In the Media: October 2015, Part One

Posted on October 18, 2015 by naomifrisby

In the media is a fortnightly round-up of features written by, about or containing female writers that have appeared during the previous fortnight and I think are insightful, interesting and/or thought provoking. Linking to them is not necessarily a sign that I agree with everything that’s said but it’s definitely an indication that they’ve made me think. I’m using the term ‘media’ to include social media, so links to blog posts as well as traditional media are likely and the categories used are a guide, not definitives.

In the media is back in a slightly altered format. You might have spotted a change in the opening paragraph – this feature will now appear fortnightly rather than weekly. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be bigger than it was before, however. When I started this feature, the plan was to focus on fiction writers with published books but as I started to read more widely, I realised how many brilliant women columnists and features writers there are and it seemed ludicrous not to include them. I want to keep supporting them so you’ll notice as you scroll down that I’ve reduced the number of categories but I’ve added a regular columnists category to link to those writers who are consistently good/interesting.

This fortnight’s been all about whitewashing. First there was the Sufragette film which ignored any women of colour involved in the movement. Anita Anand asks ‘Were the Suffragettes racist?‘ in the Telegraph. Victoria Massie tells us about ‘3 black women who fought on the front lines for women’s suffrage‘ on NTRSCTN and a piece on Asian Suffragettes on British Protest at Home and Abroad was highlighted. Eesha Pandit writes, ‘The discomfiting truth about white feminism: Meryl Streep, Amy Poehler & the movement’s long history of racial insensitivity‘ on Salon while Henna Zamurd Butt asks, ‘So Nadiya won the Great British Bake Off, why the big deal?‘ on Media Diversified and Nadia Shireen says, ‘Why the world needs more Nadiyas‘ in The Pool.

And then there was Meg Rosoff who said,“there are not too few books for marginalised young people”. This came at the same time Leila Rasheed posted, ‘A New Scheme Hopes to Promote BME Voices in Children’s Literature‘ on The Asian Writer. Responses to Rosoff came from Camryn Garrett, ‘this is how the industry lives now: five signs that you might be suffering from white privilege’ on For all the Girls Who Are Half Monster; Edi Campbell, ‘SundayMorningReads‘ on Crazy QuiltEdi (whose Facebook page is where Rosoff made her comment); Kaye M, ‘This Is How I Life: An Open Letter to Meg Rosoff‘ on Medium; Radiya Hafiza ‘Why we need mirrors in literature‘ on Media Diversified; KT Horning, ‘Spouting Off While White‘ on Reading While White, and Debbie Reese, ‘About Meg Rosoff’s Next Book‘ on American Indians in Children’s Literature, which includes an up-to-date list of responses so far. And how about this for a radical idea: ‘Is Hermione Granger White?‘ Monika Kothari answers on Slate.

Reactions to Chrissie Hynde blaming herself when she was raped continue. Ann Friedman writes, ‘We Shouldn’t Let Chrissie Hynde Off the Hook So Easily‘ in The Cut while Tracey Thorn says, ‘Chrissie longed to be one of the boys. Unlike us, she didn’t have riot grrrls‘ in The New Statesman.

Finally, while there wasn’t a female winner of the Man Booker Prize, there was a female winner of The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. Congratulations to Kirstin Innes who won for her novel Fishnet. Unfortunately, both the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize shortlists were somewhat lacking in women. Michael Caines offers an alternative all-female shortlist to the latter on the TLS while Cathy Rentzenbrink on blistering form in The Bookseller writes ‘On Noticing‘.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein), ‘on Sense and Sensibility‘ in The Guardian
Lucy Durrant, ‘Too Little Too Late: on Jean Rhys‘ on Thresholds
Jane Smiley, ‘History vs Historical Fiction‘ in The Guardian
Stephanie Butland ‘in Praise of the ‘Quiet Book’‘ on Isabel Costello’s Literary Sofa
Justine Jordan, ‘A new Irish literary boom: the post-crash stars of fiction‘ in The Guardian
Jill Bialowsky, ‘What Qualifies as Greatness: On Literary Awards Season‘ on The Millions
Erica Wagner, ‘Gossip, truth and the impossibility of biography‘ in The Guardian
Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein), ‘The Author Is Purely a Name‘ in Guernica
Alexandra Pechman, ‘It’s Complicated: on Clarice Lispector and Elizabeth Bishop‘ on Poetry Foundation
Andrea Kleine, ‘The Story of a Murder‘ on Literary Hub
Timothy Snyder, ‘Svetlana Alexievich: The Truth in Many Voices‘ in The New York Review of Books
Naomi Alderman, ‘The first great works of digital literature are already being written‘ in The Guardian
Rebecca Mascull, ‘Reading The Prime Writers‘ on Writers & Artists
Sarah Crossan, ‘How writing about conjoined twins changed the way I wrote‘ in The Guardian
Liz Windhorst Harmer, ‘How to Read Through the Depths of Postpartum Depression‘ on Literary Hub
Jessi Stevens, ‘Against Realism‘ on The Rumpus
Adrian van Young, ‘Flannery O’Connor: A Reading Primer‘ on Electric Literature
Jeanette Winterson, ‘Rewrites Shakespeare‘ on Literary Hub
Ed Vulliamy, ‘Edna O’Brien: from Ireland’s cultural outcast to literary darling‘ in The Guardian
Marlon James, ‘My Hero: Toni Morrison‘ in The Guardian
Kathryn Schulz, ‘Pond Scum‘ on Henry David Thoreau in The New Yorker

