In the Media, April 2016, Part Two

Posted on April 17, 2016 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 as traditional media are likely and the categories used are a guide, not definitives.

It’s the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth. Contributors including Sarah Waters, Margaret Drabble and Jeanette Winterson reflect on Jane Eyre in The Guardian; Samantha Ellis wrote about ‘The Greatest Heroines of All Time‘ on the BBC, and Sam Jordison asked, ‘Reading Jane Eyre: can we truly understand Charlotte Brontë or her heroine today?‘ in The Guardian. The Brontë Blog is doing an excellent job of curating everything and well worth having a look at.

The Guardian commissioned some research into the 70 million comments which have been left on its website since 2006. The results revealed that while the highest commenters are white men, the most abuse was left on articles by eight women writers and two male writers of colour. The only people who seemed surprised were white men. It’s great to have statistical evidence in support of this but listening to female writers and male writers of colour and acting on it might be a good idea too. Jessica Valenti, the most targeted writer wrote, ‘Insults and rape threats. Writers shouldn’t have to deal with this‘.

Andrew Piper and Richard Jean So decided to carry out some analysis regarding the words used in book reviews of books by male and female writers, ‘Women Write About Family, Men Write About War‘ in the New Republic details their findings.

The Baileys’ Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist was announced this week. Hanya Yanagihara has ‘A Little Life – A Photo Story‘ on the Picador Blog; Anne Enright, Elizabeth McKenzie, Hanya Yanagihara and Lisa McInerney are interviewed on the Baileys’ Prize blog, along with longlistees Shirley Barrett, Vesna Goldsworthy, Becky Chambers, Julia Rochester and Kate Atkinson. Some of us (myself included) were shocked that Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins failed to make the shortlist, Eleanor Franzen considers why on Litro.

And in Australia, the Miles Franklin literary award longlist was announced with books by women taking five of the nine slots.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Gillian Flynn, ‘The book that inspired Gone Girl‘ in The Guardian
Hilary Mantel, ‘My Writing Day‘ in The Guardian
Curtis Sittenfeld, ‘Most romances are badly written‘ in The Telegraph
Alison Flood, ‘Miss Peregrine author returns with illustrated collection of fairytales‘ in The Guardian
Jonathon Sturgeon, ‘On a Strong 2016 Man Booker International Shortlist, Ferrante Still Looks Like a Sure Thing‘ on Flavorwire
Harriet Brown, ‘Leave Peter Rabbit Alone‘ in The Guardian
Robert Gottlieb, ‘Brilliant, Troubled Dorothy Parker‘ in The New York Review of Books
Samantha Powell, ‘Fifteen Years Later, Bridget Jones Is Still Teaching Me to Embrace Imperfection‘ on The Cut
Lynn Steger-Strong, ‘Reader-Based‘ on Catapult
Tanya Gold, ‘Working as a diarist meant not caring about the people you hurt‘ in The New Statesman
Alana Massey, ‘Climbing Mount Sontag‘ in Hazlitt
Alexandra Alter, ‘Curtis Sittenfeld Is No Jane Austen, But She’s O.K. with That‘ in The New York Times
Louisa Thomas, ‘The Conflicted Early Feminism of Louisa Catherine Adams‘ on Literary Hub
Hilton Als, ‘Immediate Family: Maggie Nelson’s Life in Words‘ in The New Yorker
Michelle Dean, ‘The Wreck: Adrienne Rich’s feminist awakening, glimpsed through her never-before-published letters.‘ in New Republic
Kim Brooks, ‘A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Mom‘ in The Cut
Anya Groner, ‘Space Tourism in Modern Storytelling‘ on Electric Literature
Natasha Carthew, ‘I didn’t see working class identity in books when I was growing up, and I don’t see enough now‘ in The Guardian
Rumaan Alam, ‘Why Wasn’t Great American Novelist Jane Smiley on the Cover of a Magazine?‘ in Literary Hub
Elena Sheppard, ‘Why I’ve been reading and re-reading “Bridget Jones’s Diary” for 20 years‘ on Hello Giggles
Daisy Buchanan, ‘How to buy the perfect book for someone else‘ on The Pool
Esme Weijun Wang, ‘Why My Novel Uses Untranslated Chinese‘ on Literary Hub
Diane McWhorter, ‘Harper Lee, the National Antidote‘ on Slate
Bridget Read, ‘On Maggie Nelson’s The Red Parts, Ten Years Later’ on Literary Hub
Anne K. Yoder, ‘Fiction Must Be Fed: On Margaret Cavendish, Frida Kahlo, and Marie Curie‘ on The Millions
Lindsay Merbaum, ‘Not a Real Writer: How Self-Doubt Holds Me Back‘ on Electric Literature
Laura Miller, ‘I’ll Be There for You: The difficult, dangerous task of writing about a friend‘ on Slate
Melissa Chadburn, ‘The Girl in the Cabinet (I Read What You Wrote and I Hate You)‘ on Electric Literature
Hannah Gersen, ‘Gluten-Free Proust‘ on The Millions
Fatima Bhutto, ‘My Grandfather’s Library, Relic of a Freer Pakistan‘ on Literary Hub
Ann Patchett, ‘The Bookstore Fights Back‘ on Literary Hub
Anne Boyd Rioux, ‘Women Writers You Should Know: Constance Fenimore Woolson‘ in The Toast
Ainehi Edoro, ‘How not to talk about African fiction‘ in The Guardian
Jesse Crispin, ‘The Self-Hating Book Critic‘ on Copper Nickel
Clare Warner, ‘‘Her nose was straight with a soft tip at the end’ — Writing Race at School‘ on Media Diversified
Caroline Criado-Perez, ‘I realised I’d been sold a lie about women’ in The Guardian
John William Walker Zeiser, ‘The Unsettling Gaze of Han Kang: Examining Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and Human Acts‘ on Electric Literature
Lynnette Lounsbury, ‘I loved the beat generation. Then I realised it has no place for women‘ in The Guardian

