of choosing the wrong analogy for what we collectively need to do in these perilous times. “Waging a war” is the most deceptively alluring analogy for mobilizing private and public resources to meet a present danger. We should, however, resist that allure.
We have learned – feminist investigators have taught us repeatedly – that in myriad countries and across generations war waging has fueled sexism, racism, homophobia, autocracy, secrecy and xenophobia. None of those will prevent a pandemic. They will never promote trustworthy science and functional medical infrastructures. They will not protect the most vulnerable among us. They will not keep us all safe. They most certainly will not lay the groundwork for post-pandemic democracy.’
“Waging War” Against a Virus is NOT What We Need to Be Doing: an article by Cynthia Enloe for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
My bookish life… Elaine Chiew
We’re delighted to begin My Bookish Life, a new series which will feature on our weekly newsletter, with writer and visual arts researcher Elaine Chiew, whose debut collection of short stories, The Heartsick Diaspora, came out in January.
How have your days changed?
As with many around the world, our routines got up-ended with my partner now working from home, and the kiddos being home for the short-term (Singapore just announced school closures). In daily life, we are doing some things different: (1) we no longer do our food-shopping on weekends, for two reasons – we are buying less each time, so as not to hoard, and we go during weekdays when the shops are emptier; we are also trying to support local businesses so we buy all our fruit now from our local fruit vendor around the corner; (2) we don’t allow talk about the pandemic at the dinner table and instead chat about what we did that day – a sharing of something learned, something experienced, something felt (or, sometimes, we do Jimmy Carr’s trivia quizzes while eating – it’s a good laugh); and (3) although we didn’t eat out a lot to begin with, now we don’t eat out at all, so this has meant a lot more of my time spent planning meals and being creative about them (which also rejuvenates the spirit). My son and I also do home-learning together (Coursera is great, and we are taking a course on Ancient Greek Civilisation together).
Read our full interview with Elaine here, and make sure to sign up to our newsletter to catch all our news and special offers. (Link at the bottom of our homepage.)
Panel Borders Podcast: Myriad Authors Hannah Eaton and Sabba Khan
On the latest Panel Borders podcast, Hannah Eaton discusses the folk horror and factual influences on her forthcoming graphic novel Blackwood. We also hear from architect and artist Sabba Khan, who relates how her culture, family history and background as an architect are combined in her new book, which we are set to publish in 2021. Listen again now.
Zadie Smith in conversation with Pamela Paul
The amazing Zadie Smith talks with Pamela Paul for the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival, and speaks so generously about New Daughters of Africa and ed. Margaret Busby’s tremendous work (39.5 mins in).
Elaine Chiew at The Conduit Club, London
Elaine Chiew was ‘writer of the hour’, at a breakfast literary event hosted by The Conduit Club in London. Listen here as she discusses writing The Heartsick Diaspora and other stories.
Sarah Lightman for The Author, Spring 2020
‘These are the endless negotiations I have faced as an autobiographical artist and a mother: between my body and mind; between my tiredness and my dreams of drawing and recording; between what I want to say, what I can’t say, what I won’t let myself say.’
Sarah Lightman on being an autobiographical artist while being a mother for the Spring 2020 issue of The Author.
Rap and Fine Dining: The Mix in The Heartsick Diaspora with Hyphen magazine
Leland Cheuk: I love a good ol’ ghost story, of which there are a few in the collection, but my favorite stories of yours are the ones in contemporary milieus like the fine dining kitchen or the mind of a mom who is super into hip-hop. There’s rap and food throughout the collection, and in “Chronicles of a Culinary Poseur,” there’s both. Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired the story? Did you spend time working in a fine dining kitchen?
Elaine Chiew: It’s fun to hear what stories appealed to a reader and why, so thank you! I did spend a week working in an Italian fine dining kitchen in New York City while researching a novel about haute cuisine and hip-hop (buried now in novel boneyard). I was intrigued by the class divide I saw from the kitchen peephole. Outside, the diners come to dine in their finery and spend easily upwards of hundreds of dollars per meal; inside the kitchen, the line cooks earn little more than minimum wage, and it is usually staffed by ethnic minorities, and yes, hip-hop music blares in the kitchen. Peepholes and doorways figure in several of the stories in the collection, for a reason — they often act as boundaries, keeping out (excluding) as well as keeping in (maintaining, protecting), but so flimsy and so porous. As a fellow writer, don’t you often feel that we as writers exist as translators or conduits or doormen? We stand at these liminal thresholds where we present contrasts by juxtaposing them. As service to story. Not to judge, but often as facilitator, “Look, look at, look through; perceive.”
Leland Cheuk interviews Elaine Chiew, author of The Heartsick Diaspora and other short stories for Hyphen magazine.
Plain Tales From the Bars by Kate Charlesworth
Kate Charlesworth, author of Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide has been cheering up the masses by sharing archived comic strips, starting with ‘Plain Tales From the Bars’. To see more, head to her Facebook page.
What happened when my wife and I opened up our relationship by Lucy Fry for iNews
‘As a child I wanted to be many things including a writer, actress, cricketer, and a boy. I also imagined I might get married, and perhaps one day become a mother.
I certainly never dreamt of having two intimate relationships simultaneously, nor did I think it was an option.
Fast forward 30 odd years, though, and that’s what happened. I was eight years into a long-term monogamous relationship with B. One evening over dinner we both admitted that we would like, ideally, to explore attractions with other people whilst also continuing to love each other.’
Read Lucy’s article on monogamy and the challenges of a relationship for iNews.
Tales of the amazing light show of life, Sunday Times South Africa
‘DH Lawrence talked about the “unspeakable beauty” of this light over the sea in Sydney. Katherine Mansfield admired its silver sheen on the waves in Wellington harbour. Many of us have watched it shimmer across the Karoo, as does the ex-combatant character in my story “Blue Eyes”. Some, like the group of people in the title story “To the Volcano” are so drenched in it they fall crazily in love. Or see their love in a completely new and shocking light, as in “The Biographer and the Wife”.
All of the characters in To the Volcano took on a distinct and definite shape as if standing under this light, bathed in it, even the titular “Evelina”, who (to confess) I first borrowed from James Joyce but then gave a home in Buenos Aires.
And this is not even to begin to speak of the light that is southern starlight, which simply is brighter than the starlight of the northern hemisphere. Fact. The South Pole is oriented to the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and some of the stars like Alpha Centauri are also actually closer by.’
Elleke Boehmer writes for Sunday Times South Africa about short story collection To The Volcano.
Confronting fractured worlds in Elleke Boehmer's To The Volcano, TLS
In “South, North”, the second story in Elleke Boehmer’s new collection, Lise, a young Australian woman, visits Paris after learning French. She has a backpack full of classic books, including Émile Zola’s L’Assommoir, and a map borrowed from her French teacher. She wakes early in her hostel, eats an apple and goes out looking for the Goutte d’Or, the setting for Zola’s novel. On the way she eats a madeleine from a packet bought in a métro kiosk. It “tastes of almost nothing”.
Anjali Joseph dissects To The Volcano and other stories by Elleke Boehmer for Times Literary Supplement.
Charlotte Amelia Poe interviewed by Joanna Moorhead for the Guardian
For artist and writer Charlotte Amelia Poe, 30, every day feels like a walk across a frozen pond. “It’s how it’s always been,” she explains. “You’re trying to navigate it and stay safe, but you’re aware that at any moment the ice is likely to crack, and at that point you will sink into the water.”
The worst of it is that, when she feels that way, she has no idea how she can avoid going under. “You think you’re doing fine and you’re treading carefully enough not to crack the ice. But suddenly you’ve gone under. You’ve got it completely wrong – and you’ve no idea why.”
Poe is describing how it feels to be autistic. She wants the rest of us to understand, she says, because it really matters, perhaps more than it’s ever mattered (of which more later). Her mission to break open the mystery of how it feels to be autistic has already been impressively successful: last year she won the Spectrum art prize for her video piece How To Be Autistic and recently she wrote a book of the same name. Her hope is that, by opening up about her own journey through childhood, school and adolescence, she can change other people’s perceptions and expectations about what autism is like, from the inside.
Joanna Moorhead interviews Charlotte Amelia Poe, author of How To Be Autistic for the Guardian. Read in full now.
Sarah Lightman for Jewish Journal
Do you think Sarah was overlooked in the Bible, since there wasn’t a book about her?
SL: That’s what I argue. I felt about her story what I felt about myself — I wasn’t leading my own life. I was in someone else’s story. Like me, she was also an older mum. There’s contemporary literature written with her in mind. I found more as time went on. Once a lot of the biblical women began to become independent in the narrative, they were condemned and then ignored. Eve was condemned for wanting to learn more.
With Sarah, she gets absorbed into Abraham’s great narrative. She’s a conduit through which the Jewish people are born. It’s Abraham who learns her name is going to be changed. It’s Abraham who converses with God. Sarah is deriving power through Abraham. Even when she talks about her baby, she says, “Who believes Abraham could have a baby at this age?” She’s often qualified in relation to the male characters. Sarah has power in my graphic novel. Women can take control of how other women are being presented in the arts and give them power and opportunity.
Sarah Lightman talks to Kylie Ora Lobell about graphic memoir, The Book of Sarah for Jewish Journal.
Women's History Month with Brittle Paper
Brittle Paper celebrated Women’s History Month by featuring women writers from Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa; monumental anthologies edited by Margaret Busby. Head to their instagram profile to see which authors they chose to feature.
Tara Gould on motherhood and writing for New Writing South
Is there a writer you particularly admire, and what about their work is powerful to you?
‘I don’t have one writer who has inspired or influenced me above all others. My tastes and obsessions change with each phase of life. More recently my stand out favourites have been Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, Grief is a Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong and the Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.
When I was writing The Haunting of Strawberry Water, I revisited some of my favourite scary stories – The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived at the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I’ve always enjoyed the place where the supernatural and psychological disturbance meet in literature. I wanted to write a traditional ghost story with universal themes but to update it so that it had relevance now, especially to women. I drew partly on my own experiences of childbirth and postnatal depression to explore that most sacred of bonds, the mother daughter relationship and transport it into the territory of the uncanny, to the uncomfortable margins between the paranormal and the psychopathological.’
Tara Gould is author of The Haunting of Strawberry Water. Read the full interview on the New Writing South blog.
Georgina Aboud on writing for New Writing South
‘I wonder what gets a person up in the morning, what propels a person forward despite it all, the microseconds on which entire lives can be built and shaped, how history is made up of us. Script doctors ask what is the motivation of that character, but what is the motivation of any of us? Aren’t we just staggering around in the dark and in the light? For me, writing is just an exploratory mechanism which allows me to sink my feet into borrowed shoes and think about life in lands that I want to walk through; to smell their earth, and watch their cities drift into daybreak. Writing allows me to stretch inside and pretend I can understand what’s going on because, really, we can never reach the bedrock of anyone, there are too many facets and variables and situations we haven’t yet found ourselves in, may never find ourselves in, to truly know who we are or what we could become.’
Georgina Aboud, author of Cora Vincent, pensively looks at writing and its uses for New Writing South. Read her piece in full HERE.
Sarah Windebank for New Writing South
What are the challenges of your own life experiences, and do these present in your writing, as concerns, themes, ways of thinking about writing?
‘I have suffered from mental health problems since my adolescence, most likely as a consequence of being sexually abused as a fifteen year old. Thus, I have self-harmed, suffered from bulimia nervosa and depression, been diagnosed with psychotic episodes and paranoia and consequently experienced material poverty. Sometimes I wonder, though, because of my involvement in women’s and LGBTQ politics and writing groups, whether it is just a lack of acceptance on the part of the psychiatric services that people are gay, which has caused many of my problems.
Writing as catharsis, has helped me with psychiatric and social problems. Taking an MA in Creative Writing and Personal Development at Sussex University, a course that focused on the therapeutic as well as the aesthetic purpose of writing fiction and poetry, has been helpful.
Life in a psychiatric hostel, or a halfway house for homeless youth, or a council flat alone in an alien place with new born twins, makes me want to speak out, and so some of my writing, I hope, has a radical bite to it.’
Sarah Windebank, author of poetry collection Memories of a Swedish Grandmother is interviewed by New Writing South about her life experiences, writing and what she’s currently working on.
Read in full HERE.
Top 3 Ultimate Feminist Books by The Feminist Bookshop
Belonging by Umi Sinha was chosen as one of the three ultimate feminist books by Ruth Wainwright as she was interviewed by Brighton Journal about the opening of The Feminist Bookshop.
If you haven’t yet been to Brighton’s one and only feminist bookshop, you can find them on Upper North Street, a 10-minute walk from the train station!
Amy Baxter and Elaine Chiew talk diversity, genres and short stories for Bad Form
Do you believe it is best to write from personal experiences? Could a non-migrant, for example, write fiction about migrant experiences? Or should they?
‘I don’t believe in policing fiction or the imagination, but I do believe that if you’re going to write experiences very far from your own, it takes an incredible feat of empathy, imagination and hard work to check all your blind spots. It’s important to get it right, it’s important to do it with incredible sensitivity. I contend that freedom to write is not in question, but peeps seem to be expecting freedom from consequences when they get it wrong.’
Head to Bad Form to carry on reading this terrific interview with Elaine Chiew, author of The Heartsick Diaspora and other stories.
Ana Tewson-Bozic discusses the value of words with New Writing South
What are the challenges of your own life experiences, and do these present in your writing, as concerns, themes, ways of thinking about writing?
I write to help put words to difficult emotions, to explain a situation, or a mood, I do this to give the reader company in their neuroses, they can look to mine and see my useless guilts and shames, and feel perhaps easier about their own confessions, whether shared or secret. Or I do it so that others may understand my neuroses, if it does not resonate as their own moods do, if it does not relate to their own experience, at least mine can be examined. I have a mood disorder and feel heightened a lot, I write when a mood or situation becomes so heightened it needs to become rid of, to be exorcised onto a page. To be in stone, etched, as a testament to that experience. It is grubby and shameful, the space between ears and sometimes it can be translated into writing to become tangible, and shared.
New Writing South speak to one of the Spotlight series authors, Ana Tewson-Bozic, whose short story Crumbs was written during a psychotic episode.
Elaine Chiew on BBC Radio London with Tim Arthur
Elaine Chiew, author of The Heartsick Diaspora, explains how she had to navigate London as a Singaporean and Malaysian born and raised in the city for BBC Radio London with Tim Arthur.
How To Be Autistic with Francesca Happe for TLS
‘By the end of the book, Poe has successfully tackled many challenges and gained recognition and greater knowledge of their own worth through their rawly honest short film, How To Be Autistic, which won the inaugural Spectrum Art Prize. Poe describes this book of the same title as flowing out of them, “this burst of words, anger, sadness, hope, joy, trauma”, as they search for identity, struggling “to be the person I knew I was supposed to be”.
‘This book will help many readers going through similar experiences, as well as their families; one has to feel for Poe’s mother, who – as Poe makes clear – fought so long and shouted so loud for her child, with so little help forthcoming. “By continuing to fight,” writes Poe, “every damn day, in a world that is not ours and is not shaped to handle us, we show how strong we are, and every second we’re breathing is in utter defiance of everyone who ever told us we were wrong.”
Author Francesca Happe for Times Literary Supplement.
Lucy Fry on Up the Arts Podcast
Journalist and author Lucy Fry talks to Up The Arts podcast about being stuck indoors and her new memoir, Easier Ways to Say I Love You for their inaugural show! Listen HERE.
Hannah Vincent talks short stories on Brighton Book Club
Hannah Vincent joined Anna Burtt, host of Brighton Book Club podcast, to discuss short stories. They focus on Hannah’s new short story collection, She-Clown, alongside The Heartsick Diaspora by fellow Myriad author, Elaine Chiew. Listen again HERE.
Elizabeth Haynes talks to Brighton Book Club
Anna Burtt, host of Brighton Book Club speaks to bestselling novelist Elizabeth Haynes about her police career, her writing of crime and psychological thrillers and the research behind her latest book, The Murder of Harriet Monckton. Listen to the clip on Spotify.
'I was terrified of becoming a mum' Lucy Fry for Stylist magazine
‘When my wife, B, told me she was pregnant, over four years ago now, I felt numb and vaguely worried.
She was so excited and hopeful about the news. So why didn’t I share in that joy? Not only had she recently miscarried – and the remnants of that trauma were very much still hanging around, in different ways, for us both – but I had begun to wonder if parenthood was, really and truly, what I wanted.
I was obsessive about writing. I also loved weight training, yoga, and I was learning to hold a handstand. All of those things took up a lot of my time, requiring the kind of rested body and clear mind that I knew a baby would prevent. Was I about to lose all my independence, along with my ability to do everything that brought me joy?’
Lucy Fry questions her feelings towards motherhood and how they’ve changed since the birth of her son for Stylist magazine. Read in full.
Carol Isaacs on Resonance.FM
Artist Carol Isaacs talks to Jude Montague for Resonance FM about graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghdad. Listen again HERE.
Henny Beaumont teaches children how to draw!
Once you’ve mastered lions and tigers, head over to Henny’s YouTube channel to find more simple, free art tutorials.
Elleke Boehmer interview with Deborah Kalb
What additional themes do you see running through the collection?
Elleke: ‘As well as the themes of remoteness and encounter across distance I’ve already mentioned, and also of places and people eluding our expectations, a thread that runs throughout, perhaps it runs through much of my work, is the idea that the prizes we most fervently seek might be closer to home than we imagine: that thing about arriving where we began and knowing the place for the very first time…’
Deborah Kalb interviews Elleke Boehmer, author of To The Volcano and other stories. Read in full HERE.
VIVA Brighton on the Spotlight series
‘The series is dazzling. Such small books, making such noise… These collections have been sending ripples through the local literary scene.’
VIVA Brighton showcased the Spotlight series in their March 2020 issue. Read the full review by columnist Anna Burtt.
This is the first year I... Lucy Fry on motherhood for Metro
‘It might sound strange, but here it is: this is my third Mother’s Day as a parent, but it feels like my first one as a mother.
I haven’t felt able to fully inhabit, or celebrate, my motherhood until now, for many reasons. Firstly, like many first-time parents, it took me a while to get a handle on the job requirements, and to recognise my capabilities. Some of this was because it wasn’t me, but my wife, who was pregnant, nor was it me who birthed our child. I’d never wanted to carry a baby, nor to give birth to one, and my wife always had, so the decision about who would be his birth mother was made fairly easily.’
Read the full Metro article by Lucy Fry, author of Easier Ways to Say I Love You.