Personal essays/memoir:

Emily Eades, ‘Becoming a mother without your own mother to rely on‘ in The Pool
Tami, ‘Tears for my Mom‘ on Medium
Ali Rachel Pearl, ‘On Tinder, Off Sex‘ in The New York Times
Dorthe Nors, ‘A Wolf In Jutland: On the Writing Life in Denmark‘ on Electric Literature
Rebecca Espiloy Baroma, ‘Rainbow Chard‘ in The Offing
Virginia Pye, ‘A Woman Alone in China‘ on Literary Hub
K.L. Carr, ‘This Time Last Year: On Intimacy, Suicidality, and Abuse‘ in The Toast
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘Raised Catholic‘ in The Atlantic
Anonymous, ‘The Tech Exec With Boyfriends on Both Coasts‘ in The Cut
Sarah Manguso, ‘The Grand Shattering‘ in Harper’s
Lacy M. Johnson, ‘On Mercy‘ in Guernica
Anisse Gross, ‘Stalking Murakami‘ on Design Sponge
Pat Lipsky, ‘The Shoes Under the Art World‘ in The Awl
Bettina McKelvey, ‘Fun Ticket‘ on Okey Panky
Abby Higgs, ‘Search me: why did I go looking for my birth mother online?‘ in The Guardian
Rachel Giese, ‘It’s Not Where You Come From, It’s Where You Belong‘ in The Haripin
Sno Flo, ‘In Bruges‘ on Litro
Amanda Fortini, ‘The Great Surrender‘ on GOOD

Feminism:

Reni Eddo-Lodge ‘‘Liberation for some is liberation for none’: on women and black radical movements‘ on Verso Books
Rachel Z. Arndt, ‘The Sexism of American Kitchen Design‘ in The Atlantic
Jane Kramer, ‘Road Warrior: on Gloria Steinem‘ in The New Yorker
Anna Oudra, ‘“Stick person,” “Skinny bitch,” “Giraffe”: Stop bullying me for being thin‘ on Salon
Kai Cheng Thom, ‘Pursuing Happiness As A Trans Woman Of Color‘ on Buzzfeed
Latoya Peterson, ‘#AskHerMore: On Rihannon and interviewing black celebrities‘ on Racialicious
Rebecca Solnit, ‘The Mother of All Questions‘ in Harper’s
Bee Rowlatt, ‘The original suffragette: the extraordinary Mary Wollstonecraft‘ in The Guardian

Society and Politics:

Adia Harvey Wingfield, ‘Being Black—but Not Too Black—in the Workplace‘ in The Atlantic
Beth Alverado, ‘Water in the Desert‘ in Guernica
Molly Crabapple, ‘What Happens When Inmates in Solitary Confinement Blow the Whistle on Their Abuse?‘ in Vice
Emily Greenhouse, ‘Inside the Wesleyan Molly Bust‘ in Rolling Stone
Racquel Willis, ‘The Transgender Dating Dilemma‘ on Buzzfeed
Erika Hayasaki, ‘A Criminal Mind‘ in The California Sunday Magazine
Natalie Shure, ‘The Mystery Of Sacagawea‘ on Buzzfeed
Anne Helen Peterson, ‘The Making of John Wayne‘ on Buzzfeed

Film, Television, Music and Fashion:

Elmo Keep, ‘All You Zombies‘ in The Awl
Kate Mossman, ‘“I was killed when I was 27”: the curious afterlife of Terence Trent D’Arby‘ in The New Statesman
Claudia Rosenbaum, ‘How The Fast Times Of The Paparazzi Came To A Screeching Halt‘ on Buzzfeed