Personal essays/memoir:

Kat Lister, ‘Saying “No” doesn’t have to be negative‘ on The Pool
Marina Lucic, ‘Lessons on Hate‘ in Litro
Lauren Libbert, ‘Losing my mother, then losing the music that could soothe after she’d gone‘ on The Pool
Maggie Thach Morshed, ‘Shooting in the Dark‘ on Catapult
Meagan O’Connell, ‘How Did I Wind Up a Housewife in Paradise?‘ on The Cut
Lydia Kiesling, ‘Throwing Away the Most Beautiful Dress I Ever Owned‘ on The Cut
Lorena Piñeiro, ‘Penance‘ in Midnight Breakfast
Faith Adiele, ‘All of the Above‘ on The Rumpus
Mega Majumdar, ‘Laughter as Criticism‘ in Guernica
Lily Gutierrez, ‘Peaches and Melisande‘ on Motherland
Lynsey Hanley, ‘How I became middle-class‘ in The Guardian
Kate Gavino, ‘A Band Named Hotdog A Band Named Hotdog A Band Named Hotdog‘ on Catapult
Clare Archibald, ‘Congealed‘ on The Real Story
Kate Bolick, ‘Afterlives: My Mother’s Breast Cancer, and My Own‘ in The New Yorker
Kathryn Harrison, ‘On the Impossibility of Seeing Yourself‘ on Literary Hub
Penny Anderson, ‘What it feels like to do your make-up when you’re blind‘ on The Pool
Soraya Chemaly, ‘Listening to Old Women‘ in The Toast
Melissa Broder, ‘How I Discovered the Power of a Hot-Pink Fake Penis‘ in The Cut
Anissa Helou, ‘Before the War: The Lost Delicacies of Aleppo‘ on Literary Hub
Heather Havrilesky, ‘My Wedding Was a Disaster, and Yours Will Be, Too‘ on The Cut

Feminism:

Revati Upadhya, ‘I’m A Woman Who Doesn’t Have Or Want Kids, And I’m Happy‘ on Buzzfeed
Fariah Roísín, ‘In My Image‘ on Maisonneuve
Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Who would think any good could come from an MP calling a woman ‘totty’?‘ in The Guardian
Marisa Bate, ‘The everyday bravery of being a woman‘ on The Pool
Sara Pascoe, ‘Boob jobs are viewed as a decorative tweak, but these women are self-harming’ in The Guardian
Jill Lepore, ‘The Sovereignty of Women‘ in The New Yorker
Rachel Aviv, ‘The Cost of Caring‘ in The New Yorker
Shohana Khan, ‘If Muslim women’s clothing makes them consenting slaves, who are their slave masters?‘ on Media Diversified
Siobhan Fenton, ‘Today in the UK, a woman was sentenced for the crime of an abortion – yet we act outraged at Donald Trump‘ in The Independent
Stephanie Boland, ‘Think Donald Trump’s comments are shocking? They’re the law for some UK women‘ in The New Statesman
Jesse Singal, ‘Is Attachment Parenting a Plot to Force Women Back Into the Home?‘ in The Cut
Melissa Gira Grant, ‘Heather‘ on Buzzed
Bridget Minamore, ‘Being a dark-skinned woman and the prejudices we face ‘ on The Pool

Society and Politics:

Erika Hayasaki, ‘In a Perpetual Present‘ on Wired
Catherine Buni & Soraya Chemaly, ‘The Secret Rules of the Internet‘ on The Verge
Laura Elizabeth Woollet, ‘In Search of the Darkest Cult in American History‘ on Literary Hub
Ijeoma Oluo, ‘How Teju Cole Helped Me Make Peace with the Nigerian Scam Artist‘ on Literary Hub
Elizabeth Kolbert, ‘Unnatural Selection‘ in The New Yorker
Lynn Casteel Harper, ‘On Vanishing‘ in Catapult
Elizabeth Senja Spackman, ‘Proximal Grief‘ in Guernica
Pamela Rolloff, ‘The Reckoning‘ in Texas Monthly
Rachel Vorona Cote, ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Ugly Cry‘ in New Republic
Suzanne Moore, ‘Making money is not a vice, but refusing to contribute tax is‘ in The Guardian
Paris Lees, ‘Dear Ian McEwan, your ideas about penises are outdated‘ in The Telegraph

Film, Television, Music, Art, Fashion and Sport:

Kate Aurthur, ‘How “Nina” Became A Disaster Movie‘ on Buzzfeed
Sarah Lyall, ‘Swim. Bike. Cheat?‘ on Longreads
Anna Leszkiewicz, ‘Lost and found: why are we obsessed with stories of young women escaping their kidnappers?‘ in The New Statesman
Marie Phillips, ‘Kimmy Schmidt, and the unmitigated joy she will bring to your life‘ on The Pool

The interviews/profiles:

Lisa Owens in The Bookseller
Robin Black & Natalie Serber on Bloom
Maggie Nelson in The Guardian
Michelle de Kretser in Vol. 1 Brooklyn
Brit Bennett on Jezebel
Danielle Dutton in Brooklyn Magazine
Idra Novey on The Rumpus
Helen Garner in the Sydney Morning Herald
Yvette Edwards on the Waterstones’ Blog
Lynsey Hanley in The Guardian
Elif Batuman on Literary Hub
Rachel Traister on The Pool
Sara Sheridan on From First Page to Last
Janet Todd in Shiny New Books
Sharon Guskin in Shiny New Books
Karen Kovacik on Guernica
Caitlin and Caz Moran on The Pool
Maylis de Kerangal in BOMB
Sophia Bennett in The Guardian
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney on Literary Hub
Danielle McLaughlin on Short Fiction
Jenny Downham on The Bookseller

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
Sophie Heawood in The Guardian
Eva Wiseman in The Observer
Tracey Thorn in The New Statesman
Chimene Suleyman and Maya Goodfellow on Media Diversified
Josie Pickens on Ebony
Bridget Christie in The Guardian
Lizzy Kremer on Publishing for Humans
Juno Dawson in Glamour
Kashana Cauley on Catapult
Louise O’Neill in the Irish Examiner

In the Media, November 2015, Part One

Posted on November 15, 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.