Henny Beaumont for The Author
A new look for the Spring 2020 issue of The Author, with cover and inside illustrations created by Henny Beaumont, author of Hole in the Heart. The issue also features an article by Sarah Lightman on illustrating motherhood. Buy your copy online via The Society of Authors online shop.
‘I wanted to produce a [cover] image that was a warning, but also hopeful. A celebration of creativity and the imagination in the face of the imminent catastrophe that climate change represents. I wanted to capture the threat we are facing and, at the same time, show that writers and artists have a role to play, that they can have a positive impact on the way we think about climate change, and that we can be inspired to alter our behaviour.’ Henny Beaumont
Spotlite Exclusive: Literandra talks to Margaret Busby
Literary icon – Margaret Busby – talks about her second and most recent anthology ‘New Daughters of Africa’. She tells us what motivated her to publish its predecessor (‘Daughters of Africa’) in 1992, as well as why she felt the time was right for a sequel in 2019. Watch here.
Hannah Vincent in Big Issue North
‘In She-Clown, her first collection of short stories, Hannah Vincent, award-winning playwright and author of Alarm Girl and The Weaning, presents a group of funny and fierce heroines trying to be themselves while clowning around for others. From the ordinary to the magical, Vincent’s entertaining stories are fresh, thoughtful and surprising.’
Hannah Vincent discusses her latest book with Antonia Charlesworth for Big Issue North – buy your copy from a vendor now.
2020 Mogford Prize, 'How to Boil an Egg'
Peter Adamson has been shortlisted for the 2020 Mogford Prize! Congratulations Peter. His short story, How to Boil an Egg, was chosen by judges Stephen Fry and Prue Leith.
The Mogford Prize, now in its 8th year, honours short stories which specifically relate to the subject of food, drink or both.
Peter’s latest novel, The Kennedy Moment, was published by Myriad in February 2018. He is currently writing a new novel set in Italy.
Hannah Berry, UK Comic Laureate on Sensible Footwear
‘The immediacy and intimacy that you get from reading a comic is unparalleled. A recent favourite of mine is Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth, which grants a vivid insight into life as a lesbian during the shifting socio-political climate in the UK since the 50s – a story both vital, angry and uplifting and somehow largely unreported.’
Hannah Berry, UK Comic Laureate, argues for comics and their ability to be complex and unique. Read the full article over on i News.
Books in the Media: We are Made of Earth by Panos Karnezis
Books in the Media feature We are Made of Earth by Panos Karnezis, awarding it 4/5 stars with reviews from the Irish Times, the Guardian and Daily Mail.
Books in the Media feature New Daughters of Africa
New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby was reviewed by The Bookseller, Financial Times and The Irish Times amongst many others, and was given a round up by Books in the Media, along with a 4/5 star rating.
West End Extra, the independent London Newspaper
Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa featured in West End Extra, with journalist John Gulliver speaking fondly of colleague Angela Cobbinah’s contribution. The feature included a photograph of Angela Cobbinah alongside Nah Dove, Harriet Evans and Shezan Renny at the Owl Bookshop in London.
Red magazine: '10 books by brilliant women around the world'
Red magazine picked Margaret Busby‘s New Daughters of Africa as one of their top 10 books by brilliant women around the world.
‘Subtitled “an international anthology of writing by women of African descent’, this collection gathers together women’s voices from Antigua to Zimbabwe as they share their experiences of sisterhood, race, gender and everything and anything in between. Some of our favourite writers like Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Malorie Blackman and Candice Carty-Williams are represented in this anthology which uses short stories, poetry, diaries and so much more to explore the rich history, culture and legacy of Africa on its daughters around the world.’
Glasgow Herald Graphic Content: Carol Isaacs
What, if anything, is the relationship between your music and comics?
The placement and shape of the panels provide a certain reading rhythm to the page. You might say the story arc is the melody and the panels are accompanying chords.
Isaacs talks to Glasgow Herald about her graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghdad, how music and comics complement each other and why she likes pictures without words.
Geoff Tily, Senior Economist at the Trade Union Congress
“Just finished this brilliant book: a chapter each on Rupert Murdoch, the Kochs and Jeff Bezos. Here, in a great panel from the end, Cunningham comes to the only possible conclusion…”
Geoff Tily, Senior Economist at the Trade Union Congress shares his appreciation over on Twitter for Darryl Cunningham‘s latest offering, Billionaires.
Interview with Elle magazine, Turkish Edition
Sohaila Abdulali is interviewed by Elle magazine to celebrate the publication of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Mundi (Turkish edition).
Sohaila Abdulali on Rosa Distrito
Paola Cortes delves into What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali for Rosa Distrito, highlighting her favourite passages.
‘Why don’t you talk about rape? Why not remove the taboo from the topic and finally accept that the violation continues due to the reluctance to speak clearly and clearly about it? Why the fear of authorities, teachers and parents to treat it?’
Read more HERE.
Nederlands Daglbad; Let's Talk About Rape
Ruth van der Kolk wrote an article for Nederlands Dagblad, focusing it on Sohaila Abdulali’s integral work towards influencing and challenging the way we discuss rape and sexual abuse. You can read it in full HERE. Sohaila’s book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape was published in 2018 and is available now.
BBC Radio 4: Andrea Levy
Speaking on condition that the recording would only be released after her death, Andrea Levy gave an in-depth interview to oral historian Sarah O’Reilly for the British Library’s Authors’ Lives project in 2014. Now available on BBC Radio 4, hear Levy’s changing attitude towards her history and her heritage and how it is intimately bound up with her writing. With extra commentary from Gary Younge, Baroness Lola Young, Louise Doughty, Helen Edmundson, Sarah Williams, Margaret Busby, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Catherine Hall and Andrea’s husband Bill Mayblin. Listen again HERE.
Andrea Levy features in New Daughters of Africa, a major collection of women writers of African descent, celebrating their contributions to literature and international culture.
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Iceland
Cynthia Enloe, research professor at Clark University in the United States, has been awarded an honorary doctoral degree at the University of Iceland’s Faculty of Languages and Cultures.
Her feminist teaching and research have explored the interplay of gendered politics in the national and international arenas, with special attention to how women’s labor is made cheap in globalized factories and how women’s emotional and physical labor has been used to support many governments’ war-waging policies—and how diverse women have tried to resist both of those efforts. Racial, class, ethnic and national identity dynamics, as well as ideas about femininities and masculinities, are common threads throughout her studies.
Cynthia Enloe’s most recent book is The Big Push: Exposing and Challenging the Persistence of Patriarchy, published by Myriad in October 2017.
Photograph by Kristinn Ingvarsson.
Shortlisted: Communication Arts Illustration Competition 2020
The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman has been shortlisted for the Communication Arts Illustration Competition 2020. Buy The Book of Sarah now.
59 Books to Watch Out For in 2020, The Irish Times
The Irish Times chose 59 books to watch out for in 2020 from independent publishers, including Mother: a Memoir by Nicholas Royle and The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs.
Read the article in full HERE.
The Arts Foundation Futures Awards 2020: Zara Slattery, shortlisted
The 2020 Arts Foundation’s Futures Awards announced Zara Slattery, author of upcoming graphic memoir, Comic Coma, as one of their four shortlisted artists within the comics category, alongside Esther McManus, Danny Noble and Jess Taylor.
Broken Frontier covered the awards with a lovely interview with each artist, online HERE.
ZARA SLATTERY: “I started as an illustrator who likes to tell stories. I’ve always experimented with visual storytelling, in the past combining live action and illustration for both live performances and character and story development. I started playing around with comics after joining a writing group and being introduced to some amazing comic books and artists. I love creating silent comics and very much like to process of writing as I draw, and weaving myself along a story. Equally I enjoy the structure of translating text, thumbnailing and researching. My themes vary from silly to serious; and tend to be on subjects of identity, art, culture, and graphic medicine. I share my work online, and my work-in-progress primarily on Instagram. Much of my work can be seen on my website and I have a poorly run Etsy shop.”
Book launch for The Wolf of Baghdad
Last week we celebrated the launch of The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs with a very merry party at The Cartoon Museum, London. Complete with oud player, middle eastern delicacies and very strong punch, the event was a wonderful meeting of friends, authors and family.
‘Stories like this deserve to be told and read, connecting us all with a recent past that’s so easily overlooked and at risk of being forgotten.’ Simon Chadwick, The Cartoonists’ Club
The Wolf of Baghdad is out now.
Photograph taken by Paul Dunne, The Comic Crush.
New Writing South interview with Spotlight author Elizabeth Ridout
New Writing South interviewed each Spotlight author about their relationship with the written word. Elizabeth Ridout is the author of Summon.
Is there a writer you particularly admire, and what about it is powerful to you?
I really love artists and writers who go out and disrupt and disturb the status quo. I’ve always really loved the idea that ‘art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable’, and most of the writers I particularly love do this with huge grace. I love Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith so much I have tattoos of them both. Kate Tempest, John Cooper Clarke, William Burroughs, the Beats, Carol Ann Duffy, Stevie Smith, Ginsberg, Ezra Pound, Rimbaud, Audre Lorde, Zadie Smith, Anne Sexton, Rumi, Genet. Shirley Jackson, Frieda Hughes, Leonora Carrington. To be honest, an awful lot of my inspiration comes from rock music and lyricists – I would like to be able to write the way Janis Joplin sings. Kate Bush, Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan. I am a Bowie obsessive – I have a Bowie tattoo as well! The most powerful thing in the world to me is the ability to express yourself without fear of judgement, and all these people have this in common in their writing and their personas.
Read the full interview HERE.
New Writing South Interview with Jacqueline Haskell
New Writing South interviewed each Spotlight author about their relationship with the written word. Jacqueline Haskell is author of Stroking Cerberus.
What are the challenges of your own life experiences, and do these present in your writing, as concerns, themes, ways of thinking about writing?
My own deafness and physical disabilities do have a practical impact on my writing – it is doubtful I would ever have been brave enough to give up the ‘day job’ in favour of writing if ill-health had not forced my hand! The enforced isolation of deafness intersects with the isolation experienced by many writers, in both positive and negative ways.
One of my first short stories was called ‘Songbird’, featuring a deaf protagonist living in Hong Kong, although this was more a metaphor for finding one’s true identity than exploring disability. My debut novel is set in a location known to attract those marginalised by society (a small island off the north-west coast of Africa).
But more than anything else, my writing comes from my unconscious, and I would not class myself as a writer setting out to discuss issues of disability per se. I see myself as being on the outside looking in, an observer of all life, and I believe this is an essential quality for successful writers, deaf and hearing.
I have always been a writer – aged 3 (well before my disabilities kicked in) my mother discovered me scribbling nonsense on her best writing paper: What are you doing? She exclaimed. I’m writing a book, was the reply.
Read the full interview HERE.
'Homesick for another land', Mark Reynolds interviews Carol Isaacs for Bookanista
Mark Reynolds interviews Carol Isaacs about family anecdotes, Jewish traditions and her childhood in London for Bookanista.
“I’ve got nothing to visit, really,” she tells me. “There’s no house, there’s no cemetery. Saddam Hussein bulldozed the major Jewish cemetery to build a highway in the 80s, so my grandparents’ grave will have gone, there’s nothing there. Some houses in the old Jewish Quarter are still standing, but in terrible disrepair. So I wouldn’t have anything tangible to go back to, but it would be more about a connection, returning the story back to its roots. And there is interest from some Iraqis, it would seem, about the history of their minorities. I’m not sure if now is the right time to go, again there’s a lot of upheaval and violence, but I do hope one day I will. My mother’s generation, her siblings, would say, what would we go back for? We were thrown out, we were ethnically cleansed from that country. The older ones who are no longer with us would say, ‘Well we enjoyed the good times, we got on with our neighbours and everything.’ A friend of my mother has gone back, and actually purchased a house in Erbil in Kurdistan. It’s more of a symbolic thing, but he travels quite a lot from here to Iraq. So I don’t know, time will tell on that one.”
Read the full interview HERE. Carol’s graphic memoir, The Wolf of Baghad, is out now.
'Sarah, Sarah, come out of the shadows', Kalina Kupzynska for Closure Journal
Kalina Kupczynska shares a detailed look at The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman in Closure, a German literary journal.
‘(Sarah Lightman) shares a sensitivity to the potential of the hybrid medium of comics for narrating mental states with comic book autobiographers such as Dominique Goblet, Birgit Weyhe and Regina Hofer; this sensitivity is what places The Book of Sarah alongside Goblet’s Faire semblant c’est mentir or Weyhe’s Ich weiss.
One can recognize leaps in time in the iridescent style of the drawings in The Book of Sarah; self-portraits mark the passing of time, where the text only vaguely indicates the temporal orientation. Text and image, although clearly related to each other, remain separate, panels and speech bubbles are not to be found. The pencil drawings, whose at times sketchy, at times extremely elaborate rugged materiality dominates the book, play a strong narrative role – they bear witness to stages in Sarah’s artistic development, marking the first-person perspective on relatives, books, places, herself. The handwritten reflections in first-person form bear witness to the search for self-knowledge, but this is only individualised by the tension created by the reference to drawings.
Graphic Memoir’ is an obvious genre ascription, especially because of Lightman’s recourse to the practice of diary writing. With its relentless introspection – intimate fears, longings, self-doubt are an integral part of the narrative – The Book of Sarah inscribes itself into the autobiographical strand of confessional writing.’
Read the article in full HERE.
Lizzie Ridout on Brighton Book Club Podcast
Have you listened to Brighton Book Club yet? The podcast delves into all things literary and it’s an absolute treat. Listen in as authors to share their favourite books, discuss their work and explore current goings-on within the publishing industry.
Poet Lizzie Ridout features on the inaugural episode alongside author Emma Jane Unsworth. Lizzie’s debut poetry collection, Summon, is out now.
Listen to Brighton Book Club Episode One HERE.
The Women's Atlas: For the Stats Nerd
Reading Women chose The Women’s Atlas by Joni Seager as the best book to gift stats nerds…
‘The Women’s Atlas by Joni Seager is the PERFECT gift for anyone in your life that loves all things stats, charts, and graphs. Each page features information on women from all across the world, formatted in a way that’s easy to understand. As a huge stats/graphs nerd myself (but who is also not scientifically inclined), I enjoyed looking through this book and sharing endless “Did you knows?” with my friends and family.’
Best Graphic Nonfiction 2019: Billionaires and Sensible Footwear
Billionaires by Darryl Cunningham and Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth have both won Best Graphic Nonfiction 2019 by Andy Oliver for Broken Frontier. The list includes Best Webcomic, Best Graphic Novel, Best Publisher and a handful more. Have a look through Andy’s top picks HERE.
Best of the Year 2019 according to Joe Gordon
Joe Gordon, reviewer extraordinaire, has selected Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth and Billionaires by Darryl Cunningham as two of the best books of 2019 for Woolamaloo Gazette.
On Billionaires: “Essential reading for our modern world, delivered in Darryl’s usual exemplary style which makes even the most complex ideas comprehensible. ”
On Sensible Footwear: “This is just a wonderfully warm graphic memoir, beautifully drawn, emotionally rich and left me with a huge smile on my face after I’d finished reading it. ”
Don’t miss the full list up on Woolamaloo Gazette.
The Heartsick Diaspora on Bookanista
Chinese Almanac, a short story from Elaine Chiew‘s debut short story collection, The Heartsick Diaspora, is available to read in full on Bookanista. The collection, published this month, has already been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize 2020, and will be launched at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road as part of their Chinese New Year celebrations.
The Heartsick Diaspora shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize 2020
One of Elaine Chiew’s unpublished short stories has been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize 2020.
To see the full list of finalists, head to the MMU website.
We are Made of Earth: Greece’s leading novelist explores refugee crisis
‘Panos Karnezis is possibly the leading Greek novelist of his generation, and one of Europe’s most distinguished storytellers.
In We are Made of Earth… he takes us, perhaps irresistibly, to the current refugee crisis and, although his location is dystopian, it can be readily imagined as a remote Greek island on which both the tragedy and the comedy of human weakness are acted out.’
Richard Pine reviews We are Made of Earth by Panos Karnezis for The Irish Times.
Cinnamon Literature Prize 2019
Jacqueline Haskell made the 2019 Cinnamon Literature Prize shortlist, with a sequence of poems from a collection she’s currently working on, entitled The Short Shelf Life of Hearts. This January we publish Jacqueline’s poetry collection, Stroking Cerberus: Poems from the Afterlife, as part of the Spotlight Books series.
Through the prism of Haskell’s identity as a deaf poet come the themes of communication—or miscommunication—across worlds, languages and between the living and the dead.
Mythical dogs, the dead who mourn the living, and the sorrow of those reincarnated, join hands around Jacqueline Haskell’s unique and very personal poetic Ouija board to resonate with the living, the dead and all those in-between. As forcible as they are humorous, these are poignant and thought-provoking poems.
'Annunciations and Pedalos', Studies in the Maternal Journal
Studies in the Maternal, an online literary journal, have published a piece by Sarah Lightman, titled Annunciations and Pedalos. Sarah describes a curated selection of drawings, and how having a child has changed her art.
‘In the painting, the Virgin Mary is happily reading but is then interrupted by the arrival of the Archangel Gabriel, who announces her pregnancy to her. Duccio frames Mary in this protected, quiet and calm space just as her world is about to be transformed. I wanted to focus on this moment of interruption, at a time when I was beginning to carve out a space for myself as an artist again. In my experience, maternal interruption was not just a momentary pause in autonomy, lasting the duration of pregnancy. For me, the interruption lasted about 3 years. I wanted to warn Mary that she might not have that quiet time again and that it might take years until she could read a book of her choice. Perhaps, like me, Mary’s only reading materials and reading time during this period might be the Thomas The Tank Engine series.’
See Sarah’s artwork and read the rest of her essay on the journal website HERE.
Broken Frontier: Exploring Sensible Footwear with Kate Charlesworth
Jenny Robins interviews Kate Charlesworth, comic artist behind the LGBTQIA+ must-read of 2019, Sensible Footwear.
BF: As someone that’s lived in London, grew up somewhat north of the capital and has also been long based in Scotland, how do the comic (and queer) scenes compare?
CHARLESWORTH: To be honest, a combination of decades working more or less in isolation, plus that generational thing hasn’t left me in the best place to properly comment. As a freelance cartoonist (and illustrator) I was on the indie fringes for years, and my involvement in comics has only increased over the last couple of decades. I know there’s a flourishing zine and comics scene here in Scotland, so I presume the same for London. And there’s LDComics, who are terrific, not women-only, and not just London-centric.