The interviews:

Ayisha Malik on The Chronicles of Radiya
Joanna Walsh on LitHub
Nancy Fraser in The New York Times
Sarah Weinman in The Los Angeles Review of Books
Lauren Groff in Vice
Molly Gaudry and Kristina Marie Darling on Critical Flame
Claudia Rankine Part One and Part Two on Literary Hub
Marilynne Robinson interviewed by Barack Obama (yes, you read that correctly) in The New York Review of Books
Ann Beattie on The Millions
Vendela Vida on Bookanista
Beth Miller Part One and Part Two on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
Rainbow Rowell on The Toast
Valynne E. Maetani on Heidicker Writes
Katherine Applegate in The Guardian
Juliet Jacques on Salon
Margaret Atwood on Hazlitt
Louise O’Neill in The New Statesman
Gloria Steinem in The Guardian

The regular columnists:

Laurie Penny in The New Statesman
Lucy Mangan in Stylist
Roxane Gay in The Guardian US
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in The Independent
Caitlin Moran in The Times
Lauren Laverne in The Pool
Ella Risbridger in The Pool
Sali Hughes in The Pool
Bim Adewunmi in The Guardian (this week’s Crush of the Week is Lorrie Moore)
Sophie Heawood in The Guardian
Eva Wiseman in The Observer
Tracey Thorn in The New Statesman
Chimene Suleyman and Maya Goodfellow on Media Diversified

(Harper Lee) In the Media: 8th February 2015

Posted on February 8, 2015 by naomifrisby

In the media is a weekly round-up of features written by, about or containing female writers that have appeared during the previous week and I think are insightful, interesting and/or thought provoking. Linking to them is not necessarily a sign that I agree with everything that’s said but it’s definitely an indication that they’ve made me think. Also, just a note to make it clear that I’m using the term ‘media’ to include social media, so links to blog posts as well as traditional media are likely.

You would have had to be living somewhere with no media access since Tuesday not to know that after 55 years, Harper Lee has a ‘new’ novel coming out. Go Set a Watchman is the prequel/sequel/first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, discovered in a bank deposit box and set to be published on both sides of the Atlantic in July. There’s probably already been as many words written about the book as there are in it. Harper Lee’s/Go Set a Watchman‘s week in the media went something like this:

On Tuesday, The Bookseller broke the news, then ‘About that new Harper Lee novel…‘ was published on the Lawyers, Guns & Money blog. Vulture published, ‘Read Harper Lee’s 5 Amazing Nonfiction Pieces‘ with links to them all before Jezebel ran ‘Be Suspicious of the New Harper Lee Novel‘ and The Guardian ended the day with ‘Harper Lee to publish new novel, 55 years after To Kill a Mockingbird‘.

Wednesday began with Vulture publishing an interview with Lee’s editor which Mallory Ortberg responded to in The Toast with ‘Questions I Have About the Harper Lee Editor Interview‘. Judith Claire Mitchell wrote about her dream date with Atticus Finch on the 4th Estate website. The Atlantic published, ‘Harper Lee: The Sadness of a Sequel‘ while The Guardian said, ‘Harper Lee is excited about new book, says agent after sceptics raise doubts‘. Electric Literature came in with ‘Should We Hold the Horses on the Harper Lee Celebration?‘; Buzzfeed gave us ‘12 Beautifully Profound Quotes From “To Kill A Mockingbird”‘, while The Huffington Post ended the day with ‘12 Women On What Harper Lee’s Work Has Meant To Them‘.

By Thursday morning, Hadley Freeman in The Guardian was telling us ‘Let’s not assume Harper Lee is being exploited. Atticus Finch wouldn’t‘ and then a new statement arrived and was reported in The Bookseller, ‘Harper Lee ‘happy as hell’ with book reaction‘. The Guardian reacted to the statement with, ‘Harper Lee’s ‘lost’ novel was intended to complete a trilogy, says agent‘. Then Lincoln Michel came in with ‘Harper Lee And Exploitation In The Name Of Literature‘ on Buzzfeed, while The Telegraph asked ‘Could there be a third Harper Lee novel?‘; the Times Literary Supplement ran a piece titled ‘Harper Lee: happy as hell‘ and cartoonist Emily Flake drew ‘What Harper Lee’s Really Been Up To All These Years‘ for The New Yorker

