Happy Publication Day! Today, V&Q Books officially launches its first book: Paula by Sandra Hoffmann, translated by Katy Derbyshire – the first in a hopefully long series of English translations of German books (www.vq-books.eu). The launch will be held at ocelot, not just another bookstore. It’s invitation only, but you […] Read more
Dear readers, We hope this last post before the break finds you healthy and safe. We look forward to a wee break and shall be back with new posts in due time. Two more recommendations before we go: August is Women in Translation Month, founded six years ago by blogger […] Read more
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
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
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
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
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
(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
Gesa Stedman rounds up the most recent news from the literary field in the UK and in Germany, from Corona-affected bookshops Read more
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