I was in Finland a few weeks ago at the Helsinki Comics Festival with Myriad’s Corinne Pearlman. We loved it, but we were both blown away by the vibrancy and quality of the indie zine scene there. So many young women involved, too.
BBC Radio 5 Live: Top Five Nonfiction Books
Bookstagrammer and judge of the recent Portico Prize, Simon Savidge shares his top five nonfiction reads with BBC Radio 5 Live, including Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth.
‘As well as being a memoir of her life, the book is also a document of what has happened in queer history. One little tidbit I got from the book was that Calamity Jane was an undercover queer classic! The book makes you think of things much more politically. I, as a member of the queer community, had forgotten just how recent all the changes are, good and bad, and it was really good to be reminded of that in a non-preachy way.’
The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2019 awarded to Lorna Goodison
Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet laureate and author of Redemption Ground, is the 2019 recipient of The Queen’s Medal for Poetry, following in the footsteps of Simon Armitage, John Betjeman and W H Auden.
“I am honoured and deeply grateful. As one of a generation of Commonwealth writers whose engagement with poetry began with a need to write ourselves and our people into English Literature, I feel blessed. And as a Jamaican poet who has always felt that my ancestors too are deserving of odes and praise songs, and who did not see them in what I was given to read, I am glad that I set out to write these poems.
“Love and justice, hope and possibility, healing and redemption are the themes I’ve always turned to, and that this enterprise has led to my being placed in the company of the memorable poets who have been awarded this medal before me is truly humbling.” Lorna Goodison
You can read Lorna’s essays and poems in her latest collection, Redemption Ground.
Pop Matters, Best Nonfiction Books of 2019
Pop Matters chose The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2019.
‘While the art world is full of excellent artists, few have the comics savvy to construct the sort of complex narratives and image-text relationships that Sarah Lightman achieves in her graphic memoir, The Book of Sarah.’
Read more on PopMatters.
Best Books of 2019 by Bookish Beck
Bookish Beck touts The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams as one of the Best Books of 2019.
‘Dr. Lois Pritchard works at a medical practice in small-town Wales and treats embarrassing ailments at a local genitourinary medicine clinic. The tone is wonderfully balanced: there are plenty of hilarious, somewhat raunchy scenes, but also a lot of heartfelt moments. The drawing style recalls Alison Bechdel’s.’
LoveReading's Debut of the Month
LoveReading chose The Heartsick Diaspora by Elaine Chiew as Debut of the Month. ‘Author Elaine Chiew was born in Malaysia, graduated from Stanford Law School and worked as a lawyer in New York before studying in London. She now lives in Singapore. Her writing ranges from thoughtful to provocative, pithy and vibrant observations bring these short stories to life. She has the ability to transfer emotions from the page, straight into my heart and mind.’
You can read their review of Elaine’s short story collection over on the LoveReading website. FULL REVIEW
Are polyamorous relationships the new dating norm in 2019? Lucy Fry for Stylist magazine
‘Can you be in love with more than one person at once? Polyamorous relationships are becoming the norm, with ‘thruple’ relationships showcased everywhere from 2017 hit film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women to Netflix’s The Politician. But what is it really like being polyamorous – and are there any pitfalls?’
Lucy Fry, author of Easier Ways to Say I Love You, investigates for Stylist magazine. Read in full HERE.
Brave New Words on Indian Cultural Forum
Excerpts from Bina Shah’s essay ‘The Life and Death of Pakistan’s Sabeen Mahmud’ and Tabish Khair’s ‘The Bravado of Books’ from Brave New Words: The Power of Writing Now both feature on the Indian Cultural Forum. Read in full now.
Susheila Nasta at Time for Unity Conference, Brighton
Susheila Nasta, editor of Brave New Words, was invited by Brighton Women’s Centre to take part in their first Time for Unity conference. Susheila featured on the Time for Gender Equality panel discussion alongside Helen Pankhurst, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Natasha Walter and Cash Carraway.
Elizabeth Haynes in conversation with Chris Wilson for Book Week Scotland
Watch again as Elizabeth Haynes chats with Chris Wilson about The Murder of Harriet Monckton. Arranged as part of Book Week Scotland, their conversation touches on Harriet and Elizabeth’s family links.
The Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award
Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award
Applications are now open for the the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award. It will pay for the recipient’s tuition fees and accommodation in central London, plus a food scholarship at International Student House. Applications must be in before 20 February 2020. A huge thank you to New Daughters of Africa contributors, SOAS and International Student House for making this possible.
Read more about the award and support with a donation HERE.
Lisa Blower talks to Robin Ince on Book Shambles
Lisa Blower had a chat with comedian and author, Robin Ince on his legendary podcast, Book Shambles. They discuss It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, Roald Dahl and how the political influences choosing what story to tell.
‘I shy away (from books about writing). I think they’re aids, but they’re not going to make you the writer you want to be, only you can be the writer you want to be. If you start thinking there are rules and boundaries, and that this idea is going to work, then this genesis is going to work, then you’re erring on the side of writing formulaically rather than listening to the writer inside of you.’
Listen again HERE.
Brave New Words and Blake Morrison in New Internationalist
‘‘Call yourself English?’ Yes and no. It’s the country to which I’m most attached, but at some point I dropped ‘English’ for the more inclusive ‘British’. Now it too is tainted, through adoption by the Far Right. I’d not go so far as to call myself Irish, though I do now have an Irish passport. I’m tempted to call myself ‘European’ but that only invites the response ‘Where in Europe?’ It’s natural to wonder where people come from but to ask is a loaded question. There are people living in the UK who fear they’ll be discriminated against if they admit to having begun life elsewhere, just as there are countries where – because of Empire, or complicity with the US, or bombs that have been dropped – it pays not to say you’re British.’
Blake Morrison’s essay from Brave New Words features in the Sept/Oct issue of New Internationalist. Read the full essay HERE.
Love Stories Set in Africa That You Need to Add to Your TBR by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
Sarah Ladipo Manyika shares her five favourite books of love, set in Africa, for Frolic. New Daughters of Africa is one of those five. ‘There’s a wide range of stories in this spectacular collection from 200 women writers of African descent and many of them are love stories. From romantic love to familial love to love of nation and love of self—there are many great stories to chose from.’
The Pod Delusion
Darryl Cunningham was invited to talk about his latest publication, Billionaires, on The Pod Delusion.
‘Jeff Bezos is worth $108 billion dollars. Imagine owning a billion. Imagine being able to buy central London and not scratch your fortune. Can they relate to us? The answer is no – how can they? Sealed off on their private islands and estates and massive New York penthouses… they don’t come into contact with us very much and their lives reflect that.’
Listen again HERE.
Brave New Words featured in The Irish Times
Susheila Nasta’s introduction to Brave New Words ran in The Irish Times, alongside a feature on the recent British Library festival; An Island Full of Voices: Writing Britain Now.
‘Today, the role of writers and of literature in asking questions and creating dialogues across often impassable barriers of prejudice and thought is not only vital but perhaps more urgent than ever. As wordsmiths, whose craft uses the very same instruments through which political power is most commonly exercised, writers and politicians may well as Salman Rushdie once put it be, “natural rivals”. Not only do they “create fictions” but also they make the world as they want to see it. As their words frequently complicate, challenge or deny “official” versions of truth, giving the lie to “official facts”, they are often, as Rushdie himself knew well, on dangerous ground.’
Read in full HERE.
BBC Radio 4 Open Book with Susheila Nasta
Listen again to Susheila Nasta on BBC Radio 4 Open Book with Mariella Frostrup, as they discuss Brave New Words; fifteen essays exploring literature.
‘There’s an element of transience with the world wide web… Marina Warner [in her Brave New Words essay] calls the web a ‘loom’, connecting cultures, but I think the material object is really important. Even the ads you might have in your pages, who’s reviewing who… when you see the whole thing rather than one bit you download, then you see a whole community and a collective of people who are reading, writing and speaking together.’
Ambitious about Autism and Charlotte Amelia Poe
Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for children and young people with autism. The team attended the launch for How To Be Autistic and were also able to interview Charlotte. Here’s an extract:
What is the one thing that you wish neurotypicals knew about autism?
I just wish they understood that we’re people, not stereotypes. I worry neurotypicals will read my book and think ‘ah, this is what an autistic person is like’, when in fact we are all so unique and individual – that’s what makes diagnosing autism so difficult, if we were all the same, people wouldn’t slip through the net so often! So, to summarise, I wish neurotypicals know about our individuality, and also our ability to, in the right circumstances, thrive and create great and exciting things.
Do you think the representation of autistic people in the media has gotten better or worse?
I worry, with the anti-vax movement ramping up lately, that we are still seen as an unfortunate side effect, and I still don’t see autistic characters that I can relate to personally. I was lucky enough to help out as script consultant on a short film which has just been entered into the BFI film festival called ‘Our Sister’, which features an autistic character, but her autism is not the overlying theme of the film, rather, she is autistic, and she is in the film. And the character is played by an actually autistic actress, which I think is brilliant. So, I think it’s a mixed bag. We need to break away from the stereotypical ‘all autistic people are young white boys’ narrative and start including people from all walks of life, because that’s what autism is, it doesn’t discriminate, and it can be anybody. And I’d really like to see that more often.
Read the interview in full on the Ambitious about Autism website.
Spectrum of Light - Charlotte Amelia Poe in the Big Issue North
If you recently bought a copy of the Big Issue North, you would have read Saskia Murphy’s article, Spectrum of Light, which featured Charlotte Amelia Poe and their nonfiction memoir, How To Be Autistic.
‘Charlotte Amelia Poe believes the stereotype of autism being typically associated with males may have prevented them from getting the support she needed.
“There’s a term called masking which is quite common in girls and people who are assigned female at birth, which means that with autism we are much better at blending into society because a quiet girl is not seen as something which is different or in any way remarkable, and a lot of our behaviours, such as being shy or bullied, can be seen as being difficult or being awkward. I just don’t think it’s looked for, and especially when I was at school it wasn’t really seen as a condition that all genders can have.”
Now, Poe is committed to challenging unhelpful stereotypes about autism and paving the way for autistic people to find and use their voice creatively.
“Autism can affect anyone, and I think we need more representation. I’d like to see more autistic characters in books, TV and film, but I want them to be written by autistic writers as well. A lot of people think they know what autism is like, so they don’t do the research and that’s where you get the stereotypes.”’
Gnash! Comics Book of the Month
Billionaires, the latest graphic expose by comic artist Darryl Cunningham is Gnash! Comics‘ Book of the Month! Buy your copy NOW.
Lesley at WEA Write Now masterclass weekend
Lesley teaches ‘How to Plot’ at the WEA Write Now masterclass weekend.
Intriguing The Guardian
Richard Brooks shares news of The Portico Prize longlist in The Guardian opinion section, along with his intrigue for one title in particular; Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth.
‘The Portico prize for literature, named after the 200-year-old subscription library in Manchester, has been awarded every other year since 1985, for books and/or authors that embody “the spirit of the North”. It’s back this year… and the judges have chosen a delightfully eclectic longlist. I am most intrigued by Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide. A book on sturdy shoes to counter that harsh northern weather? No, it’s a very personal story by Kate Charlesworth of LGBTQ history since the 1950s, and was recently reviewed by this paper as its graphic novel of the month.’
Sharing Black Stories to Celebrate Black History Month
‘As a black woman trying to find my own voice, [Margaret Busby] has been endlessly interested, supportive and enthusiastic about helping a generation like me find our place and our ability to make change through writing.’
To celebrate Black History Month, people used social media to those they felt deserved recognition. Writer Afua Hirsch also got involved with the campaign, choosing to champion Margaret Busby (editor of Daughters of Africa and, more recently, New Daughters of Africa, to which Afua contributed).
Read the full article in the Metro.
Bernardine Evaristo: 'These are unprecedented times for black female writers'
An extract of Bernardine Evaristo‘s essay from Brave New Words featured in The Guardian Review this weekend, claiming main spot. The essay queries what it means to be a black writer in this current period of ‘woke’ness, mentioning The Slumflour, Black Girl Festival, Gal-Dem, Jackie Kay, Chidera Eggerue and Otegha Uwagba, amongst many others.
‘The ripple effects of 2013’s #BlackLivesMatter moment, and the movement that followed, saw renewed interest in writings about race in the US, which spilled over into the UK. We are used to the spotlight on racism being beamed across the Atlantic while little attention is paid to the perniciousness of systemic racism in Britain, about which there is much denial.’ Read the full essay in Brave New Words, available now.
Bernardine is joint-winner of the Booker Prize for her novel Girl, Woman, Other. She also features in Margaret Busby’s anthology of Black women writers, New Daughters of Africa.
LoveReading Star Books
The Bead Collector by Sefi Atta was chosen by LoveReading as one of their 2019 Star Books.
‘Witty, profound and illuminating, this will surely see its acclaimed author receive many more accolades. This immersive novel serves up many insights into Lagos life and politics, and Remi is a riveting narrator. I came away feeling enlightened, and entertained by Remi’s wit.’ Joanna Owen for LoveReading.
Have a look at the other titles chosen HERE.
Turnaround Blog - What did you read during Black History Month?
What did you read to celebrate Black History Month? Turnaround featured a fantastic selection of books for those needing inspiration, including Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa. Black History Month might now be drawing to a close, but that’s no reason not to keep reading diverse and diasporic texts.
‘Following up her ground-breaking 1992 anthology that collected standout work from more than 200 women from the African Diaspora, Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa seeks to showcase the work of writers of African descent for a new generation. Bringing together voices around the world both new and historical, including Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith and Diane Abbott, it’s a mammoth tome containing fiction, poetry, essays, speeches and more. Each piece of writing speaks to black women’s experiences, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity. For a celebration of Black history and Black excellence not just this month but all year round, pick this one up.’ Read in full HERE.
Eithne Farry on short stories, Daily Mail
‘The characters in these beautifully crafted stories often find themselves out on a limb, heading into or out of situations that make them feel isolated or alone.’
Eithne Farry includes the atmospheric To The Volcano by Elleke Boehmer in a review of short story collections for the Daily Mail. Read the article in full HERE.
Jackie Kay selects Britain's 10 best BAME writers
The future is complex; the future is hybrid. These 10 voices make me feel hopeful about our future and give me back some of my past.’ Jackie Kay selects Britain’s 10 best BAME writers for The Guardian. The 10th spot goes to Olumide Popoola, contributor to both New Daughters of Africa and Brave New Words.
‘Olumide Popoola’s elegant and lyrical prose is instantly engaging. Her complex work captures the atmosphere and the tempo of the racial tension in King’s Cross. She is fascinated with the spaces in between culture and form, and she is adept at moving between Nigeria, Germany and the UK.’
Read the list in full HERE.
Bernardine Evaristo is joint-winner of the Booker Prize
Bernardine Evaristo, contributor to New Daughters of Africa and Brave New Words, is joint-winner of the Booker Prize with her novel Girl, Woman, Other.
Bernardine shares the win with Margaret Atwood. When receiving the award, said she hoped her win will bring about change, with more black writers winning the award in the future.
“It’s so incredible to share this with Margaret Atwood, who’s such a legend and so generous,” she said.
“A lot of people say, ‘I never thought it would happen to me’, and I will say I am the first black woman to win this prize, and I hope that honour doesn’t last too long. I hope other people come forward now.”
Read about the prize over on the BBC website. You can buy copies of New Daughters of Africa and Brave New Words on the Myriad website now.
Myriad's Short Story Literary Salon, featuring Lisa Blower and Hannah Vincent
Our September Myriad Literary Salon focused on the short story and featured Lisa Blower, author of It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, and Hannah Vincent, author of Alarm Girl and soon-to-be-published short story collection, She-Clown.
New Writing South spoke about their recent LGBTQIA+ festival, The Coast is Queer, and invited emerging author Danny Brunton to read an extract from his memoir. Publicist Emma Dowson also attended, sharing useful insights into promoting your work.
The salon was photographed by Lisa Lee. To see more pictures, head to our Facebook page.
The Lady Doctor, Sussex Life 'Must Read'
The October issue of Sussex Life chooses The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams as a ‘must read’. Buy the graphic novel HERE.
Audio book of North Facing by Tony Peake now available
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that you can now sit back and listen to North Facing by Tony Peake, narrated by Jon Cartwright. The audio book has been released on Apple Books, Rakuten Overdrive, Libro.fm and Hoopla Digital. Click on each to find the book. Happy listening!
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb
Deborah Kalb interviews Peter Adamson about his latest novel, The Kennedy Moment.
Q: How did your own background at UNICEF affect the writing of the novel? Did you need to do any additional research?
A: I drew heavily on my years working with UNICEF. But I also did a great deal of additional research, particularly on the possibilities and the dangers of a return of smallpox – the biggest killer disease in history and still today the most dangerous bio-terrorism threat that could possibly be imagined.
Several senior colleagues in the medical world warned me to be careful researching into this topic because security services around the world would be monitoring on-line research on the smallpox threat as a possible indication of bio-terrorist activity. So far so good. No drones have appeared and I don’t think I’m being followed.
Read in full HERE.
Oxford Brookes University's Pauline Brandt in conversation with Margaret Busby
In this short film, News and Media Relations Officer Pauline Brandt explores Margaret’s personal and professional insights from the 1960s to the present and links to MA Creative Writing at Brookes. Watch here.
How The Stories Of Black Women In The UK Are Being Reclaimed by Paula Akpan
‘Looking to the future, Busby believes that not only is it important to have black women writing corrective histories but also to have them in positions where they’re able to publish said histories. “I’m often in spaces where people think it’s more important to be a writer over a publisher but who is going to tell these stories? Who is going to make these stories and histories a priority if we’re relying on white gatekeepers to let them through the door? We need writers, publishers, editors and more. We need to participate in every sphere and be part of the process in every sense so that we can enable other people to pass on those histories.”‘
Paula Akpan, columnist and co-founder of Black Girls Fest quotes Margaret Busby in an article on the stories and experiences of black women in the UK for Refinery29. Read in full HERE.
We Are Made of Earth by Panos Karnezis review – a spellbinding refugee’s tale
‘Exploring sin, guilt and atonement, this dazzling study of displaced lives has the moral complexity of the greatest novellas.’
We Are Made of Earth by Panos Karnezis receives huge praise in a review by Stevie Davies this week in The Guardian. Read in full HERE.
The Heartsick Diaspora in The Bookseller
The October issue of The Bookseller previewed The Heartsick Diaspora by Elaine Chiew within the new literary fiction section, citing Monica Ali’s quote that the upcoming collection is ‘full of verve and wit’.