We’re still deep in book awards territory this fortnight with a number of winners and shortlists being announced. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the Bailey’s Best of the Best for Half of a Yellow Sun. The award prompted pieces from Alice Stride in The Bookseller, an editorial in The Guardian and Anna James on The Pool about why we still need the Bailey’s Prize.

Sarah Waters won Stonewall’s Writer of the Decade; Lydia Davis will receive The Paris Review’s Hadada Award 2016; Kerry Hudson won the Prix Femina for Translated Fiction; Roxane Gay won the PEN Centre USA Freedom to Write Award; Jacqueline Wilson won the JM Barrie Award

The shortlists include the eclectic, female dominates Waterstones’ Book of the Year Award, chosen by Waterstones’ Booksellers; The Guardian First Book Award which Catherine Taylor, one of this years judges, discusses, and The Young Writer of the Year Award (which not only has gender parity, but also an equal split between writers of colour and white writers).

Meanwhile, Arundhati Roy returned her National Award for Best Screenplay, she explains why in The Guardian and Heather Horn investigates why the Prix Goncourt has been awarded to a man 102 times and a woman 11 times on The Atlantic

Irish women have been speaking out about the Abbey Theatre where nine out of ten plays in its 2016 centenary programme are written by men. Emer O’Toole writes about the reaction in The Guardian and Ellen Coyne in The Irish Times while Dr Susan Liddy, academic at the University of Limerick, writes ‘Women and the Irish film industry‘ to The Irish Times.

And if you only read one thing from this fortnight’s list, I highly recommend Jacqueline Rose’s essay, ‘Bantu in the Bathroom: on the trial of Oscar Pistorius‘ in The LRB.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Sinéad Gleeson, ‘The books that understand female friendship‘ on The Pool
Tara Sparling, ‘I Hate Women’s Fiction And I’ll Tell You Why‘ on Tara Sparling Writes
Samantha Gualito, ‘My Recent Experiences at Literary Events as a PoC‘ on Bookriot
Natalka Sniadanko (trans. Jennifer Croft) ‘Literature as last bastion: on suppression, solidarity and language in Ukraine‘ in The Guardian
Alissa Quart, ‘Why Doesn’t America Have An Elena Ferrante?‘ on Buzzfeed
Sarah Perry, ‘East Anglia has “never quite stopped thinking of itself as a Kingdom”‘ on Writers Centre, Norwich
Eleanor Fitzsimmons, ‘Maeve Brennan‘ on Thresholds
Huma Qureshi, ‘Writers on the pain of hindsight in publishing: ‘It’s like a bad breakup – you have to move on’‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Galo, ‘Margaret Atwood: ‘In Tolkien, there are hardly any women at all’‘ in The Guardian
Helen MacKinven, ‘Writing Black Comedy‘ on Women Writers Women’s Books
Alice Kelly, ‘An unknown First World War story by Edith Wharton‘ on The TLS
Katherine Lampe, ‘The Greatest Author You’ve Never Read‘ on Rewriting Mary Sue
Rachel Cooke, ‘There’s more to Patricia Highsmith than Ripley‘ in The Guardian
Sunny Singh, ‘On Teaching Creative Writing as a Woman of Colour‘ on Sunny Singh Online
Dawn Foster, ‘I Love Dick is one of the most important books about being a woman – no wonder it’s being dismissed‘ in The Independent
Lucy Scholes, ‘The Hidden Life of Hotels‘ on the BBC
Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, ‘The Badass Lady Pilot Who Revolutionized the Art of Food Writing‘ on Mental Floss
Helen O’Hara, ‘JLaw and Katniss Everdeen, and what they mean for young women‘ on The Pool
Dodie Bellamy, ‘Digging Through Kathy Acker’s Stuff‘ on Literary Hub
Jill Dawson, ‘Death and Texas: A journey into Patricia Highsmith‘ on the Royal Literary Fund
Lisa Hayden, ‘On Translating an “Untranslatable” Book‘ on Literary Hub
Ellen Banda-Aaku, ‘Please don’t air brush African teen fiction‘ in The Guardian
Lorrie Moore, ‘Why We Read and Write Short Stories‘ on Literary Hub
Meredith Jaffe, ‘Middlebrow? What’s so shameful about writing a book and hoping it sells?‘ in The Guardian
Herta Muller (trans. Jennifer Stern), ‘On the Poetry (and Prisoner’s Life) of Liu Xia‘ on Literary Hub
Casey N. Cep, ‘Called Back‘ (on Emily Dickinson) on The Paris Review
Chibundu Onuzo, ‘What I read growing up in Lagos‘ in The Guardian
Emily Gould, ‘I Love Dick: the book about relationships everyone should read‘ in The Guardian
Audrey Niffenegger, ‘The night is dark and full of terror…‘ on The Pool
Marie-Helen Bertino, ‘When Andre Agassi Made Me a Woman (and a Writer)‘ on Literary Hub
Gloria Steinem, ‘By the Book‘ in The New York Times
Christine L. Corton, ‘Beyond the pall … how London fog seeped into fiction‘ in The Guardian
Linda Grant, ‘Obama is right: reading is what connects us to others – even a French puffin‘ in The Guardian
Kate Tuttle, ‘What Do Writers Owe Readers?‘ on Literary Hub
Chris Power, ‘A brief survey of the short story: Silvina Ocampo‘ in The Guardian
Jennifer Croft, ‘When an Author You Translate Gets Death Threats‘ on Literary Hub
Margaret Atwood, ‘Canada: Time in the North‘ in Harper’s Bazaar