The Huffington Post began Friday by asking ‘Is The New Harper Lee Novel A Mistake?: Author Idolatry And “Go Set a Watchman”‘, followed by Sarah Churchwell in The Guardian telling us ‘Why To Kill a Mockingbird Is Overrated‘. The Guardian also ran, ‘Harper Lee book news leaves home town surprised, bemused and sceptical‘ before Slate stated, ‘Don’t Publish Harper Lee’s New Novel, HarperCollins‘. Flavorwire went for ‘Harper Lee’s New Book: The Case for Optimism‘ and Salon started speculating on the content of the novel, ‘“Scout is a lesbian”: Some modest theories on what Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” follow-up will hold‘. The Guardian finished the day with, ‘Harper Lee and the vexed question of who owns an author’s work‘; Yahoo interviewed one of Lee’s friends, ‘Harper Lee was fine the day before sequel announced‘ and the Wall Street Journal wrapped it up with ‘Harper Lee Bombshell: How News of Book Unfolded‘.

The only news since then came on Saturday when the cover of Go Set a Watchman was revealed. Here’s Bookriot on it.

The other person to have a bit of a week in the limelight is Kelly Link whose latest short story collection Get in Trouble was published in America this week (it’s out in the UK next month). She’s interviewed on Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly and NPR Books. You can read ‘The Summer People‘ from Get in Trouble via Random House or ‘Stone Animals‘ from Magic for Beginners on Electric Literature

Elsewhere, there’s been a reoccurring theme of friendship (thanks to Longreads for pointing this out): Anne Helen Peterson wrote ‘The Genius of Taylor Swift’s Girlfriend Collection‘ on Buzzfeed; Claire Comstock-Gay wrote the story ‘I Knew I Loved You‘ published in Midnight Breakfast; Jennifer Weiner wrote ‘Mean Girls in the Retirement Home‘ in The New York Times; Meghan O’Connell wrote ‘Trying to Make Mom Friends Is the Worst‘ in The Cut; Nicole Soojung Callaghan wrote ‘Friendship and Race and Knowing Your Place‘ in The Toast; Freddie Moore wrote, ‘Is Every Unhappy Friendship Unhappy In Its Own Way? On Emily Gould’s Friendship and Lindsay Hunter’s Ugly Girls‘ on Electric Literature

The best of the rest articles/essays:

Eva Wiseman, ‘Why are creative women dismissed as ‘quirky’?‘ in The Observer
Caitlin Moran, ‘Why page 3 should go‘ in The Times
Emma Dabiri, ‘Afrofuturism: An invitation to dance, or a provocation to insurgency?‘ on Media Diversified
Diane Watt, ‘#mylgbtbooks 1-7 February‘ on Storify
Emma Healey, ‘By 16, I had already made several plans to end my life‘ in The Sunday Times
Roxane Gay on The Sacrifice by Joyce Carol Oates and writing difference in The New York Times
Caitlin Moran, ‘Caitlin Takes New York‘ in The Times
Anne Enright, ‘How the World Reads Irish Writers‘ in The Irish Times
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘Lights Out in Nigeria‘ in The New York Times
Stephanie Merritt, ‘Colleen McCullough’s obituary shows looks aren’t everything. Unless you’re a woman‘ in The Guardian
Jillian Dunham, ‘The Real Reason Women Freeze Their Eggs‘ in The Cut
Emma Claire Sweeney and Emily Midorikawa, ‘Nancy Hamilton and Helen Kellor‘ on Something Rhymed
Maria Konnikova, ‘Is Bilingualism Really an Advantage?‘ in The New Yorker
Laura Macdougall, ‘The Struggle for Equality Goes On‘ in Standard Issue
Helen Brocklebank, ‘The Jilly Cooper Cure‘ on Mrs Trefusis Takes a Taxi
Ruth F. Hunt, ‘Disability in Fiction: Would YOU Dare to be Different?‘ on The Single Feather
Barbara Taylor, ‘My Asylum‘ in Guernica
Alison Flood, ‘Jane Austen family letters offer ‘deeply personal’ insight into author’s world‘ in The Guardian
Lauren Van Den Berg, ‘Flight‘ in The Butter
Ron Rosenbaum, ‘The Other Tolstoy and the Book of Night‘ on Slate
Alison Herman, ‘Jill Soloway Will Never Be a Perfect Voice for Trans People — So Why Are We Expecting Her to Be?‘ on Flavorwire
Meghan O’Rourke, ‘Seeing Is Not Believing‘ (On Rachel Cusk) on Slate
Laura Sook Duncombe, ‘Literary Ladies Cage Fight: American Gladiators‘ in The Butter
Suzanne Ushie, ‘Lipstick, Eyeliner & Everything in Between‘ on Brittle Paper
Amanda Miska, ‘Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend’s Girlfriend on Facebook‘ in Hippocampus
Lindy West, ‘What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Seltzer, ‘We Need Diverse Books: Can Children’s Authors End Publishing Industry Prejudice — and Change the Way America Reads?‘ on Flavorwire
Kathryn Harrison, ‘The Rise of Joan of Arc‘ on Longreads
Ann Friedman, ‘The Problem With Those ‘Feminist’ Super Bowl Ads‘ in The Cut
Henriette Lazaridis, ‘Honey, Would You Read My Book‘ on The Millions
Kathryn Schulz, ‘On Wintery Mix‘ in The New Yorker
Laura Tanenbaum, ‘What Does ‘Slut’ Mean, Anyway?‘ on The Huffington Post
Elizabeth Alexander, ‘Lottery Tickets‘ in The New Yorker
Lois Leveen, ‘Appropriating (F)Acts In Feminist Fiction: Excavating the Life of Mary Bowser‘ on For Books’ Sake
Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Can Theresa May make it to the top‘ in The Guardian
S.M. Hulse, ‘Is The Western Genre Still Relevant Today?‘ on Huffington Post
Sarah Smarsh, ‘Beyond the Churn‘ in Aeon
VIDA Roundtable on Misogynist Content and Editorial Responsibility
Libby Purves, ‘Alice in Wonderland: 150 years on, we still adore her marvellous adventure‘ in The Telegraph
Roxane Gay, ‘Actually Usher Baby, Shawty Does Mind‘ in The Butter

