In her fourth instalment of her multi-part review of Tim Parks’ essay collection Where I’m Reading From. The Changing World of Books, Gesa Stedman disagrees Read more
“Das Buchorchester” – Women in Publishing and the Making of Books
It is a truth universally acknowledged that you need more than an author in order to create a book. While translators are at least sometimes mentioned on the cover or imprint, other people and their tasks are even less visible: editors, graphic designers, editors, typesetters and many more. On top […] Read more
Responding to Tim Parks, Where I’m Reading From Part II
Gesa Stedman continues her multi-part review of Tim Parks’ essay collection Where I’m Reading From, this time with a response to “Why Finish Books?”. In contrast to the author, she thinks books deserve to be read cover to cover. I learned two things from Parks’ essay entitled “Why finish books?”: […] Read more
Catching up on African literature: WiM in Berlin
WiM stands for “Writing in Migration”, the first African literature festival in Germany. It took place last week at the Babylon in Berlin. It was organised by the literary agency InterKontinental and curated by Olumide Popoola. Sandra van Lente attended two of the events and wrote a short report for […] Read more
New Series on The Literary Field Kaleidoscope for World Book Day: A Review of Tim Parks’ “Where I’m Reading From” in Monthly Instalments
It is World Book Day today (only the English celebrate it in March) and a highly suitable occasion for us to launch a new monthly series: a chapter-by-chapter review of Tim Parks’ essay collection Where I’m Reading From. The Changing World of Books. He first published his collection Read more
A Chance to Be Someone Else – A Review of Ali Smith’s novel How to be Both
There are only a few books that can reveal the condition of being-in-the-world through the phenomenal power of language. Ali Smith’s How to Be Both is one of them, as Alican Akyüz finds in his review. In 1969, B. S. Johnson published The Unfortunates, a book that comes with 27 […] Read more
Kann man eine Lüge dichten? Thekla Dannenbergs Bericht von der Leipziger Buchmesse
Kann man eine Lüge dichten? Thekla Dannenberg fasst ihre Eindrücke von der Leipziger Buchmesse zusammen, die von der Debatte um rechte Verlage, aber auch von Copyright-Fragen und den Überlebenschancen kleiner Verlage bestimmt war. Wie schon in Frankfurt war auch die Buchmesse in Leipzig von der Debatte um rechte Verlage geprägt. […] Read more
Jhalak Prize for Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I No Longer Talk to White People about Race
Gesa Stedman explains one of the most recent attempts to diversify the literary field in the UK, the Jhalak Prize, which was awarded for the second time on 15 March 2018. Read more
Mary Beard’s “Women & Power “- A Conversation with Sabine Blackmore
In November 2017, Mary Beard’s book Women & Power. A Manifesto hit the shelves – and a nerve. In the two parts titled “The Public Voice of Women” and “Women in Power”, Mary Beard draws our attention to culturally embedded stereotypes and “cultural template[s] which [work] to disempower women”. She […] Read more
Nasty, Impressive, Moving, and Inspiring Women
On this year’s International Women’s Day, Sandra van Lente writes about the essay collection Nasty Women and the publishing house that produced it: the independent Scottish publisher 404ink, founded and run by Laura Jones and Heather McDaid. I would like to use this year’s International Women’s Day to draw your […] Read more