Personal essays/memoir:

Jenny Diski, ‘Who’ll Be Last‘ in The LRB
Misti Traya, ‘How does an American make friends in England?‘ on The Pool
Simone Gorrindo, ‘Tiny Little Messes‘ on Vela
Diana Athill, ‘Lessons‘ in Granta
Jean Hannah Edelstein, ‘The joy of making a brilliant friend online‘ on The Pool
Lisa Kolb, ‘The condolences end. Being a widow doesn’t.‘ in The Washington Post
Christina Tesoro, ‘Firsts— On Lusty Wrong Feelings and Falling in Love‘ on Medium
Jamilah Lemieux, ‘I Forgot To Find My Husband At A Black University‘ on Buzzfeed
Shamala Gallagher, ‘On Shining and Staring / On Ruin‘ in The Offing
Rosie Leonetti, ‘For a Single Mother, an Alternate Reality‘ in The New York Times
Marisa Bate, ‘Why no-frills walking is the best kind of walking‘ on The Pool
Meaghan O’Connell, ‘Being a Parent Makes Chores Seem Like Fun‘ in The Cut
Vanessa Vitiello Urquhart, ‘“Why Won’t Vanessa Get Pregnant?”‘ on Slate
Hermione Hoby, ‘My Haunted Honeymoon: on Getting Punched by the Ghost of Frieda Kahlo‘ on Literary Hub

Feminism:

Rose Hackman, ‘‘Women are just better at this stuff’: is emotional labor feminism’s next frontier?‘ in The Guardian
Ann Friedman, ‘The Pope and Netflix Like Maternity Leave for the Wrong Reasons‘ in The Cut
Sofie Hagen, ‘I hate women. You know the ones: skinny, blonde, who know nothing about football‘ in The New Statesman
Maya Goodfellow, ‘Exploiting Feminism for Profit‘ on Media Diversified
Fariah Roísín, ‘In My Image‘ on Maisonneuve
Lynn Enright, ‘Unravelling the damaging, unhelpful myth of “having it all” ‘ in The Pool
Rose Eveleth, ‘Why Are Sports Bras So Terrible?‘ on Racked
Geraldine Bedell, ‘Germaine Greer: still fiery, still outspoken: the feminist lioness‘ in The Guardian
Amelia Gentleman, ‘‘It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done’: the Irish women forced to travel for abortions‘ in The Guardian

