On 23 June 2020, Dr Anamik Saha (Goldsmiths, University of London) and I launched our report called Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing. We spent the previous year interviewing 113 people in publishing and bookselling, and we set out to challenge the ways ‘diversity’ was talked about. And we wanted to find […] Read more
Last year on 1 May (which is not a public holiday in the UK, as I learned) I started to work with Dr Anamik Saha at Goldsmiths, University of London, on our joint project called “Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing”. The idea had been brewing in our heads for about three […] Read more
In Germany, we celebrate “indiebookday” today – to make independent publishers more visible, to share the stories we enjoyed and, let’s face it, to distract ourselves from the crazy times we’re living in. I have to admit that I have no idea what’s going on in the German literary field […] Read more
Im Vereinigten Königreich drehte sich vom 16. bis zum 23. Juni 2018 alles um den unabhängigen Buchhandel (ok, ein bisschen Brexit und Fußball war sicherlich auch dabei…): gefeiert wurde die Independent Bookshop Week! Und hier auch gleich schon eine Aktualisierung: Während ich bei der ersten Version dieses Textes noch nicht […] Read more
Before we take a break from blogging and go on a well-deserved summer break, we would like to draw your attention to our latest project; a collaborative ebook on the effects of the Brexit vote on the UK’s cultural sector and its agents: “It’s not just the economy, stupid! Brexit […] Read more
This short post is not going to be about what happened one year ago, it’s going to be about what’s on tomorrow and next week: it’s Independent Bookshop Week! This year, it runs from 24 June to 1 July and about 400 bookshops on the British isles are participating. “Independent […] Read more
On 26-28 January, the 32th British Council Literature Seminar opened its doors at the ever-inspiring Werkstatt der Kulturen (link). Seven authors and many seminar participants discussed the topic “Diverse Voices, New Directions”. This is the attempt of a summary plus links for further reading (at the end of the post). Read more
Extreme commercialisation, e-publishing, conglomerates, independent bookshops closing, the death of the public library – the list of negative trends in the literary field in Britain is long. However, there is resistance by individuals but also by institutions who and which do not want to bow to the pressures of profit […] Read more