Victoria Beale, ‘“You understand it to the point that it almost tears you to pieces”: Growing Up with Mary Gaitskill‘ in the Los Angeles Review of Books
Mistress Trinity, ‘Fifty Shades of Meh: A Real Dominatrix Takes On the Bestseller‘ on Huffington Post
Laura Bates, ‘On Louisa M. Alcott‘ on Great Lives
Sara Baume, ‘Spill Simmer Falter Wither‘ on her blog
Sara Baume, A ‘cautionary tale about what it costs to be a writer‘ in The Irish Times
Jenny Erpenbeck (tr. Susan Bernofsky), ‘Homesick for Sadness: A Childhood in Incompletion‘ in The Hudson Review
Katy Waldman, ‘How the Paris Review Snagged the First-Ever In-Person Interview With Elena Ferrante‘ on Slate
Alison Stine, ‘Could Whisky Save Our Water?‘ in The Butter
Soraya Chemaly, ‘Silicon Valley sexism: why it matters that the internet is made by men, for men‘ in the New Statesman
Claire Fallon, ‘Why Everyone’s Talking About ‘The Girl On The Train’‘ on Huffington Post
Juliet Greenwood, ‘The Story That Changed My Life‘ in The People’s Friend
Laura Dattaro, ‘Bot Looks Like a Lady‘ on Slate
Sarah Seltzer and Jillian Mapes, ‘Beyoncé Says “Goodbye to All That”‘ on Flavorwire
Eva Holland, ‘“It’s Yours”: A Short History of the Horde‘ on Longreads
Shari Goldhagen, ‘Against being “sponsored”: I never wrote less than when my boyfriend supported me‘ on Salon
Linda Grant, ‘How I Won the Housing Market (Without Really Trying)‘ in The Guardian
Kaleigh Rogers, ‘Wikipedia’s Gender Problem Has Finally Been Quantified‘ on Motherboard
Sara Sheridan, ‘Literary Snobbery‘ on Women Writers Women’s Books
Frances Ryan, ‘Mind the gap: how charities are mopping up after the government’s failure to care‘ in the New Statesman
Adèle Geras, ‘Quick Reads‘ on Foyles’ blog
Sarah Ditum, ‘If you think decriminalisation will make prostitution safe, look at Germany’s mega brothels‘ in the New Statesman
Caroline Moorhead, ‘Place of Terror‘ in the Literary Review
Shawn Wen, ‘A Closer Joan‘ in The White Review
Tracey Thorn, ‘The more attention we pay to childish behaviour, the more we get‘ in the New Statesman
Amber Sparks, ‘The Internet Is a Hard Place to Be Human: Toward a Better Internet Discourse‘ on Real Pants
Bim Adewunmi, ‘Lusting Out Loud: Women, Social Media, And Desire‘ on Buzzfeed
Maria Konnikova, ‘You Have No Idea What Happened‘ in The New Yorker
Deborah Smith, ‘How Korean Is It?‘ on translating Han Kang’s The Vegetarian on English Pen
Arabelle Sicardi, ‘My Body, The Unwelcome Relative‘ on Buzzfeed
Remembering Kathy Acker on The Allen Ginsberg Project
Rob Williams, ‘Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 148th Birthday: Google celebrates ‘Little House on the Prairie’ author‘ in The Independent
Katharine Norbury, ‘Walking with my daughter, everything starts to flow‘ in The Guardian
Amy Jenkins, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey: This enters a new terrain of toxicity – and no feminist can think otherwise‘ in The Independent
Tishani Doshi, ‘In Defence of Literary Dandies and Dandizettes‘ in Open
Alison Taylor, ‘What happened when I joined Happn‘ in The Independent
Antonia Honeywell, ‘‘I lurch from one to the other’ on Motherhood and Writing‘ on One Book Lane
Katharine Norbury, ‘Pleasures of…January‘ on Caught by the River
M Lynx Qualey ‘‘Immortal’ Algerian Novelist Assia Djebar Dies, 78‘ on Arabic Literature (includes links to work available online)
Ijeoma Olou, ‘Why Don’t We Talk About Africa?‘ in The Archipelago
Elizabeth Weil, ‘What Really Happened to Baby Johan?‘ in Matter
Rebecca Traister, ‘Labor Pains‘ in the New Republic
Diana Saverin, ‘The Thoreau of the Suburbs‘ in The Atlantic
Christina Patterson, ‘I’ve found a little bit of heaven for those who’ve been in hell‘ in The Guardian
Alison Flood, ‘Laura Ingalls Wilder memoir reveals truth behind Little House on the Prairie‘ in The Guardian
Laura Bogart, ‘The Price I Pay to Write‘ on Salon
Jennifer Niven, ‘My Inspiration: Virginia Woolf‘ in The Guardian