Society and Politics:

Nilita Vachani, ‘The Strange, True Story of How a Chairman at McKinsey Made Millions of Dollars off His Maid‘ in The Nation
Julia Carrie Wong, ‘The Bay Area Roots of Black Lives Matter‘ in the San Francisco Weekly
Anna Pulley, ‘Why I’m Not Buying This Study That Claims All Women Are a Little Gay‘ in The Cut
Michelle Goldberg, ‘Men Explain Hillary to Me‘ on Slate
Elif Shafak, ‘‘Nationalist and religious extremists are the beneficiaries of cultural boycotts’‘ in The Guardian
Radhika Sanghani, ‘‘White girls only’: The racist reality of student night life in Britain‘ in The Telegraph
Beluah Maud Devaney, ‘So many Brits now live abroad that they’re causing immigration debates. Oh, the irony‘ in The Independent
Lynsey Addario, ‘The Displaced: Hana‘ in The New Yorker
Valeria Luiselli, ‘Trespassers on the rooftops: a secret history of Mexico City’s cultural revolutionaries‘ in The Guardian
Kathryn Schulz,’What We Think About When We Run‘ in The New York Times

Film, Television, Music, Art and Fashion:

Katie Anderson Howell, ‘Taking Comfort in Futurama‘ on The Rumpus
Deborah Orr, ‘Forget the V&A – shouldn’t Thatcher’s acolytes be trying to monetise her power suits?‘ in The Guardian
Phoebe Robinson, ‘How Daria Shaped a Generation of Women (Especially This Black Lady)‘ on Vulture
Gia Milinovich, ‘Would you ditch a handbag for proper pockets?‘ on The Pool

The interviews:

Marilynne Robinson in The Observer
Fiona Barton in The Bookseller
Spike Trotman in The Guardian
Laura Kipnis in The Cut
Audrey Niffenegger in The Independent
Karen E. Bender on Literary Hub
Gillian Flynn in Stylist and The Sunday Times (£)
Phyllis Nagy (on Patricia Highsmith and the film of Carol) in The Guardian
Peggy Riley on Rebecca Mascull’s Blog
Katy Wix in The Guardian
Attica Locke in Litro
Hannah Rothschild in The New York Times
Francesca Lia Block in Luna Luna
Edna O’Brien in The Irish Times and The New Statesman
Miranda July in The Guardian
Tara Ison on Electric Literature
Elizabeth Gilbert on Literary Hub
Jenny Diski in The Guardian
Elissa Washuta on Literary Hub
Bee Rowlatt in The Guardian
Kristin Hersh on Electric Literature
Nuala O’Connor in The Irish Times
Margo Jefferson in The Guardian
Joanna Walsh in Numéro Cinq
Jill Bialosky onBookslut
Frieda Hughes in The Telegraph
Patricia Cornwell in The Guardian
Sarah Einstein on The Rumpus
Kate Beaton in The Independent
Robin Talley in The Guardian
Carrie Brownstein on Flavorwire
Franca Simpson (founder of Calisa Press who only publish work by female Italian writers) in The London Magazine
Doireann Ní Ghríofa on Emerging Writer
Mary Gaitskill in The New York Times

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
Sophie Heawood in The Guardian
Eva Wiseman in The Observer
Tracey Thorn in The New Statesman
Chimene Suleyman and Maya Goodfellow on Media Diversified

In the Media: 23rd November 2014

Posted on November 23, 2014 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.

It’s been Ursula K. Le Guin’s week. Awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards, she gave a widely praised speech about the need for freedom. You can watch it here, or read the transcript here. She’s interviewed on Salon, in The Guardian by Hari Kunzru and there’s a piece on where she gets her ideas from on Brain Pickings

Arundhati Roy and Megham Daum are the women with the second most coverage this week. Roy’s in Prospect, talking about ‘India’s Shame‘ and the caste system and interviewed in The Observer, where there are plenty of unnecessary comments about her looks. While Daum is interviewed on FSG’s website, in The Guardian and on The Cut.