Houston Jaipur Literature Festival, Tribune India
The Tribune India on Houston and Colorado Jaipur Literature Festivals. Both festivals featured author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, Sohaila Abdulali, as guest speaker.
“JLF brings together speakers from the Occident and the Orient. We discuss and debate issues that may emerge from the primary theme of the book and place these issues within the context of local, national, and international perspectives,” Sanjoy Roy, festival producer.
Both U.S. Jaipur Literature Festivals follow the main literary event which took part this January in India, at which Sohaila also spoke.
In Conversation with Sohaila Abdulali for Jaipur Bites
Listen to Sohaila Abdulali, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, in conversation with writer/host Lakshya Datt. On this episode of the Jaipur Lit Festival Podcast, Sohaila shares what it’s been like to share her book with people around the world, and what stories readers have shared with her along the way. Sohaila was guest speaker at both JLF Houston and JLF Colorado. LISTEN IN FULL HERE.
The Journey of Lucy Fry with Residence 11
Lucy Fry talks to Residence 11 about her upcoming memoir, Easier Ways To Love You, in which she openly discusses the affair she embarked on while her partner was pregnant with their first child.
‘I just wish that I’d had someone I could speak to, to give me a realistic view of what life for the long term partner is like, and how difficult it can be.
Early on in our relationship, we talked about separating for a bit so that I could have a chance to explore my sexuality—having only ever been with one woman really. I was too frightened of losing B. and all her support and all her love to do that.
I wish that we’d had the courage to do that before we have a child. I wish that we had been slower on the relationship escalator—to trust that we would have been okay.’
Read the interview in full HERE.
Autistic Insights with The Autism Page
‘One thing I wish neurotypical parents of autistic children knew is that you are your child’s first and most important ally. It’s going to be really hard at times, and you’ll have to fight tooth and nail, and sometimes you’ll work so hard to get help and end up back where you started, but if you keep fighting (and it can be a lifelong fight), your child will always view you as the person they can trust the most, the person who stood up for them when nobody else did. ‘
Charlotte Amelia Poe, author of How To Be Autistic was asked for advice to share with parents of autistic children. The Autism Page asked several autistic authors and bloggers to take part – the insights offered are varied and incredibly supportive. To read them, click HERE.
It's Gone Dark Over Bill's Mother's in Stylist Magazine
It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s by Lisa Blower was spotted in the latest issue of Stylist Magazine, in an article on Work Life by Literary Scout Kate Loftus O’Brien. Get your copy of Lisa’s short story collection HERE.
We are Made of Earth on Bookanista
‘The boy was not heavy but it was still hard to swim with the extra weight. He let go of him again and tried to climb on to the upturned dinghy, but he could not; nor did he manage to push the boy on it.’
A mesmerising extract from We are Made of Earth, the latest novel by Panos Karnezis, featured recently on Bookanista. Click HERE to read.
The Portico Prize Longlist
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth has just been longlisted for The Portico Prize. Described as ‘the Booker of the North’ The Portico Prize celebrates titles that best evoke the spirit of the North of England. Congratulations, Kate!
The Lounge Chair Interview: 10 Questions with Elaine Chiew
Tell us about your most recent book or writing project. What were you trying to say or achieve with it?
My short story collection, The Heartsick Diaspora, draws upon my experiences of being part of the Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese diasporas in the cities I’ve lived in, mainly New York City, London, Singapore. Even saying this, frankly, stumps me with an oceanic wave of imposter syndrome. I feel I know Malaysia less than Singapore, and Singapore less than the U.K.
Read Kitaab’s interview with Elaine Chiew HERE.
'I'm autistic, but I'm not an inspiration — I still struggle with everything'
Charlotte Amelia Poe, author of the wonderfully honest and enlightening memoir, How To Be Autistic, is interviewed by Luke Blackall for the Independent.
‘This is a tale both powerful and enraging: the pain and confusion of school followed by a listless, isolated twenties. Poe lives at home with her parents and her sister’s family, and describes her young nephew and niece as her best friends. Her parents and siblings – particularly her mother Philippa, who spent years searching for answers about her daughter – emerge from the book as quiet heroes. Poe wasn’t diagnosed with autism until she was 21, long after a diagnosis might have helped her through the education system. The condition is traditionally perceived as affecting males, but diagnoses among women and girls are rising. The National Autistic Society estimates the present ratio of men to women with autism is 3:1.’
Charlotte Amelia Poe on BBC Radio London with Jo Good
Charlotte discusses their book, How To Be Autistic, with Jo Good for BBC Radio London. Listen again to their conversation on BBC Sounds HERE.
Charlotte Amelia Poe book launch
Charlotte Amelia Poe - Turnaround Interview
Charlotte Amelia Poe was interviewed by Turnaround to celebrate the release of their nonfiction account of autism; How To Be Autistic.
If there’s one thing you could have readers take away from this book, what would it be?
I think empathy, and the ability to understand autism more complexly. There’s no one way to be autistic, and the title kind of plays on that, it’s not a how-to guide, because there is no how-to guide. I wanted to explain that autistic people are just like ‘everyone else’, we’re utterly unique and often the only thing we have in common is our autism, oh, and the trauma we experience as a result of that, at times.
New Daughters of Africa at Somerset House Exhibition
Somerset House invited contributors to the New Daughters of Africa anthology to their current exhibition celebrating the past 50 years of Black creativity; Get Up, Stand Up Now! The evening featured Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yemisi Aribisala, Yaba Badoe, Jacqueline Bishop, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Anni Domingo, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Bridget Minamore and Margaret Busby in conversation and reading from their own work, as well as the work of others in the anthology.
Picture taken by Lisa Lee.
New Daughters of Africa at Open Book Festival in Cape Town
New Daughters of Africa in Poets & Writers Magazine
New Daughters of Africa featured in the latest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine—a U.S. publication by the nation’s largest nonprofit organisation serving creative writers.
Winner of the Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose and Shortlisted for the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize
Author Elleke Boehmer has won the Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose, for her novel Shouting in the Dark. She has also been shortlisted for the Elizabeth Jolley Prize for her short story Supermarket Love, which features in To The Volcano (published by Myriad in October 2019).
British Book Design and Production Awards: Shortlisted
We’re thrilled to announce that Myriad graphic novelists Sarah Lightman and Olivier Kugler have been shortlisted in the British Book Design and Production Awards for their respective graphic nonfiction publications, The Book of Sarah and Escaping Wars and Waves.
BBC News: Charlotte Amelia Poe is here to start an autistic revolution
BBC Online News invited Charlotte Amelia Poe to discuss How To Be Autistic. “I hope to … create a discussion and a movement that allows for autistic people to be seen as equal and vital members of their communities, and as the unique and varied individuals they are.”
Hailed as 'Favourite Comic Right Now' by comic royalty...
Comic royalty, Bryan and Mary Talbot, chose Sensible Footwear when asked by Down the Tubes about their favourite comic right now. ‘Both Mary and I have absolutely no hesitation in nominating Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth’.
You heard them, time to get your copy!
New Daughters of Africa at Edinburgh International Book Festival
Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa, was invited to Edinburgh International Book Festival, alongside authors Namwali Serpell, Leila Aboulela, Candice Carty-Williams and Bernardine Evaristo, to discuss and read from the anthology. The women paid tribute to author Toni Morrison, who contributed to the first Daughters of Africa anthology, twenty five years ago. The event was part of the Telling Her Story series of events, celebrating ‘bold, defiant, revolutionary women’.
Paule Marshall and Toni Morrison tribute by Edwidge Danticat for The New Yorker
‘I love both women and was blessed to have spent some time in each of their company. Before I ever saw them in the flesh, I was in awe of their words.’
Author and contributor to New Daughters of Africa, Edwidge Danticat, writes a heartfelt tribute article for Daughters of Africa contributors and iconic black authors, Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall, for The New Yorker.
Read the full piece HERE.
Brave New Words: The Bookseller Previews
Brave New Words, edited by Susheila Nasta, features in The Bookseller previews for August 2019. ‘The impressive roster of contributors, including Bernardine Evaristo, James Kelman and Romesh Gunesekera, explore the role of “brave new words” in the battle against limitations in the fundamental rights of citizens, the closure of borders, fake news, and an increasing reluctance to engage with critical democratic debate. Bravo.’
The Observer Graphic Novel of the Month
Rachel Cooke reviews Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth for The Observer.
‘Though Charlesworth seemingly leaves no stone unturned, from Tom Robinson to Brookside, from the Lesbian Avengers to Douglas Byng (whom she draws on an old cigarette card), her capacious book never feels wearying; it is an amazing, joyous panorama to which I could never do justice in a short review. Let me, then, just say this. Sensible Footwear is an instant classic: up there with Bryan Talbot’s Alice in Sunderland when it comes to pageant, and with Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home when it comes to pathos.’
New Daughters of Africa launches in Johannesburg
New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 women writers in Africa and its diaspora previously launched in the U.K. in March and at the Uganda International Writers Conference in May. This month, a particularly apt one as August in South Africa is designated as “Women’s Month,” the anthology launched in Johannesburg. James Murua shares photographs from the launch on his literature blog, which you can see HERE.
Reporting, Illustrated
‘Despite the immediacy of its impact, comics journalism is a slow form. Immensely labour-intensive, it demands of its practitioners extended attention and a careful eye. In this way, it offers an antidote to the churn of the news cycle, inviting us to take a closer look at the pressing matters of our time.’ Laura Thorne looks at graphic reportage for Columbia Journalism Review, including Olivier Kugler (author of Escaping Wars and Waves) in her list of contemporary graphic reporters.
Lotte Likes Books Summer Book Stack
Lotte Likes Books selects The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes to feature in her Summer book stack. The books chosen center on women’s experiences, their relationships with their bodies and with each other.
Margaret Busby on BBC Radio 4: Last Words
Margaret Busby featured on various news reports last week, celebrating revered author Toni Morrison who died on the 5th August 2019. Toni featured in Daughters of Africa, the first anthology edited by Margaret, which she followed with New Daughters of Africa this year. You can hear Margaret talking on BBC Radio 4: Last Words HERE.
Sefi Atta at the Owl Bookshop
To celebrate the publication of The Bead Collector alongside the UK publication of classic Everything Good Will Come, author Sefi Atta was invited to talk at the wonderful Owl Bookshop in London. Sefi Atta is also a contributor to New Daughters of Africa, the anthology of African women writers edited by Margaret Busby. Photographs by Lisa Lee can be viewed over on our Facebook page.
Kate Charlesworth's post-launch party
Sensible Footwear post-Cartoon Museum launch party in London, hosted by the terrific Corinne Pearlman. An LGBTQI+ graphic memoir and absolutely amazing achievement of illustration and research, Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth is out now and definitely not one to miss. Photographs of the evening taken by Lisa Lee – peruse them all over on our Facebook page.
Kate Charlesworth at Glasgow Women's Library
To celebrate the launch of Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, Kate Charlesworth had not just one but two fantastic launches. The first was at The Cartoon Museum in London, followed swiftly by a day event at Glasgow Women’s Library, pictured here.
Photographs by Becky Male. To see more, head to our Facebook page.
Toni Morrison
Nobel-prize winning author Toni Morrison has died at the age of 88. She was the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, awarded in 1993. Margaret Busby talks to ITV news about the writer, who paved the way for women writers everywhere. Watch HERE.
Kate Charlesworth's new graphic memoir in Page 45 Comic & Graphic Novel Reviews August 2019
Page 45 herald Sensible Footwear Kate Charlesworth an absolute hit. “FEMINISM IS THE RADICAL IDEA THAT WOMEN ARE PEOPLE”
What a superbly structured, brilliant but biting history and vital entertainment this is!
Shoes! Shoes! Sensible shoes!
You are hereby ever so warmly invited to walk a mile or twenty-six in somebody else’s – Kate Charlesworth’s and the growing LGBT+ community’s – in a personal insight, education and entertainment spanning 70 years from the 1950s onwards!
All education should be an entertainment and this one comes vibrant in colour, comedy and variety without a po face in sight:
“Yes, Cinders!” it proudly proclaims on its title page, “You shall go to the Rugmunchers’ Ball!”
It is laugh! It’s a riot! It is a genuine milestone. Read the full write-up HERE.
Daughters of Toni: A Remembrance by Zadie Smith for Pen America
Author Zadie Smith, contributor to New Daughters of Africa, reflects on the life and influence of Toni Morrison as part of PEN America’s tribute to the late Nobel laureate.
‘In 1992, my mother’s close friend, the Ghanaian born, legendary Black-British publisher Margaret Busby, published the first volume of Daughters of Africa, in which Morrison was of course included, alongside more than two hundred contributors. Its title came from the words of Maria W. Stewart, the first African-American woman to give public lectures: “O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.” A year after that, Morrison won the Nobel Prize. A year after that, I went to university to embark on a course of English Literature which included not a single daughter of Africa nor any sons either. Change was a long time coming, but Morrison stayed out front, leading us into the future, like a pilot light.’
Read in full HERE.
The Bead Collector in The Bookseller
The Bookseller featured The Bead Collector, a tale of international espionage and family life by Nigerian prize-winning author Sefi Atta in their list of August Season Highlights.
SOAS Honorary Doctorate for Margaret Busby
SOAS University of London has awarded an honorary doctorate to Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa.
Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS, called Margaret a pioneer and innovator who has ‘sought to bring about change in the world’.
SOAS is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.
BBC Radio Scotland: The Afternoon Show with Kate Charlesworth
Kate Charlesworth was invited on to BBC Radio Scotland: The Afternoon Show to talk about her new graphic memoir, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide with radio host, Janice Forsyth.
Listen again HERE.
The Artful: Queer Rights and Kate Charlesworth
‘Kate Charlesworth’s new book, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, has become “urgent”, as the prologue explains, because of the current rise of intolerance that is threatening the civil and human rights of historically marginalised groups. Charlesworth’s ethos is that we all deserve to know our history, and that without that knowledge we remain vulnerable to such histories repeating themselves.’
Brought to you via the team behind Ink Mag, The Artful #1: New Beginnings issue features an interview with Kate as well as an essay on queer rights, using Sensible Footwear as a jumping board into a discussion about sexuality, gender and injustice.
To receive The Artful newsletters, head to their website.
Waterstones Holiday Reads: The Murder of Harriet Monckton
The Murder of Harriet Monckton by crime author Elizabeth Haynes has been chosen by Waterstones as one of their Summer Reads for 2019. ‘Whilst the plotting is immensely skilful and the tension expertly exploited, it is the subtle gender politics and rounded characterisation that marks The Murder of Harriet Monckton out as a truly superior crime novel.’
Click HERE to see the list in full.
Best African Books of 2019, African Arguments
‘It has been a long time since a book created the kind of buzz and excitement which has surrounded New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent.’ New Daughters of Africa features on a list of The Best African Books of 2019 by Samira Sawlani for African Arguments.
No.1 on Good Reads Nonfiction 2019 list
What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali features on an impressive Good Reads Nonfiction 2019 list, taking the number 1 spot out of a total of 290 books. See the full list HERE.
Longlisted: HWA Crown Awards 2019
We’re thrilled that The Murder of Harriet Monckton, Elizabeth Haynes’s historical crime novel, has been longlisted for the prestigious HWA Crown Awards for best historical novel. Elizabeth’s previous crime novels have won the CWA John Creasey Dagger, Amazon Rising Stars, Waverton Good Read Award and the People’s Book Prize for Fiction.
See the full HWA Crown longlist HERE.
Cartoonist Kate Charlesworth on gay and lesbian life since the 1950's
‘Kate Charlesworth is one of the nation’s finest cartoonists. Over the years she has created comic strips for everyone from City Limits to Gay News, the Pink Paper to the Guardian and New Scientist. She has also spent the last four years working on her latest book, Sensible Footwear, a wonderfully colourful and candid book, full of Charlesworth’s crisp, clean, simple lines and her nuanced vision of human complexity.’ Teddy Jamieson interviews Kate for the Herald Scotland. Read the article in full HERE.
Comic of the Week on Broken Frontier
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth was chosen as Comic of the Week on Broken Frontier, with Andy Oliver calling it ‘undoubtedly one of the most crucial graphic memoirs of the year’. Read the piece in full HERE.
Kate Charlesworth in DIVA Magazine
‘Not since Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home has there been such an important graphic memoir. A striking achievement in comic form, Sensible Footwear should be on everyone’s bookshelves’.
DIVA, Europe’s leading magazine for lesbian and bi women, dedicates three pages of their August 2019 issue to comic artist Kate Charlesworth and her newly-published graphic history of LGBTQI+ life from the 1950’s to the present day. Sensible Footwear also receives huge praise in a review by Erica Gillingham (pg 50). Buy the August issue NOW.
Highly Commended—BMA Medical Book Awards
Olivier Kugler’s graphic nonfiction account of Syrian Refugees, Escaping Wars and Waves, has highly commended by the BMA Medical Awards in the Health and Social Care category. The book, made to show an honest and unbiased account of refugee camps and the families living with in them, has already been shortlisted for the AOI World Illustration Awards 2019 and the Broken Frontier Best Nonfiction Graphic Novel Award 2018 and won the Jury Prize for the Europen Design Awards 2018, the Coup de Coeur Médecins Sans Frontières prize and the Prix du Carnet de Voyage International. Congratulations, Olivier!
Dazed Digital with Catriona Morton
Sohaila Abdulali was recently invited to discuss sexual assault with Catriona Morton, writer and sexual assault survivor, on BBC Radio 5. In this article, Dazed the value of creating platforms which support survivors, offering safe and encouraging spaces to talk about sexual abuse and how Catriona’s new podcast, After: Surviving Sexual Assault has created just that. The article highlights Sohaila’s book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape to underline the value of conversation.
Sohaila Abdulali in Conversation with Marcella van der Kruk
Author Sohaila Abdulali talks to Marcella van der Kruk from Atlas Contact, Dutch publishers of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape. Listen to their conversation HERE.
Elaine Chiew discussing Urban Collages at STPI Gallery
In conjunction with Manuel Ocampo’s “Ideological Mash-Up/Remix”, STPI Gallery held a panel discussion involving Fyerool Darma, Vikas Kailankaje; author Elaine Chiew. The dialogue was moderated by Melanie Pocock, Assistant Curator, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (ICA), LASALLE College of the Arts. Listen to the entire discussion HERE.
