Book News for May and June 2020

9. July 2020Gesa StedmanBookshop, Controversies, News, Overview, Prizes, Statisticsbibliodiversity, bookselling, diversity, Jhalak Prize, publishing, representation

Gesa Stedman goes on a round-trip and gives you the latest on sales figures, endemic racism in the literary field, bookselling during a pandemic, and more. The next Book News will be published after the summer break. Read more

cover of rethinking diversity in publishing report

Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing – #RethinkingDiversityWeek

23. June 2020Sandra van LenteEvents, News#RethinkingDiversity, #RethinkingDiversityWeek, agents, bookselling, complacency, events, publishing, research

It’s official! We’re online! We’re holding our report in our hands and we’re very much looking forward to sharing our findings with the world (ever so modest). We’re launching our report today, on 23 June! And you can access the e-version here: www.rethinkingdiversity.org.uk We carried out this project and wrote this […] Read more

We Need to Talk – and Do Something – about Racism

1. June 2020Sandra van LenteNews

I don’t have any words right now, just rage and sadness. Like many others, I’m not surprised that our systems are racist, no matter whether you are looking at the US or Germany (or the UK, France and many others for that matter), but the extent of it still surprises […] Read more

Literary Field Kaleidoscope | Goldsmiths, University of London

Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing – Online Launch Coming Up

25. May 2020Sandra van LenteNewsacademic research, inclusion, live conversations, publishing industry, report, Rethinking 'Diversity', UK

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

Common People –
“We’ve had enough and we are coming”

1. May 2020Sandra van LenteNews, Reviewarts funding, class, Common People, diversity, industry, Kit de Waal, literature development organisations, working-class

(The quote in the title is from the poem “Tough” by Tony Walsh (aka Longfella), published in Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers, ed. by Kit de Waal (Unbound, 2019).) On International Workers Day 2019, the anthology Common People was launched (first in a pub, then at the […] Read more

Book News April 2020

27. April 2020Gesa StedmanAllgemein, Column, News, Overviewbooker prize, indie bookshops, publishing, reading, translation; distribution; Nibbies; imprint;, Women in Publishing

Gesa Stedman rounds up the most recent news from the literary field in the UK and in Germany, from Corona-affected bookshops Read more

Bookshops & the Literary Field in the Time of Corona

2. April 2020Sandra van LenteNewsBerlin, book club, bookhops, bookshop crawl, creative industries, London, online, podcasts, readings, virtual

Just when I thought I could write a little something about how bookshops and literary event organisers deal with the current situation, I came across a short article by Clare Thorp who wrote about how bookshops in different countries find ways to still sell books into their communities and beyond […] Read more

Literary Field Kaleidoscope | Indiebookday2020

Happy indiebookday!

21. March 2020Sandra van LenteIndie Publisher, Newsindie publishers, indiebookday, UK

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