The interviews:

Richelle Mead on Publishers Weekly
M.J. Carter on Publishers Weekly
Anya Schiffrin in Guernica
Lucy Ribchester on The GB Bookshop
Helen Lederer in The Telegraph
Katherine Heiny on Longreads
Mary Pilon in Publishers Weekly
Angela Neville in The Guardian
Sarah McGrath (US editor of The Girl on the Train) on Publishers Weekly
Excerpts from interviews with Hilary Mantel, Lydia Davis and Elena Ferrante in The Paris Review
Anne Tyler in The Daily Mail and the New York Times
Roxane Gay in Now
Rilla Askew on Longreads
Kim Gordon in GQ
Jacqueline Wilson in The Guardian
Margaret Atwood on Slate
Jennifer Clement on We Love This Book
Ayelet Tsabari on Room
Amanda Filipacchi on the Huffington Post
Miranda July in The Observer and on The Book Show on RTE

If you want some fiction/poetry to read:

The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award longlist was announced last weekend. You can read the longlisted stories, including pieces from Ann Beattie, Louise Doughty, Emily Franklin, Rebecca F. John, Yiyun Li, Elizabeth McCracken, Paula Morris, Mary O’Donoghue, Julianne Pachico, Mona Simpson, Erin Soros, E.J. Swift and Madeline Thien here.
The New Writing 2015 eBook sampler from Scottish Book Trust includes writing from Orla Broderick, Alison Gray, Ann Elizabeth Mackinnon, Juliette Forrest, Lindsay McKrell, Em Strang and Bridget Kursheed.
‘Sweetness‘ by Toni Morrison in The New Yorker
‘Co-operative‘ by Sarah Barber in Guernica
The first three chapters of Touch by Claire North
Three Prose Poems by Sharmistha Mohanty in Granta
‘What Grief Feels Like…‘ by Onomarie Uriri on Brittle Paper
‘Calcium Commune‘ by Anna Katharina Hahn (tr. Marshall Yarbrough) on n+1
An extract from The Hourglass Factory By Lucy Ribchester in The Scotsman
Poems from Her Father’s Daughter by Nessa O’Mahony
‘World Is Your‘ by Rosa Campbell on Litro

Or some non-fiction:

An extract from Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon in The Guardian

The new edition of The Letters Page was published this week including letters (fiction and non-fiction) from Rosa Campbell, Naomi Alderman, Kim Sherwood, Haisu Huang, Emma Chapman, Evelyn Conlon, Melissa Harrison and Karen McLeod.