Sefi Atta on BBC Radio: Focus on Africa
Nigerian author and playwright, Sefi Atta was a past winner of BBC African Performance awards with “The Engagement” and “Makinwa’s”. Her latest novel The Bead Collector is set in Lagos in the late 1970s – a period of political turmoil. She tells BBC Focus on Africa of the stories behind the novel, and how her passion for African history and politics colours her writing. Listen HERE.
The Times 100 Best Books for Summer 2019
The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes features in this year’s 100 Best Books for Summer by The Times. Read the full list HERE.
Sohaila Abdulali and Cynthia Enloe on BBC Radio 5
Authors Sohaila Abdulali, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, and Cynthia Enloe, The Big Push, are joined by Jane Thurlow and Catriona Morton to discuss sexual assault on BBC Radio 5. Listen HERE.
‘Rather than focussing on making women more brave to speak out we need to focus on what the rest of us are doing to make it so difficult to speak out. The moment a woman speaks out about being raped, or a man or a boy, the focus is on them and half the time you forget to talk about the fact that there’s a criminal out there who did this.’ Sohaila Abdulali
‘It’s not only the assaulters who should be accountable. Complicit are all the enablers: people who make it hard to report, people who give a culture of disbelief to prosecutors who only want to win their cases they don’t want to actually believe victims unless they think they can win the case.’ Cynthia Enloe
‘Sohaila’s book is absolutely amazing, unlike anything I’ve ever read before… I would urge everybody to read it. It’s about feminism and women’s place in society, not only about rape.’ Jane Thurlow
Sohaila Abdulali at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road
Sohaila Abdulali recently toured her book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, to the Netherlands and the UK for a set of talks and signings. We’re grateful to photographer Lisa Lee for taking photographs at Sohaila’s event at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road, where she was in conversation with author and founder of Clear Lines Festival, Winnie M. Li.
Africa Writes at the British Library
The Africa Writes inaugural Lifetime Achievement in African Literature award was presented to Margaret Busby. The award was presented to Busby by writer Ade Solanke and Diane Abbott MP as part of the festival headline event celebrating the anthology New Daughters of Africa. (Image of author and New Daughters of Africa contributor Bernardine Evaristo with Margaret Busby at Africa Writes, British Library).
New Daughters of Africa at Africa Writes Bristol
Africa Writes Bristol was an amazing weekend of ideas, books, conversation and laughter. New Daughters of Africa contributors joined editor Margaret Busby to discuss the anthology. (L-R) Margaret Busby, Namwali Serpell, Leone Ross and Sharmaine Lovegrove at Africa Writes Bristol, June 2019.
Sohaila Abdulali on Channel 4 News Live
Sohaila Abdulali was invited to talk with social affairs editor Jackie Long live on Channel 4 News. They touch on victim blaming, speaking out and how our attitude to rape is changing. Watch in full HERE.
Mambo Magazine: 5 Books to Read This Summer
New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 African women contributors has been chosen by Mambo magazine as one of the top 5 books to read this summer.
Pronatalism and (M)otherhood in Paula Knight's The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life by Paula Knight is the focus of this paper by Sathyaraj Venkatesan and Chinmay Murali for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. The paper discusses how the pluripotent space of the comics medium allows the author to arraign the ideology of pronatalism as an oppressive force that mediates her lived experience of infertility. It also examines the socially constructed and gendered nature of motherhood as it unfolds in Knight’s narrative. Buy and read online HERE.
Lisa Blower in The Simple Things Magazine
Lisa Blower, author of It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s was invited to write a short-story for The Simple Things magazine. Read The Voyagers in the July issue, available now!
Reading Matters with Sue Grant Marshall
Sue Grant Marshall reviews North Facing by Tony Peake on Radio Today. ‘This is the power of Tony Peake’s writing… it’s just heartbreaking… it’s so shocking… when the book ends you’re absolutely hanging on every word on the last pages. You don’t want it to end.’ Listen to the full show HERE (35.40 mins in).
North Facing on The Reading List
North Facing by Tony Peake was featured on The Reading List, a celebrated and much-revered book blog based in South Africa. The feature also includes an extract of North Facing. Read in full HERE.
Viva The Lady Doctor
Viva Brighton ran a double-spread feature on Ian Williams, his new graphic novel The Lady Doctor and the recent Graphic Medicine Conference, which took place in Brighton this weekend. Read in full HERE.
Comics Beat Interview: Graphic Medicine gets a clean bill of health from founder Ian Williams
Doctor and graphic novelist Ian Williams talks to Comics Beat about Graphic Medicine, the upcoming conference in Brighton and why comics are such a vital tool in supporting new ways of learning. Read the full interview HERE.
Do you have any sense of why the combination of medical topics and comics work so well together and why people appreciate it so much?
I guess loads of people like comics and you could argue that culture in general is becoming more visual and with comics having become a more respected form of art and literature over the last 20 years, I guess people are starting to look in that direction. And maybe because they’ve read comics when they were younger, it gives them a thrill to rediscover comics. People seem to just get really excited about the idea of using comics in healthcare or using comics as a therapeutic intervention.
As we’ve gained ground and it’s been taken up at an institutional level people have suddenly started to take it seriously. And thank god, graphic medicine has become a thing. Now you get loads of people saying, “oh, this is cool, I’ve just written a paper about something and I’d like to turn it into a comic book,” a lot of, which is really not suitable but people like the idea, they see it as being cool, I suppose. Also at the same time, big institutions like the Wellcome Trust in the UK and big research institutions have used comics in public engagement. So people see that and start to get it.
Hay Festival 2019
Henny Beaumont, author of Hole in the Heart, was artist in residence at Hay Festival Wales 2019, capturing events and atmosphere over the final weekend. Here is her sketch of the wonderful Margaret Busby in conversation with New Daughters of Africa contributor, Bernardine Evaristo. You can see all of Henny’s sketches over on the Hay Festival Facebook page HERE.
Top 10 Releases of 2019 by Bookish Beck
The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams is chosen by Bookish Beck as one of her ‘Top 10 Releases of 2019’. Read her review HERE.
Myriad authors awarded at the Royal Society of Literature summer party
The Royal Society of Literature elected 45 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows last week at the annual RSL summer party.
New Daughters of Africa contributors Catherine Johnson and Dorothea Smartt were elected as Fellows alongside To The Volcano author Elleke Boehmer, while New Daughters of Africa contributor Ellah Wakatama Allfrey and Brave New Words editor Susheila Nasta were elected as Honorary Fellows.
Susheila was also awarded the prestigious Benson Medal, for exceptional contributions to the advancement of literature.
Click HERE to read The Bookseller’s write up of the event.
Royal Society of Literature Award for Susheila Nasta
Professor Susheila Nasta from Queen Mary University of London and editor of Brave New Words has been awarded the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) for her services to literature. She received the medal from President, Marina Warner, at a special award ceremony held in London.
The Benson Medal was founded in 1916 by A.C. Benson, scholar, author and RSL Fellow, ‘in respect of meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles lettres’. The medal honours a whole career rather than a single work, has been awarded several times to writers in other languages, and is often awarded those who are not writers, but who have done conspicuous service to literature.
In addition to being the sole recipient of the 2019 Benson Medal, Professor Nasta was also elected as an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).
“I am so proud to have been selected as the recipient of the Medal and as an Honorary Fellow. Both are huge honours, especially as this recognition comes from my peers,” said Professor Nasta.
“I am delighted too that over the past 35 years Wasafiri has been able to build an international community and nourish the work of so many distinguished writers from around the world,” she added.
Lavender Menace Returns at Lighthouse, Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop
As part of Pride Week celebrations, Kate Charlesworth visited Lighthouse – Edinburgh’s radical bookshop to celebrate their Lavender Menace pop-up. Kate shared her soon-to-be-published memoir, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide—the first graphic history documenting lesbian life from 20150 to the present day. The event sold out and the bookshop was packed to the rafters. To see where Kate will be taking Sensible Footwear next, head to our events page.
Get Up, Stand Up Now Podcast by Somerset House
Margaret Busby takes part in the Get Up, Stand Up Now podcast by Somerset House, a ‘crafted sound odyssey over five episodes, guided by the voices of Black creative pioneers’, part of the Get Up, Stand Up Now exhibition at Somerset House.
The exhibition will run from 12th June – 15th September, you can book tickets HERE.
New Daughters at Bernie Grant Arts Centre
The event was part of BGAC’s Windrush festival and the contributors joining Margaret Busby on stage all shared a Caribbean heritage: Candice Carty-Williams, Dorothea Smartt, Zadie Smith and Andrea Stuart. The chair was contributor Adeola Solanke.
Stonewall 50 Exhibition at Europe House
To commemorate Stonewall 50, Europe House are hosting an exhibition of art taken from Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate Charlesworth. The opening night has been hailed as ‘marvellous, brilliantly attending and fantastic things said.’ If you want to see all 34 pieces of Kate’s work then head over to Europe House sharpish. Kate can be seen here (second from left) alongside Myriad’s Corinne Pearlman (far right).
Africa Writes at the British Museum
Africa Writes heads to the British Museum from the 5th July – 7th July, with New Daughters of Africa as the headline event. The Bookseller covers the festival in their latest newsletter.
New Daughters of Africa on PassBlue
PassBlue, an independent, women-led journalism site, shares excerpts from New Daughters of Africa and discusses the writers who were involved in the publication.
‘The writers in the anthology are often the children of African independence, and they remain placed in their land and deep generational cultures.’ Read more here.
The Book of Sarah in Glasgow Herald
Sarah Lightman discusses The Book of Sarah with Teddy Jamieson from Glasgow Herald. Read in full HERE.
‘It’s a very open, candid take on your own life and thought. How easy was it to put it down on the page?
I felt this very strong need to tell my story. It was almost an unbearable need. And I only felt a release when the words that circled my head were finally written down. Sometimes these phrases were like buzzing bees in my consciousness. Now they are on the page and it is such a relief to see and hear my thoughts and feelings in the world.
I also knew that if I made art then people would stop, see and listen. Perhaps I now understand my need to be heard was exactly what I felt my parents and family never did. They couldn’t hear my voice above their own needs and anxieties, or the background noise of the family home. But on the page I could write and draw as I wanted. I could be heard and hear myself.’
How To Be Autistic in The Bookseller
How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe makes The Bookseller’s preview list for upcoming nonfiction titles. ‘This sassy, honest and enlightening memoir is a very personal account of autism, mental illness, gender and sexual identity. Poe also works with video and won the inaugural Spectrum Art prize in 2018 with their work,”How To Be Autistic”.
2019 Queer Lit Preview with Turnaround
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide previews on Turnaround’s blog as one of the top 2019 Queer Lit titles set to knock your socks off this year. ‘The curtains of lesbian history from the 1950s to the present day are opened by celebrated cartoonist Kate Charlesworth, with a little help from Gilbert and Sullivan and a side of Nancy Spain. Sensible Footwear is a glorious political and personal history that gives Pride a run for its money; but, like Pride, it wears its heart at the centre, making the invisible visible, and celebrating lesbian lives from the domestic to the diva.’
SABC Morning Live featuring Tony Peake
Tony Peake is currently on a book tour around South Africa, with North Facing receiving a fabulous amount of attention. Watch as Tony is interviewed live on SABC Morning Live discussing his reasons for writing the novel.
'Feminism in India and China' with Sohaila Abdulali at Adelaide Festival
A newly released recording of Sohaila Abdulali & Leta Hong Fincher with chair Natasha Cica at Adelaide Festival, March 2019 discussing Feminism in India and China. Listen in full HERE.
‘I was really terrified of making light of it. I wrote a little chapter called ‘a brief pause for horror’, to remind everyone that it’s horrible. I have five brief pauses in the book: horror, fury, terror, ennui and confusion. That fulfilled the purpose of telling the story in all its complexity but bringing it down so we can talk about it without being overwhelmed.’
'How to deal with a rape survivor without worsening the trauma' by Agencia Patricia Galvao
‘In an interview with VEJA, Sohaila Abdulali described the situation as a rape of Bollywood (a kind of Hollywood in India), with violence, aggressive men and death threats. But, on a daily basis, the most common cases are those caused by partners. “I do not believe all men are capable of raping. For soldiers, who use abuse as a war crime, it can be part of a function. In a relationship, it can be part of the dynamic, the will to have sex. What I know is that it’s a choice. It is not something natural, it is not something that men can not avoid, as if it were a biological impulse. They can avoid yes. They can control themselves, ” she said.’
Read more on their website.
'8 Quotes by Muslim Writers That Have Bolstered My Feminism' on Book Riot
Dee Dag shares 8 feminist quotes by Muslim writers which she has collected over the years for Book Riot. She includes an extract of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali.
“Who gets raped? Who do we think gets raped? Are girls who can shit and vomit on command immune? What about sex workers? Even if we acknowledge that anyone can be raped, who deserves to be raped? When are we willing to call it rape? At what point do you lose sympathy of your peers? When you’ve drunk too much, when you’ve had sex with x number of men in the past, when you’re just not a nice person? … Maybe acknowledging that all sorts of women get raped by all sorts of men messes too much with the comfortable narrative that says only good girls get raped. Oh, but it also says good girls don’t get raped. Both these things can’t be true, and sex workers aren’t good girls, so how can they be raped, and if they’re raped, they’re human and hurt, and we can’t have that. So let’s just shut our eyes and maybe the whole confusing thing will go away.”
The Lady Doctor – Ian Williams’ Tale of Rural Practice is All the More Affecting for the Fragile Humanity it Encapsulates
Andy Oliver of Broken Frontier shares The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams.
‘The Lady Doctor is a book of self-discovery as Lois comes to terms not just with who she is and who she has become but with the forces that shaped her too. There’s also an underlying anger here as well, though, as the strains of life on the GP frontlines are portrayed with a raw honesty and the spectre of the gradual destruction of the NHS looms large throughout. Social commentary is an integral part of Williams’ work, effectively wrapped up here in the trappings of everyday, slice-of-life storytelling.’
Read in full HERE.
New Daughters of Africa in The Sunday Times South Africa
New Daughters of Africa features in The Sunday Times South Africa.
‘New Daughters of Africa addresses obstacles faced by black women writers. Custom, tradition, friendships, sisterhood, romance, sexuality, intersectional feminism, the politics of gender, identity and more are explored in this collection of work from over 200 writers.’
New Daughters of Africa in the The Times Literary Supplement
New Daughters of Africa received high accolades and front page treatment in The Times Literary Supplement.
‘This remarkable book constitutes a powerful affirmation of literary achievement, demonstrating that contemporary black women writers are part of a vital and extensive tradition. Just as significantly, the anthology brings these works into dialogue with one another, becoming a potent assertion of a collective identity that transcends political, religious, linguistic, regional and generational boundaries… The book’s structure also helps the reader to discern subtle shifts in the way certain themes are represented over time… New Daughters of Africa demonstrates that this work does not exist in a vacuum. Black women writers have always had something significant to say to the world and to each other.’
Tony Peake in Franschhoek
Author Tony Peake is at Franschhoek Literary Festival discussing North Facing. Pictured here with Samantha Smirin, author of Life Interrupted: A Bipolar Memoir.
Broken Frontier Book of the Week
Broken Frontier have chosen The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman as Book of the Week!
‘Sarah Lightman’s long-anticipated project is here and it’s been well worth the wait. Lightman is, of course, the co-founder of the vitally important LDComics and a former Broken Frontier Awards nominee for Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews.
Exploring the complexities of families, feminism, Judaism, motherhood and art this genuinely distinctive graphic narrative provides a fresh approach to autobio comics in a book that is deeply personal but always relatable. Look for a full review at Broken Frontier in the not too distant future.’
Lisa Blower on Night Owls Radio
Listen to Lisa Blower, author of It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s as she talks to Alan Robson on Night Owls radio.
Taken by Force. Sohaila Abdulali for Brandeis Magazine
Brandeis Magazine feature What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali, including an abridged excerpt from the book in which Sohaila questions how we heal from rape, and if a world without rape possible.
George Padmore Newsletter
The George Padmore Institute newsletter celebrates the hugely successful launch of New Daughters of Africa, edited by close friend Margaret Busby.
The George Padmore Institute, based in London, is an archive, educational resource and research centre housing materials relating to the black community of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe.
Sarah Lightman on Bookanista
Bookanista feature Sarah Lightman and The Book of Sarah, complete with insides from the book.
‘The Book of Sarah is a project that has covered thousands of pages of diary drawings, from hundreds of sketchbooks, beginning in 1998. These drawings chart my childhood and sibling rivalries, schooldays and intense religious orthodoxy when I studied in Jerusalem, my years at art school, a failed relationship in New York, my marriage and most recently the birth of my son. The Book of Sarah is also a feminist reparative act. My namesake, The Matriarch Sarah in Genesis, is frequently portrayed as lacking her own agency, and slips in and out of her husband Abraham’s story. I, however, am the heroine of this Book of Sarah. Furthermore, as I am commentating on my own narrative, my own book of the bible, I am in sharp opposition to Jewish traditional texts that propose an almost exclusively male intellectual heritage.’
Bustle
Bustle features New Daughters of Africa in their curated list of new books coming out in May 2019.
HYPEBAE 10 Books to Add to Your Summer 2019 Reading List
Ready to be overwhelmed in the very best way? All curated, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, this collection of work across a wide-range of genres gives us a window into the extraordinary lives of excellent women.
New Daughters of Africa features in HYPEBAE’s 10 books to add to your summer 2019 reading list.
Kerry Hudson: books that show real working-class life for The Guardian
‘Recently I’ve also discovered Lisa Blower’s short story-collection It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, in which her hometown Stoke-on-Trent is the setting that binds together different narrative forms and a fearsome array of matriarchs. (Lisa Blower’s writing is)… firmly rooted in her lived experience, but transcends all the limitations and preconceptions surrounding work from communities seldom represented on the page.’ Read Kerry’s article in full HERE.
Sarah Lightman on Resonance FM
‘Sarah Lightman traces her journey from modern Jewish orthodoxy to a feminist Judaism as she searches between the complex layers of family and family history. Jude Cowan Montague offers reflections on inheriting her name from the literally apocryphal Book of Judith. Plus music from Jewish Manchester, London and beyond. Listen in full on Resonance FM HERE.
Book of the Week - Greenwich Book Festival
New Daughters of Africa is Book of the Week at Greenwich Book Festival! Catch Margaret Busby, Malorie Blackman, Bridget Minamore and Diana Evans at Greenwich Book Festival on the 15th June. More Information HERE
Ian Williams, My Life in Books for Sussex Life
Ian Williams shares all sorts of book-related tidbits in ‘My Life in Books’, which features in Sussex Life, June 2019. Click on image to read in full.
The book that inspired me as a teenager…
‘Primo Levi’s The Wrench, although I’m not sure it inspired me in the right way. It’s about an itinerant rigger (an engineer who erects oil derricks and the like) who’s constantly on the move and loves and leaves. He’s a restless libertine and loner. I have finally – in my early 50s – had a child and got married. Enough said.’
What happened to Britain's black avant-garde fiction writers?
‘Why did it take me so long to learn of Margaret Busby, who became the first black woman and youngest publisher in Britain, and whose recent New Daughters of Africa shows black women writers in Britain well before the arrival of the Windrush generation.’
Shola von Reinhold discusses the black writers and creatives who existed in the artistic folds of Britain but whose history wasn’t shared alongside more well-known artists because of the colour of their skin. Shola explores the role Margaret played as the first black woman publisher in Britain, whilst also highlighting other publishers and artists working to promote and celebrate black authors and artists in Britain today. Read the article in full over on the Independent website.
The Female Edit: Alt Africa Review feature New Daughters of Africa
New Daughters of Africa editor Margaret Busby and contributors Adeola Solanke, Candace Allen, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Carmen Harris, Yemisi Aribisala, Anni Domingo feature in the Spring 2019 issue of Alt A Review, which you can buy HERE.
Sefi Atta in The Bookseller
The Bead Collector by Sefi Atta features in the latest issue of The Bookseller.
Turnaround Graphic Novel of the Month
The Book of Sarah is Turnaround’s ‘Graphic Novel of the Month’.
‘Each drawing is annotated by Lightman’s own observations, together forming a tapestry of her life from a young girl in Hampstead to present day motherhood. Poetically poignant contemplations that, much like the book’s biblical namesake, can be drawn wisdom and opened on any page. A beautiful, resonant, gallery of a graphic memoir.’
Read the review in full HERE.
PSA Annual International Conference 2019
‘One of the most seemingly intractable formulas for dismissing patriarchal behaviour is the facile assertion that “Boys will be boys.”‘ Author Cynthia Enloe discusses this damaging phrase at the PSA Annual International Conference 2019 in Nottingham, UK.
Call Them Feminist Press - Celebrating African Women in Literature
‘In this essay, I turn my thoughts away from arresting visual art to focus on a landmark union: Margaret Busby OBE with Candida Lacey of Myriad Editions and 200+ women from Africa and her Diasporas. It is a great literary assembly put together for the purpose of reconstructing perceptions about Africa and her women; celebrating African women in literature and showcasing the dazzling range of their work…’
A fantastic essay on African Women in Literature and New Daughters of Africa by literary journalist and publicist Olatoun Gabi-Williams on the Borders Literature Online website.
A Life Transcending Boarders: Africa Writes
Africa Writes delves into the life of Margaret Busby, discussing her epic contribution to the representation of black women in publishing. ‘By vocalising the narratives of the marginalised, Margaret Busby has expanded the possibility of learning, and has ultimately opened the door for dialogue to occur.’
Read the article in full HERE.
A Pear in a Tin of Peaches by Lisa Blower for Common People
‘A stunning collection that I can’t recommend highly enough!’
Lisa Blower features in a new collection of essays, poems and memoirs centred around the subject of working-class, titled Common People. The collection has been edited by Kit de Waal, author of My Name is Leon and The Trick To Time.
Read Bookish Chat’s review of Common People HERE.
Olivier Kugler Shortlisted - AOI World Illustration Awards 2019
Olivier Kugler has just been shortlisted for the AOI World Illustration Awards 2019, with illustrations from Escaping Wars and Waves: Encounters with Syrian Refugees.
‘To produce drawings combined with text that document the circumstances of Syrian refugees I met in Iraqi Kurdistan, Greece, France, England and Germany. The work is supposed to help raise awareness and to act as a platform for the people I encountered, on which they can share their experiences with a wider audience.’ See Olivier’s work over on the AOI website.
Yes! Magazine
Yes! Magazine featured an excerpt from What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali on their website. Have a read HERE.
Interview with Mariella Frostrup on Open Book BBC Radio 4
Lisa Blower discusses what working-class means and how it is portrayed in literature with Mariella Frostrup on BBC Radio 4 Open Book.
‘I am working-class, I was brought up working-class, and the values, beliefs and principles I was brought up with are still with me today. Whether or not that filters into my fiction is entirely a different argument for me, but I still feel working-class, and a loyalty to where I grew up and the people I grew up with.’
Listen again HERE.
New Daughters of Africa head to Charleston Festival
The Sussex Express features New Daughters of Africa in the run up to Charleston Festival, where Margaret Busby, Diana Evans and Bonnie Greer will be discussing the book on May 22nd at 3pm. Tickets are now available via the Charleston Festival website. Read the full article here.
Stoke on Trent Live Features Lisa Blower
Lisa Blower shares the personal stories that helped pave the way for It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s. “They’re mostly stories about women but I remember growing up with a lot of women around me. I was surrounded by chattering matriarchs who were always telling stories and gossiping. The women of that time didn’t think they were doing anything interesting or significant or contributing to history, but of course they were.
“I remember telling my nan that I’d like to write her life history and she said whatever for as she hadn’t done anything. Those women were accepting rather than expecting. They worked their whole lives, they made armaments during the war – but they didn’t think they’d done anything interesting.”
Read the full article here.
Olatoun Gabi-Williams for The Guardian Arts
‘At once a war-front, a home-front and a sanctuary for our souls, the page is where Africa’s literary daughters wield our pens like swords to stake our claim to a true feminism whose power, urgency and truth can be found only at gender’s intersections: colonialism, race, culture, class, sexuality, history and nation.’ A fabulous article in The Guardian Arts by Olatoun Gabi-Williams, discussing Margaret Busby, Myriad Editions and New Daughters of Africa. Read in full here.
Of Africa and of India by Marina Salandy-Brown
‘Margaret Busby has returned with New Daughters of Africa to showcase a younger generation of writers, some of whom the literary establishment has yet to recognize adequately, but it also includes superstars like Edwidge Danticat of Haiti, Nigerian, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith (UK) and recently deceased Andrea Levy (UK). Caribbean writers are well represented by the likes of Karen Lord, Claudia Rankine, Lisa Allen Agostini, Malorie Blackman, Nalo Hopkinson, and others, some of whom will join Busby at this year’s festival.’
Marina Salandy-Brown discusses the importance of the title on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
Interview with Mariella Frostrup on Open Book BBC Radio 4
Mariella Frostrup introduces Manu Joseph’s ‘most all-encompassing novel yet, a startlingly angry portrait of contemporary India… [It is] a romping satirical thriller that recognises no sacred cows but scorches a path through the corridors of political power…Laila is a wonderful creation. She spirited, clever, funny, industrious…’
You can listen again here.
Bookanista features Oceans of Stories by Lisa Blower
Bookanista featured Oceans of Stories by Lisa Blower to celebrate the publication date of Lisa’s first collection of short stories; It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s. Head over to the Bookanista website to read in full.
Publication Celebration: Commemorative Mug
To celebrate the publication of the astoundingly good It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s by Lisa Blower, we’re giving away a copy of the book plus a beautiful commemorative mug (toast & jam not included)!
To enter, head over to the Myriad Twitter page, RT the pinned post, tag a short story loving friend, follow Myriad and Lisa Blower. This competition is UK only and it ends on the 25th! Head over to our Twitter profile for more information.
Trinidad Daily Express
Recently published New Daughters of Africa features in an article by Professor Selwyn Cudjoe for the Trinidad Daily Express. He says of Margaret Busby, editor of the book, ‘She remains a prolific African griot who is always doing book reviews and radio programs, writing articles and obituaries, and acting as a one-woman repository of black people’s writing.’
Read the article in full here.
Respect the Woman Who Speaks Out - Sohaila Abdulali on BDC News
Sohaila Abdulali on BDC News: ‘Let’s get real – I have yet to see a single woman anywhere actually gain anything by pointing the finger at a rapist or harasser. So let us accord women speaking out about sexual abuse at least the respect of not starting with the fear that they are out to get men. Historically, in every culture, there is one group that has consistendly lied about rape: Rapists.’ Read in full here.
All About Women Festival, featuring Sohaila Abdulali
Sudha Kumar reports from the All About Women Festival at Sydney Opera House, featuring Sohaila Abdulali, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape.
‘What #MeToo has done is crumbled the walls that made sexual harassment of all kinds taboo. Today it is acceptable to talk about it. You are listened to. There is engagement.’ Read more here.
The New Press Author Spotlight: Sohaila Abdulali
Sohaila Abdulali is author of the moment on The New Press, featuring in their Author Spotlight.
‘I’ve told stories both of people who have found forgiveness, and of people who carry rage like a hot stone in their chests. Funnily enough, I’m not sure there’s always a tension between the two. If the ultimate aim is to find peace for yourself, then both revenge and mercy are tools you have. Use whatever works. I’m not advocating going out and creating mayhem, but healthy anger is no bad thing.’
Read the entire interview over on The New Press website.
Books in the Media features New Daughters of Africa
Books in the Media featured New Daughters of Africa this month, thanks to fabulous reviews by The Irish Times, The Financial Times and The Bookseller. Read all mentioned reviews here.
New Daughters of Africa: amplifying black women's voices The Voice Online
‘It’s fitting that New Daughters of Africa was launched in March, because there is an undeniable feeling around the book that history is in fact being made.
The anthology, the brainchild of Margaret Busby, brings together 200 black female writers from across the diaspora. It’s less of a follow up from the first, more of a wonderful and exciting child that’s a testament to the impact of the previous publication of its kind by the writer.
Speaking to Life & Style about the need for the book now, Busby said: “There are so many writers who need to have a light shone on their work, that’s why.’
Alannah Francis for The Voice Online. Read in full here.
Big Issue North Author Q&A: Lisa Blower
Lisa Blower is the author of choice in the latest Big Issue North. Read online here or buy a copy from a local vendor in the North West, Yorkshire or Humber.
‘It’s imperative that the industry opens its doors more to the regional voice, to stories of place and the class subject when we are so culturally diverse, because there’s never been a more vital time to represent the stories that would otherwise not be told.’
It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s is published this month – preorder your copy here.
Has #metoo made a difference? All About Women 2019
More than a year in, #metoo has held some powerful men to account. But has it gone far enough, and what are the next steps? Explore how the #metoo movement must evolve to represent women worldwide. This particular discussion from All About Women 2019 features Michelle Obama’s former Chief of Staff Tina Tchen, New York Times journalist Emily Steel and author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape Sohaila Abdulali. With Lenore Taylor of Guardian Australia they reflect on the wins of the movement so far and how to create longlasting change.
Financial Times highlights New Daughters of Africa
Imani Perry, professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, praises New Daughters of Africa in the Financial Times.
‘I have found myself returning to a phrase of one of the writers in the anthology who was new to me. In her 1993 essay “The Autobiography of an Idea”, Arthenia Bates Millican wrote: “I have kissed the darkness hello. And as I move, I search through that darkness for the most brilliant fight.” This is the calling, and the beauty, of both the old and the new daughters of Africa.’
Short stories to read now...
The amazing It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s by Lisa Blower was reviewed by Eithne Farry for the Daily Mail. It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s is published on the 11th April. Buy it now.
Graphic Novels That Will Diagnose Your Disease by The New York Times
The Lady Doctor (Myriad, 2019) reviewed by Hillary Chute for The New York Times. ‘What makes this book fascinating is its sensitive portrayal of Lois’s interactions with a range of patients. In recurrent, wordless pages throughout, with his clean and fluid black line art, Williams illustrates the rhythm of Lois’s professional routine through whom and what she encounters: an assortment of faces, body parts and affects streaming by in an even staccato.
A Shrill Reading List on Rakuten Overdrive
Rakuten Overdrive recommends What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape in a new reading list. Read the full list here.
Sohaila Abdulali: Consent and Power
Sohaila Abdulali in conversation with Jane Gilmore at the Wheeler Centre for their #MeToo, Year Two Festival.
International Women's Day: Belonging with Umi and Ruth
Authors Ruth Figgest and Umi Sinha joined for an author talk at this year’s International Women’s Day event at Brighton Dome. They discussed topics which featured across their writing; feeling disconnected from the land you live and family relationships. They also answered audience questions about the publishing industry and working as writers. The talk was enigmatic and both authors were captivating.
The day was a total hit and featured a wonderful array of supportive charities, organisations and advocates for women’s rights. Over 3000 people attended the event, The Feminist Bookshop had a huge pop-up shop and graphic novelists Hannah Eaton and Ottilie Hainsworth were graphic reporters for the event, drawing scenes from various workshops for all to see in the Founder’s Room. We were incredibly proud to be part of such a brilliant event and thank Brighton Women’s Centre for organising it.
Head over to our Facebook page to view an album of photographs and video’s taken during Ruth and Umi’s talk and the day in general.
Graphic Reportage at International Women's Day
Artists and graphic novelists Ottilie Hainsworth and Hannah Eaton became graphic reporters at this year’s International Women’s Day event at Brighton Dome, running from one event to the next to capture as many as possible in artistic glory. They set up in the Founder’s Room with a dedicated artist space, allowing for those attending to take part and draw/write answers to a variety of tailor-written questions regarding wants, wishes and worries surrounding womanhood, then showcased their sketches from each event on a selection of easels.
The day was a total hit and featured a wonderful array of supportive charities, organisations and advocates for women’s rights. Over 3000 people attended the event, The Feminist Bookshop had a huge pop-up shop and Myriad authors Ruth Figgest and Umi Sinha featured in an author talk on belonging. We were incredibly proud to be part of such a brilliant event and thank Brighton Women’s Centre for organising it.
Head over to our Facebook page to view an album of photographs and video’s taken of Hannah and Ottilie’s work.
Jewish Book Week featuring The Book of Sarah
Sarah Lightman with a tantalising pre-publication copy of The Book of Sarah at Jewish Book Week, at which she spoke.
The Sydney Morning Herald: Twelve lessons learned at the 2019 All About Women festival
The Sunday Morning Herald shares insights from All About Women Festival, held at Sydney Opera House, in which author Sohaila Abdulali featured.
The #MeToo movement exposed hundreds of predators, but the exposition of sexual harassment, assault, and misconduct isn’t enough. In the #MeToo: Year Two discussion, author Sohaila Abdulali said: “It’s fantastic to have the conversation, but the old systems which allowed the abuse are still there.”
Indian Link feature Sohaila Abdulali's event at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
“What are we talking about, with rape?” Abdulali asked. “We’re talking about an entire culture of a way that men treat women, and then we all treat each other.”
Rape will continue as long as we are, as she so nicely put it, “mesmerised by patriarchy.”
“You could go out and be marching in the streets and demonstrating against rape, but if you come in and you give your son the first helping, it’s cancelling everything you’ve done.”
Aparna Ananthuni reports back after watching Sohaila at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre. Read the entire article on the Indian Link website.
'Leave no one behind': five things we learned at All About Women
It’s time to include men in the MeToo movement. This was one of the conclusions journalists Emily Steel, Sohaila Abdulali and lawyer Tina Tchen reached as they discussed the next phase of the feminist movement at All About Women last week.
When asked by an audience member about how to counsel men who want to be involved but who were concerned about doing the wrong thing, Tchen acknowledged it was an uncomfortable transition but an important one.
“We are changing very deeply held societal norms about how men and women interact in the workplace and that is to the good,” she said, “but we (as advocates) have to create spaces where men can be part of the conversations. We are not going to solve this without men as allies, without men engaged, and there are many men who want to be part of this conversation.”
Tchen said it was important to help men to engage with this movement productively. “We have to be patient and not jump down the throats of someone who says something in not exactly the right way.”
The panel agreed the backlash was already happening, with Tchen pointing to comments from speaker Anthony Robbins in April 2018 about male employers shying away from hiring attractive women and instead opting for less qualified men. According to Tchen, its about seeing workplace culture as a whole, rather than separating the issues of sexual harassment, diversity inclusion and pay equity.
Steel said the most important thing was to listen to women’s stories. “For so long, we’ve heard these statistics and knew the numbers, but we weren’t really listening to the stories behind that and that’s something that once it’s out of the box, you can’t put back in.”
However, Abdulali cautioned against too much tiptoeing around men. “[This idea of ] men worrying about how they should behave – they should worry!” she said to thunderous applause from the audience. “We worry forever about how we behave, and the men who I’ve talked to who are worried are the ones who should behave … Let’s be real about backlash.”
Read the full write up on the All About Women Festival on The Guardian website.
The Guardian - All About Women Festival, Sydney
‘Indian women were dressing up and fighting wars hundreds of years before there were any suffragettes,’ says Sohaila Abdulali, author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape. Backstage at the All About Women festival held in Sydney in March, Guardian Australia posed the same question to Abdulali and three other diverse women: what do outsiders get wrong about your experience of feminism? For Leta Hong Fincher, an expert in China’s emerging feminist movement, it’s that a movement exists there at all. Watch a highlights video here.
Angela Cobbinah and New Daughters of Africa in the Camden New Journal
Camden New Journal reported from the SOAS launch for New Daughters of Africa.‘
‘A raw and touching little memoir of the childhood years of Angela Cobbinah, a regular contributor to the New Journal – and its co-founder in 1982 – has been chosen in a prestigious anthology of the writings of women of African descent, edited by the illustrious publisher Margaret Busby.’
‘It tells of her early years – often puzzling and painful – as the only black child in a Cornish village where she lived with her mother, a Hungarian refugee who had become the local midwife – her father had returned to his native country, Ghana.’
‘Her name sits among such household literary names as Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Adichie, Andrea Levy and Marion Blackman but also many unknowns. Typical of Angela’s writings, her 3,000-word memoir displays a candour and insightfulness that beautifully illustrates a maturing mind caught up in an atmosphere of prejudice and ignorance.’
Read more here.
Vast and Nuanced Collection - The Irish Times featured New Daughters of Africa and loved it
New Daughters of Africa received huge praise in this review of the anthology by The Irish Times.
‘Some of the short stories will make you hold your breath… The result is a necessary wealth of work – a welcome addition to any book shelf and a compulsory education for anyone unaware of the countless gifted African women journalists, essayists, poets and speakers who should influence how we see the world. Sometimes you need an anthology to remind you of the variety, strength and nuance of writing among a certain region or group of people. New Daughters of Africa is indispensable because African voices have been silenced or diminished throughout history, and women’s voices even more so.’
BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour
Margaret Bubsby was invited onto Woman’s Hour last week to discuss New Daughters of Africa with Jenni Murray. Listen in full online now.
Turnaround Book of the Month
‘New Daughters of Africa, compiled by Margaret Busby in a gargantuan editorial feat, showcases the creativity and achievements of contributors including Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith, and Diane Abbott. It is a behemoth of thought and reflection, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity – individually, and at large.’
New Daughters of Africa was chosen by Turnaround as Book of the Month.
Rage, Rape and Revolution at Adelaide Writers' Week
‘Women’s anger – and the potential to harness its power to bring about societal change – was the focus of last night’s topical Zeitgeist series session Rage, Rape and Revolution at Adelaide Writers’ Week.’
In Daily: Adelaide’s Independent News discusses a group discussion Sohaila was involved in at the writers’ festival in Adelaide. Read their write-up here.
The Guardian: Meet the New Daughters of Africa
‘The book reveals works in progress, identities in transition, shapeshifting sensibilities, a delicious mash-up of expectations. Who knew that Nadifa Mohamed, one of Granta’s best young British novelists in 2013, was also a fine poet? The chef Zoe Adjonyoh, from whom cookery writing might have been expected, delivers a memoir of her father that is indeed “A Beautiful Story”. Contributors are drawn to write about countries not theirs by birth: a Zimbabwean shines light on Antigua, Ghana has an impact on a writer from Trinidad.’
‘The aspirational mantra of inclusivity and diversity is increasingly routine, fashionable even, in today’s publishing industry, but lasting change has yet to be achieved. Verna Wilkins, founder of the children’s imprint Tamarind Books, explains in her essay that she began hands-on work creating books in diverse classrooms in the belief that the process must start with children: “They should see themselves as the authors, editors, designers, illustrators and publishers of the future.”’
Margaret Busby wrote an amazing article for The Guardian about New Daughters of Africa. Read it in full here.
10 Books by Brilliant Women Around the World by Red Magazine
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Red magazine chose 10 books by women authors. New Daughters of Africa was one of those spotlighted – check out the entire list here.
The Jester
Ian featured in The Jester, March 2019.
The Saturday Paper Sohaila on survival
“When I started writing this book,
nobody was talking about rape. And even in
that short time, people are now starting to want to speak about their experiences and
understand them. That people want to
understand and talk about it – makes me feel
hopeful. There’s a lot in the world to feel
hopeless about too, but there’s still hope.”
Sohaila was interviewed by Marieke Hardy for The Saturday Paper. Read in full by clicking here.
Sohaila in the Guardian
‘I know rape is entrenched, quotidian, epidemic. I know many people are clueless, malign, brutal. I know all this because I have seen all this. I see the trolls on Twitter, and roll my eyes at the newspaper headlines unable to sing a different tune, that insist on making me a sad downtrodden victim. But I also see some other things, things that would not have been possible when I wrote my first piece: My 80-year-old uncles and aunts showing up at my book launch radiating support and love, after almost four decades of not saying a word about the subject. My mother’s driver, hearing about my book, casually asking, “Have you mentioned your own rape?” The woman in Mumbai who wept while asking what to do about her father who loves her but is smothering her for her own protection. The hundreds of people in Jaipur who broke into spontaneous applause when I talked about rapists being ordinary men. The young man who stood up in the audience and said, “What can we do, Mam? What can we do to make it better?”’
Outlook Magazine's choice for February
What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape was one of three books chosen by Outlook magazine as new release must-reads.
WOW Festival
‘Sticking it to the patriarchy for the ninth year running, Women of the World festival returns to the shores of Southbank for a two-day celebration of all things female. This year the line-up is as stellar as ever, including conversations with Catherine Mayer and Naomi Klein as well as the launch of New Daughters of Africa, an anthology of writing by women of African descent. Plus, this year’s event marks the beginning of the WOW Foundation which aims to further the movement in global gender equality.’
It’s not just us who are absolutely thrilled about the upcoming WOW event and New Daughters of Africa launch. The event headlines on Emerald Street’s round up of London events this month.
The Motherload Book Club features Sohaila
The Motherload Book Club features What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape in a line up of nonfiction feminist titles.
Enter: the new daughters of Africa
New Daughters of Africa will be published this month and we couldn’t be more excited.
New Internationalist celebrates its arrival with a nine-page spread written by Margaret Busby, featuring three stories from New Daughters of Africa. From Dirt by Camillet Dungy, Home by Ketty Nivyabandi and Saying Goodbye To Mary Danquah by Nana-Ama Danquah a contributor to the anthology.
Read the article in full here.
The article also features photographs by Yagazie Emerzi.
Rape: It's a Man Thing
‘It’s important to understand rape in part because every victim is someone’s sister, daughter, mother, friend. Rape is like that proverbial pebble in a pond that causes ripples far and wide – except it is not a pebble but a boulder, a giant calamity that crashes explosively into someone’s life, and then flings shrapnel into her present, her future, her lovers, her children present and future, her job, her soul, her day, her night, her year, her life. It is never, as the Stanford rapist Brock Turner’s father said, just “20 minutes of action.” It is a trauma that requires everyone in her life to help her come through. That includes you.’
Sohaila wrote an article for The New Press on rape being an issue which shouldn’t just be resigned to the Feminist Studies section, but on every nonfiction shelf in every bookstore.
Best of 2018: Nonfiction books by Scroll.In
Sohaila’s title, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, was featured by Scroll.In on their round up of nonfiction tiles to best understand India and the world.
A survivor shares how we can have better conversations around rape
Sohaila was interviewed by Hello Giggles, a blog for independent women.
HG: ‘You also talk about the intricacies of “yes means yes and no means no.” Can you explain what people get wrong about that, and why it’s so complicated?’
SA: ‘I think this has a lot to do with gender. Women are taught to please and be polite. Sometimes we say yes to the most awful things just to keep the peace. And sometimes we say no because we don’t believe we deserve pleasure. In a world where we are taught sex is for men to enjoy and women to endure, it’s no wonder everyone gets baffled by each other’s signals. This is not an excuse for rapists—it’s simply an acknowledgement that language is complicated, and that a “yes” under duress (not knowing your rights; worrying about your job; thinking it’s your fault for being in this situation, etc.) isn’t the same as a “yes” given freely.’
VICE
VICE ran an extract of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape – read it over on their website now.
Comicbook of the Month
The Lady Doctor was chosen as ‘Comicbook of the Month’ by Page 45 – who else?
Graphic Content: Comedy and tragedy in the NHS
‘As doctors we listen to people’s stories, we interpret and reconstruct their stories using our medical knowledge. People love medical stories, all of life is there.’
Read the full interview with Ian by Teddy Jamieson for Herald Scotland over on their website.
The Week Podcast
‘Sohaila talks about how she told her daughter about, how her own parents normalised rape and that helped her get over what happened to her. She also talks about how she does not want to centre her entire life around that single incident and hopes that more victims are given control to recount their stories in a way they are comfortable with.’
Listen to The Week podcast with Sohaila in full here.
But what does #MeToo have to do with it? Everything
The Hindu Business Line discussed the array of amazing feminists who featured at Jaipur Literature Festival, including Sohaila, Germaine Greer, Mary Beard, Parvati Sharma, Ira Mukhoty, Audrey Truschke and Rana Safvi. Read the full article here.
The Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award
The Bookseller ran a feature celebrating the new £20,000 Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award, created by Myriad Editions and SOAS, which will be offered to a female, black student who is ordinarily resident in Africa. The bursary will pay for the recipient’s tuition fees and accommodation costs for a SOAS Masters in African Studies, Comparative Literature or Translation in African Languages.
The Irish Times—50 books to keep you reading all year long
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide featured in The Irish Times article, 50 books to keep you reading all year long.
50 books to keep you reading all year long—The Irish Times
New Daughters of Africa featured in The Irish Times article, 50 books to keep you reading all year long.
Rape victim should be made powerful with support from family & friends, says Sohaila Abdulali
According to Abdulali, a rape victim should not be frowned upon, rather be made powerful with support from family and friends and even the close ones should know how to handle the delicate situation.
“Be horrified but don’t fall off your chair that she has to take care of you. Believe her, no ifs, ands, or buts. Let her take the lead, if she wants to talk Ok, if she wants to be quiet Ok. If she wants to cry Ok, If she wants to joke Ok, If she wants to throw things Ok. Ask her what she wants, no need to help.”
“Encourage her to get help—medical, legal, physical mental—but don’t force it. Don’t ask for details but let her know you are open if she wants to elaborate. Don’t question her judgement, let her frame it the way she wants. Don’t try to understand, just be there,” were a few of the ways Abdulali said a situation like rape and the victim’s emotions should be handled.
Read the entire piece here on DNA India.
Be With on Bookish Beck
‘Dementia is one situation in which you should definitely throw money at a problem, Barnes counsels, to secure the best care you can, even round-the-clock nursing help. However, as the title suggests, nothing outweighs simply being there. Your presence, not chiefly to make decisions, but just to sit, listen and place a soothing hand on a forehead, is the greatest gift.’
‘By your loved one’s side is “Not where things are easy, or satisfactorily achieved, or achievable, or even necessarily pleasant. But where you ought to be, have to be, and are. It brings a peace.”’
Read the full review on the Bookish Beck blog.
Read it Forward
Read it Forward featured The Women’s Atlas as one of the best nonfiction titles to give as gifts.
Picks by The Vim
The Vim online magazine picked The Women’s Atlas as one of the next 17 female-authored titles they’ll be reading next.
Gloria Steinem's Bookshelf
The Women’s Atlas features in Gloria Steinem’s list of inspiring titles on Medium.
There's 126 million women 'missing' around the world
Lipstick Alley featured extracts from The Women’s atlas on their blog, reporting specifically on ‘son preference’.
Read the finds over on Lipstick Alley’s website here.
Meaningful and Practical
The Women’s Atlas featured in a curated list for those wanting to find meaningful and practical gifts for loved ones on Refinery 29.
Oprahmag.com
The Women’s Atlas featured on Oprahmag.com as one of their top 30 gifts for Galentine’s Day.
The Momus Questionnaire
‘OCD is not about being punctual or tidy: the clue is in the ‘disorder’ bit of the diagnosis.’ Ian discusses The Bad Doctor, The Lady Doctor and his irresistible charm in an interview with Minor Literatures. Read it online here.
Laughter is the Best Medicine—The Big Issue
The Lady Doctor featured in The Big Issue, including extracts from the graphic novel and a mini interview with Ian.
‘What are the hardest things you have to deal with as a GP?’
‘One of the hardest things currently is to do with mental health. It plays a big role as a GP. We see a lot of people who are very depressed and particularly children who are suffering – the services to send those people to are cut to the bone. Particularly teenagers who are suffering from self-harm – it’s very hard to get anybody to see them because the services are not adequately funded.’
DEAR CARERS: Hard-won wisdom to those embarking on the task of caring for a loved one
‘I’m sending you the news I needed to hear myself. Needed and still need often, ransacking confusions to find a clear way forward. I have moved my mother Mary four times in seven years. These moves, I see now, map out the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s. But the stages are never neat, they are taking place in a person, with all her quirks and qualities, and different parts of the brain will be affected to different degrees.’
You Magazine ran an extract from Be With, which you can read online if you weren’t able to pick up a hard copy.
Revisiting the famous tropical pastoral with Diacritik
Diacritik features novel Genie and Paul, discussing Paul et Virginie by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and how Natasha has crafted the story into a new and contemporary work.
Sohaila in discussion with K A Johny at Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters
‘I am strongly opposed to capital punishment in any form, for anyone. As for hanging rapists, it just seems stupid to assume that this will change anything, except make a statement that we are a barbaric society. ‘
A brief extract from one of Sohaila’s talks at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2019.
Make Room for Working Class Writers
“All too often, popular culture, including literature, neglects to reflect working-class life in its diversity. It’s easy to depict rich and poor, north and south, while undermining those who exist in-between. Working-class writing is simply reflecting lives, to paraphrase Alan Bennett, that are generally happening elsewhere.” Lisa Blower features in Kit de Waal’s piece for The Guardian on working-class writing. Read it in full here.
Broken Crockery - Winner of The Guardian short story award 2009
My nan doesn’t like Margaret Thatcher because she’d kicked women in the shins and blew off kneecaps so a working man would know what mercy meant. She said that Margaret Thatcher drove a tank straight through the poor people and was only wearing a headscarf. She said that Margaret Thatcher said that everyone should have a house because that was the law. Mum says houses are greedy old things. Read the full story over on The Guardian website.
Lisa Blower talks to New Welsh Review
Lisa Blower talks to Caroline Stockford of New Welsh Review about her story ‘Johnny Dangerously’, which features in ‘It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s‘, the transition from working to writing life and the importance of writing working-class fiction.
Behind the Lines - Interview with Print Mag
‘When you finally meet the people you want to portray, in the desperate situations they find themselves in, when you sit together with them and they are talking about the loss and trauma they experienced, this does naturally want to make you cry… it obviously make you sad, angry and confused… What helped me cope with this stress was that I worked as hard and focused as I possibly could, not only on location but also later on in my studio, to create the best possible work I could.Through my drawings I wanted to create a platform for the people I encountered, on which they could share their experiences with a wider audience.’
Read the full interview on Print Mag’s website.
Sohaila Abdulali at Politics and Prose Bookstore
Sohaila was invited to Politics and Prose bookstore to discuss What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape in front of a live audience. Watch her here.
Mike Barnes on The Morning Show
Mike Barnes was invited onto Global News to discuss Be With with The Morning Show team during Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Watch the full five minute interview here.
Women Now At Top of Military-Industrial Complex. A Feminist Reaction.
Cynthia Enloe is part of an influential generation of feminist scholars who, during the Vietnam War, began to trace the contradictions between militarist ideology and feminist logic. Enloe joins Worldview to discuss women in the military-industrial complex and “lean in” feminism. Listen to the full feature over on WBEZ 91.5 Chicago now.
Must Read Graphic Novels
Gareth Brookes’ graphic novel, A Thousand Coloured Castles, features on author Una‘s list of must-reads for 2019. Read the entire list over on her blog.
Sohaila Abdulali on PBS: Victims of sexual violence are more than 'broken beings'.
‘We need the words. We need to train guys that you should care whether the woman’s into it, and we need to train ourselves that it matters what we want, because words are great, but I think there’s more going on with consent.’
Read the full transcript or watch Sohaila’s interview with Jeffrey Brown on the PBS website.
FLOWERS GROW IN SH*T: TALKING WITH SOHAILA ABDULALI
‘Sohaila Abdulali has no “Shame Gene.” The “brown bisexual middle-aged atheist Muslim survivor immigrant writer,” or so she posits herself in her new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, has struggled for years to understand why so many rape survivors—including herself—are shamed for their silence, for their outspokenness, for their very existence. Abdulali argues she wasn’t born with a “Shame Gene,” thus justifying why she “has the nerve” to write this challenging, nuanced and altogether triumphant book.’
Read the entire interview with Sohaila and Lauren Puckett on The Rumpus here.
'It's not a survivor's duty to cure rape'
‘Then the other thing is — it’s not anybody’s duty to speak. It’s not a survivor’s duty to speak out and cure rape, like an extra added burden on us. I’m finding this now with the book, I love talking about the book, I’m really interested in this topic. But I don’t really feel it’s my role to have the answers.’
Read Sohaila’s full interview with Mary Elizabeth Williams on Salon here.
2019 in Books: What You'll Be Reading This Year by The Guardian
New Daughters of Africa featured as one of the books you must read in 2019. If that isn’t praise enough, we don’t know what is! Read the full line up here.
In meeting a fellow caregiver, author Mike Barnes found a hero without her cape
‘Now, my heroes are less likely to perform the blatant prodigies of Baun-Bligh-Duc and more likely to manifest the quiet radiance of a skinny, white-haired woman I will call Joan. Joan is in her early 70s. Apart from her dark-framed glasses, she has no features that would make her stand out in a crowd – which is just as well, as she is, and would no doubt like to remain, a hero in hiding.’
A wonderful article by Mike Barnes in The Globe and Mail. Read in full here.
Sohaila on This is Hell, discussing rape and the conversation about rape.
‘I think it would transform the world [if we were to have sensible conversations about rape], because I think we lose a lot by not talking about it. There are two sides to it – there’s the victim’s side and the perpetrator’s side. On the victim’s side, we lose a lot because as anyone who has been raped knows, it’s really awful to feel alone, like no-one understands you and like there’s no help; just to feel bad about it and to have no recourse. The other thing we do by not talking about it is to give a free pass to rapists, because we act like they don’t exist, or we pretend they’re out there and there’s nothing we can do about it. That way we take away the opportunity to actually do something, to change society, to change how we talk to our kids. I think we lose a lot.’
Listen to the full interview here.
The Murder of Harriet Monckton, Winter Recommended Reads by NB Magazine
The Murder of Harriet Monckton features as on of NB Magazine’s ‘Recommended Reads’ in their latest issue. Have a look here.
Margaret Busby featured in The Guardian
“It used to be just a few writers published mostly as part of an educational series,” explains Margaret. “Now they are in the mainstream. I think publishers can see the success they can have with someone like Chimamanda and of course they want that success too.” But it’s still not as easy as it might be. “Until you can no longer count the number of African women writers who have broken through then we’ve still got work to do.” Read the full article by Gary Younge here.
The Clueless Critic featuring Manu Joseph
Manu Joseph interviewed by comedian Kunal Kamra. The very funny interview is an hour long and features great insight into Manu and his novel, Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous.
Recent Books of Interest to Women Scholars
Sohaila’s title, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, was featured in the WIA Report of Recent Books of Interest to Women Scholars. Intrigued which other titles made the list? Have a look here.
What Is She Thinking?
‘Tracking gender and the gendered international political economy of insecurity takes exploration and is really important. But a feminist believes that you are exploring something for a purpose. You are exploring so that you can reveal things that will activate people to challenge injustices.’
Cynthia Enloe discusses feminism, writing and gender studies with Natalia Felix for SciELO. You can read the full article here: 0102-8529-cint-2018400300435
The Telegraph article by Sohaila Abdulali
‘Most rapists are men who choose to rape. That counts more than whether their victims are tough or weak, rich or poor – all those factors come into play, but that one choice is at the heart of the matter. And while men from New York to New Delhi make that choice, we all have a rape problem.’
Read Sohaila’s article in The Telegraph here.
Bustle: Taking A Global View of The #MeToo Movement
‘If we can’t stick to our ossified expectations of how we are supposed to behave, then we have to rethink everything we know about male privilege, who gets to say yes and no and stop, and both consent and pleasure. It’s very exciting! It implies being able to rethink and redefine how we conduct ourselves in the world.’
Sohaila in conversation with E CE Miller for Bustle. Read the full article here.
Longreads: Sohaila Abdulali
‘What do people get wrong when they talk about rape?’
‘Oh, everything. For one thing, the idea that women somehow bring it on themselves. I mean, we have countries in the world where that’s kind of the law, right? In Iran, if you show your head and you get raped, then you’re [responsible for] it. And also [the idea] that men can’t help it. Many of the men I know absolutely can help it, and they choose not to do it.
Read the full interview over on the Longreads website here.
The New York Review of Books
Escaping Wars and Waves featured on the front of New York Review of Books, Dec 2018, and also in an article within, written by Molly Crabapple. Read the full article here.
Journeys Drawn: Illustration from the Refugee Crisis
Olivier Kugler’s artwork currently features in Journeys Drawn: Illustration from the Refugee Crisis, an exhibition at the House of Illustration in London. The exhibition runs from November 2018 – March 2019 and features multi-media work by 12 contemporary illustrators, including Olivier’s reportage on Syrian refugees.
Reunited: Syrian refugee and the artist who drew him in Calais
The Observer ran a feature on Olivier, reuniting him with Ammar Raad, one of the Syrian refugees Olivier met and whose story he told in Escaping Wars and Waves. Read the full article here.
*Publishers Weekly*: Sohaila Abdulali Tells Stories of Survivors
‘I wanted this balance: rape is serious but, like everything else in life, you can be light. In fact, part of the whole problem, certainly in India, is that if you’re raped, you’re supposed to be overcome with heaviness and die.’
Read the full article by Publishers Weekly here.
Electric Lit: A Master Class in Women's Rage
‘Many of our required reading texts use the author’s personal experience as a starting point for a discussion about larger societal issues. As Abdulali notes, this can make them difficult to categorize properly:
“Essays? Not really. Sociology? Not Learned or Academic enough. Psychology? No, too opinionated. Research? Not comprehensive enough. Memoir? Heaven forbid.”
‘Do you suppose that’s why nonfiction discussing the continued oppression of 51 percent of the world’s population frequently ends up stashed on the “Women’s Studies” shelf in bookstores, as opposed to, say, the “Current Affairs” display?’
Sohaila Abdulali featured on Electric Lit in an article by Kate Harding, discussing how non-fiction, feminist titles end up hidden away and not on the political shelf. Read the entire article here.
BBC World Service: Sohaila Abdulali
‘I got a grant to go back to India and talk about rape, and I think that was one of the most naive things I’ve ever done in my life. I somehow thought I’d show up and find all these people to talk to, who would tell me their stories. In fact, there was a huge amount of denial.’
Sohaila Abdulali on the BBC World Service discussing What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape. Listen again here.
Literary Life: My Relationship With Books
‘The Book That Inspired Me As A Teenager: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first of what became a seven-volume autobiographical work by Maya Angelou. The accurate detail in the imagery evokes place perfectly. Her authentic voice and use of language expertly illicit emotion in an understated fashion.’
Read about Ruth’s favourite books in the full article: Literary Life Oct 2018
Harper's Bazaar: Talking About Writing About Rape
‘Just for this lovely moment, I’m living the dream. I’ve spent some months writing a book, had a grand time doing it, and it’s poised to come out all over the world. It might sell; it might not. The dreamy part was working on it, talking to incredible people, typing madly while ignoring the reality that my table is too high and my chair too low and it huts to sit here and why don’t I get a real desk…’
Sohaila discussing What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape in Harper’s Bazaar, Indian- October 2018. You can read the article here: Harper’s Bazaar India, October 2018
Interview in The Sutton Guardian
The author, who lives in Norfolk, said it was “amazing” returning to Bromley, a borough she used to work in, for research. She was thrilled that a graphic designer created a map of Bromley from 1843 for the start of the novel. Elizabeth ultimately wrote the book to “achieve justice” for the young woman whose poignant final hours became lost in old library documents. Did she achieve her goal?
“I think so,” Elizabeth said. “I had to guess who the murderer was. There were so many people it could have been. There is enough information in the book for people to make their own minds up.’
Read the full interview here.
Harriet's Booktrail
Did you know you can go on a trail to discover where Harriet lived and was murdered? The Booktrail website organises travel guides for books and has created one for The Murder of Harriet Monckton. If you head to their website, you can plan your walk around Bromley to uncover the locations described in Elizabeth’s novel.
Ask a Feminist: Cynthia Enloe
Cynthia Enloe on “Gender and the Rise of the Global Right” with Signs editor Suzanna Danuta Walters.
Interview with Jenni Murray on Woman‘s Hour, BBC Radio 4
The first female Poet Laureate of Jamaica Lorna Goodison talks to Jenni Murray about her love of poetry, being taught by Derek Walcott, and how she decided to invent ‘adventures’ as a new literary genre for Redemption Ground, which Jenni describes as ‘a beautiful book… absolutely splendid.’
You can listen again here.
Interview with Jo Good on BBC Radio London
Laughter and tears as BBC Radio London’s presenter Jo Good is ‘blown away’ by ‘the wonderful Lorna Goodison’ talking about her childhood in Jamaica and decision to become a poet, and reading the elegy to her mother. As Jo says, ‘Lorna Goodison writes lyrically and decisively. Redemption Ground absolutely blew me away… it is quite extraordinary, like an arrow in the heart.’
You can listen again here.
Interview with Mark Lawson on Front Row BBC Radio 4
As part of the BBC National Short Story Award, Mark Lawson talks to Lisa Blower about her interest in working-class fiction and one of her prize-winning stories, ‘Barmouth’, in which a disastrous family trip, or series of trips, sees her narrator travelling from childhood to adulthood.
You can listen again here.
The Two of Us
S.V.Berlin talks about her writing and the inspiration for The Favourite with writer and photographer Naomi Woddis, host of The Two of Us, a monthly show on Reel Rebels Radio.
You can listen again here.
On the #MeToo 'push-back': Cynthia Enloe takes The Big Push to Iceland
Cynthia was invited to speak at the United Nations University Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (UNU-GEST) at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. She talks not only of The Big Push but also about the ‘push-back’. You can watch her here.
The Big Issue Off The Shelf: Books About New York
Peter Adamson writes about revisiting New York—‘city of a thousand novels’—and how the city has changed since the 1980s, when the action of The Kennedy Moment takes place.
What it takes to challenge patriarchy in the 21st century
Many millenials who are coming of age in the era of #MeToo and the push back to rampant sexism in the White House, Congress, Hollywood, and America in general are likely identifying as feminists for the first time. It is indeed a good time to be a feminist. Cynthia Enloe is interviewed by Sonali about the importance of internationalism for women as well as listening to and being curious about the experience of others. You can listen to it here.
An interview with Peter Adamson: the story behind The Kennedy Moment
Our social media manager, Anna, interviewed Peter Adamson ahead of the publication of The Kennedy Moment later this month. Here she asks about the story behind Adamson’s groundbreaking political thriller, and questions about activism in the 21st century and his writing influences.
The Kennedy Moment explores the strengths and pitfalls of activism. How have you seen activism develop throughout your career?
One change has been a huge increase in the number of people and organisations campaigning on more causes and on more platforms than ever before. And one result of this has been the increase in competition for people’s attention, concern, solidarity, time, money, commitment, anger at injustice and willingness to get involved. These are perhaps the most important finite resources of all.
This is something I wrote about in a recent poem:
I cannot watch the news tonight. To have
the rags of pity stretched and torn across
the pixels of a stranger’s pain. To have
the ghost of empathy make rounds of over-
crowded wards, adjusting drips and checking
charts and moving on, ever moving on
to find fresh wounds and persecutions new.
To feel a passage-migrant empathy,
arbitrary, lost, alighting here and there,
never staying long, always moving on,
posing the unbearable moment and then … gone.
And what of opportunity cost I ask
when miseries and wrongs contend on air,
when this day’s outrage cleanses yesterday’s,
the coverage moving on, always moving on,
all lingering imaginings soon gone?
But this is to be too negative. There are of course plenty of people and organisations who harness themselves for the long haul and dedicate their efforts towards effecting real change – the opposite of virtue signalling.
The dedication and postscript to The Kennedy Moment tell the story of an extreme example of this. As head of Unicef, James P Grant decided that the single greatest rightable-wrong in the world was the fact that 13 million young children were dying every day from diseases that could be prevented by 5 cents-worth of vaccines. For sixteen years he made that the organisation’s over-riding priority. Many others were involved. But Grant led and inspired the effort that saw immunisation rates rise from under 20% to about 80% across the world, saving many millions of young lives every year and preventing hundreds of thousands of cases of paralytic polio.
The novel follows friends from university several decades after they graduated. You depict these with such wonderful detail and nuance… Are these relationships based on real friendships or entirely fabricated?
No character in The Kennedy Moment is based on any one individual. I could go through the character traits, behaviours, words and peculiarities of each one of them and probably be reminded of people I have known and the things they have done or said. But this is to say no more than that the characters are drawn from a synthesis of imagination and experience, and that is surely true for most writers.
I do love creating characters, and especially the challenge of developing their voices. In my ideal novel, a character would be recognisable to the reader by the style of their direct speech, without the author having to indicate who was speaking. But I’ve never got near that!
As the founder of New Internationalist – a publication that aims to expose inequality and strives to create a more sustainable future – does The Kennedy Moment tie into your work for NI? Do you think this is a book that will expose inequality and make a small step towards a better future?
No. I think the NI does that well, much better now than when it began, and much better than The Kennedy Moment ever could. The book has moments, and the conspirators are driven to do what they do by a burning sense of injustice. But although I do draw on previous involvement in such issues, I really wanted to write a full-on literary thriller rather than a treatise, a novel with a strong narrative plot and a diverse group of characters that I hoped people would be interested in and perhaps identify with.
What is the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Lack of experience.
What was the most challenging scene to write?
The most challenging scenes were those in which it has to be made utterly believable that five middle-aged, middle-class, mid-career individuals from five different countries would decide to embark on the outrageous, illegal, high-risk and high-stakes conspiracy at the heart of The Kennedy Moment.
In the age of ‘Social Media Activism’, do you think there is still a place for books and publications that aim to expose, challenge and change? Why this novel, why a thriller, and why now?
Of course it’s true that the increasing time spent on social media tends to squeeze the time available for reading. But reading has survived death threats before, and there are many who still feel the appeal of settling down with a book. Literary fiction, in particular, seems to be in steep decline, but I agree with The Guardian’s Tim Lott who argues that this is because too many literary novelists have ‘lost the plot’. In fact I think it’s not plot but ‘plot and character’ that can hold readers spellbound even in the face of all today’s distractions. Even the most dramatic storyline will fail to hold readers if they don’t believe in and identify with the characters and so are not interested in what they think and feel and in what happens to them and why.
In one of the most moving scenes of the book you reference Joan Baez’s song ‘To Bobby’. What else was on the playlist while you were writing the novel?
‘To Bobby’ seemed right for that scene both because it was of the period and because it was relevant to activism. Strangely, when I contacted Joan Baez’ agent to request permission to use those lines, he noticed that the title of the novel was The Kennedy Moment and pointed out that ‘To Bobby’ was about Bob Dylan not Bobby Kennedy. I did know that, but it was kind and observant of him. And it is a little strange that ‘To Bobby’ is about the only time I’ve ever heard Bob Dylan referred to as ‘Bobby’.
Other than that, I do listen to music when writing, but nothing with vocals. Almost always cello music, often Brahms played by Fournier or Yo-Yo Ma.
This is your first novel for 16 years. Is there a difference between the way you see yourself as a writer now and your younger writing self?
I really like Alain de Botton’s Twitter tag-line – ‘Anyone who isn’t embarrassed by who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough.’ For me, the common strand in growing older, apart from a declining drinks bill, is steady progress towards greater uncertainty about so many things. In many ways I think this is a good thing, as perhaps it relates to both knowing more and more fully realising how little you know or can know. And in many ways I distrust certainty.
In The Kennedy Moment, it is Seema Mir who gives expression to this when she is refusing to be bulldozed into a decision to join the conspiracy. What she says is ‘I’m wary about people who put too much faith in their own rightness – moral, political, religious, ideological. Wary of certainty, I suppose. It too often leads to misjudgement and imposition, quite often with an ugly outcome. A fine line, I think, between certainty and Fascism. Being uncertain, a little hesitant about one’s own judgements, isn’t always a sign of weakness.’
The trouble with this line of thought is that it tends to leave the world in the hands of those who are certain. And usually those are the wrong hands. I think.
I worry about this a little whenever I see that quote from Margaret Mead on the door of the New Internationalist building in Oxford: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.’ It’s probably true, but it can apply as much to neo-con think tanks as to any left wing group.
Annie Proulx said ‘Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write’. Who have been your writing influences?
If I had to single out one person (given the complete works of Shakespeare and a copy of the King James Bible) then it would be former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who also had a big influence on the founding of the New Internationalist. When I first read pamphlets, like The Arusha Declaration and Education for Self-Reliance, I was truly inspired (so much so that I persuaded a foundation to give me £700 to print copies and send them to every student political society in every university in the UK). It was Nyerere’s ability to communicate big ideas and grand ideals in language that was so honed and sophisticated it could be understood by anybody including the barely literate. Magnificent. Goodness knows how hard he worked on those texts to achieve that clarity of thought and expression. But even he wasn’t immune from Shakespeare’s influence – I still have on my shelves his Sahili translations of Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice.
But yes, Nyerere too fell victim to his own certainties and eventually had to admit that his policies had been largely a failure. Sad, but a lesson in itself.
Other than that, I would like to think that my writing has become at least a little more spare and less indulgent. Hemingway’s said that the most important asset a writer can have is ‘a shock-proof, built-in bullshit detector.’ Mine goes off rather too often, but my family help me to keep it in good working order.
Cafes, Chemists and Holiday Camps
In an article for The Royal Literary Fund, Isabel shares her own and others’ experiences of holiday jobs and internships, and explores how youthful work experiences can make a better writer.
Nicholas Royle on sex in fiction
Nicholas Royle explains in The Conversation why a good novel will always be about sex—though in ways that may not be obvious—and how, when writing An English Guide to Birdwatching, he was conscious of ‘the phantom eyes of the Bad Sex award judges’ peering over his shoulder.
‘Never be the most feminist person you know’ – Laura Bates meets Cynthia Enloe
Cynthia Enloe, professor and activist, has tackled marital rape and changed the language of feminism. She remains a force to be reckoned with in the fight to make sure all women’s voices are equal and heard as Laura Bates found out in her interview with Cynthia for the Guardian newspaper.
On Psychoanalysis and Literature: Adam Phillips in conversation with Nicholas Royle
Taking his latest novel An English Guide to Birdwatching as a starting point, Nicholas Royle talked with psychoanalyst and writer Adam Phillips about how literature and psychoanalysis can speak to and of each other. Royle’s novel engages deeply with Freud, especially in the context of ‘the uncanny’.
This is the podcast of their discussion.
Year of Indie Debuts: The Favourite by S.V. Berlin
Sophie Jonas-Hill interviewed SV Berlin about her novel, The Favourite, for the Year of Indie Debuts series. It’s a fascinating interview which also includes an insightful book review too.
Hide 13—read by a robot
Computer programmer James Burt, also known as orbific, recorded a robot reading Hide 13 from An English Guide to Birdwatching.
You can listen to it here.
(Un)Happy Endings and the Natural Affinity of the British for the Not-So-Serious
In her guest blog for Foyles, S.V.Berlin talks about why in writing, as in life, she will frequently make for the dark.
Shiny New Books Q&A with Nicholas Royle Copy
‘Like my earlier novel Quilt, An English Guide to Birdwatching is in truth very much a novel about anonymity’ — Nicholas Royle answers questions about his novel An English Guide to Birdwatching from Shiny New Books
Shiny New Books Q&A with Nicholas Royle
‘Like my earlier novel Quilt, An English Guide to Birdwatching is in truth very much a novel about anonymity’ — Nicholas Royle answers questions about his novel An English Guide to Birdwatching from Shiny New Books
‘We got it right. We’ve been good brothers’
Tom Connolly remembers his late brother, Pip, for the Guardian:
‘Something about the prospect of turning 50 in March this year had been niggling me for some time, despite the fact that I’ve never taken much notice of birthdays… I began to realise it was sadness at the fact that soon after my 50th birthday I would become older than my big brother; my beloved, late, big brother. And that felt like an abomination.’
Photos of NYC and a lead review in Tripfiction
‘There are just wonderful turns of phrase that capture the feel of the city and the nuances of everyday life, at which Tom Connolly excels. You can tell that he is not only an author, but also a film maker, his prose has a very visual quality to it.’
Tripfiction reviews Men Like Air and talks to Tom Connolly as he shares some of his photographs of New York City.
Food for Bookworms
‘I think I have always loved a book that makes me laugh out loud and yet feel deep, complex emotion ever since reading A Prayer for Owen Meany, and I had a desire to write something funny and poignant about people who are stimulated by the city they live in, moulded by it, but also left emotionally isolated by it, as that’s my experience of New York City.’
Tom shares insights about Men Like Air and New York City with Natalie from Food for Bookworms.
Bookish Ramblings
‘The appeal of writing fiction is discovering the individuality of one’s fictional characters, and for me Leo’s loneliness is not so much age- or gender-related so much as to do with a certain sort of urban solitude, and in particular the way that New York City can leave you feeling like you’re on the outside edge of the greatest party ever thrown.’
Tom talks about writing Men Like Air to Bookish Ramblings.
The Owl on the Bookshelf
‘Finn arrives in NYC with an older, wiser, more travelled girlfriend who has a list of fabulous places she intends to see and wonderful things she intends to do. Finn, on the other hand, has come to do one thing, beat the crap out of his older brother for abandoning him.’
Tom introduces the characters of Men Like Air and describes some of his (and their) favourite New York films for The Owl on the Bookshelf.
Tom Connolly's guest blog for David's Book World
‘My nineteen-year-old character, Finn, shares with thousands the experience of landing in New York City and feeling that anything is going to be possible in your life… all the characters in Men Like Air are at different stages of a love affair with the place… they are all transformed by New York City, for better or worse, in the lifetime of the book.’
Tom talks to David Hebblethwaite about his inspiration for setting Men Like Air in New York and shares some of his photos of the city in this guest blog for David’s Book World.