The best of the rest articles/essays:

Lavinia Greenlaw on her hero, Chaucer in The Guardian
Lionel Shriver, Deborah Moggach and Lisa Jewell on their parents’ marriages in The Telegraph
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse According to Margaret Atwood on Buzzfeed
Mary O’Donnell, ‘How I Write Poetry‘ on her blog
Clare O’Dea, ‘Husbands in Books, from Bad to Worse‘ on her blog
Susanna Hislop and Hannah Waldron, ‘Look to the Stars…‘ on the Waterstones blog
Christine Murray, ‘There will always be singing; an appreciation of Doris Lessing‘ on her blog
Jennifer O’Connell, ‘The World has serious mammy issues‘ in The Irish Times
Susan Lanigan, ‘On Restrained, Elegant Prose‘ on her blog
Lucy Allen, ‘The Myth of the “Empowered Woman” in History‘ on her blog
Linda Tirado, On poverty in the US and the UK in The Guardian
Alan Hollinghurst, ‘The Victory of Penelope Fitzgerald‘ in The New York Review of Books
James Wood, ‘The Trials of Penelope Fitzgerald‘ in The New Yorker
Meytal ‘If Roxane Gay is a Bad Feminist what am I?‘ on her blog
‘Re-membering Audre Lorde and Celebrating Toni Cade Bambara‘ on The Feminist Wire
Bryony Gordon, ‘Why Adele was right to ignore Bob Geldof and Band Aid‘ in The Telegraph
Amy Mason, ‘Female alcoholics need help, not vilification‘ in The Guardian
Anne Donovan, ‘Beautiful Scots Words You May Not Know‘ on Scottish Book Trust
Valerie Mendes on Oxfordshire on One Book Lane
Matthew Rosza, ‘The meme-ification of Ayn Rand‘ on Salon
Anna Stothard, ‘Objects of Berlin‘ on her blog
Valeria Luiselli’s introduction to ‘Ayotzinapa’ on Asymptote
Sarah Larson, ‘Amy Poehler’s Confidence Lessons‘ in The New Yorker
Mary Costello, ‘Where I Write‘ on Scottish Book Trust
Cynthia Haven, ‘Poet Melissa Green: Virgil would still be proud‘ on The Book Haven
Cassandra Neace, ‘Discovering the Women of SciFi: Nnedi Okorafor‘ on Book Riot
Cecily Kane, ‘I Want to be the Time-Traveler, Not His Wife‘ on her blog
Emily Gould, ‘Leave Jonathan Franzen Alone‘ in Vice
Suzanne Moore on The Hunger Games and the familiarity of the dystopian scenes in The Guardian
Lydia Millet, ‘Gather Your Acolytes About You‘ on The Millions
Anna Nordberg, ‘Dressing Like My Mother‘ in The New York Times
Elisabeth Cohen, ‘Sex and the Single Librarian‘ on The Millions
Miriam Toews, ‘The Day I Stopped Believing in God‘ on Buzzfeed
Anne Margaret Daniel, ‘The Art of Zelda Fitzgerald‘ on Huffington Post
Megan Amran, ‘How John Stewart and Stephen Colbert shaped my Comedy‘ on Salon
Claire Fallon, ‘The Shocking, Twisted Stories Behind Your Favorite Nursery Rhymes‘ on Huffington Post
Roxane Gay, ‘Bill Cosby and the rape accusers‘ in The Guardian
Sonya Chung, ‘Reflections on Julia Child‘ on Bloom
Jennifer S. Deayton, ‘Ladies Night in Hong Kong‘ in the Stockholm Review of Literature
Jonathan Gibbs, Friday Book Design Blog on May-Lan Tan’s Things to Make and Break in The Independent
Melissa Febos, ‘Against Our Own Best Time: Competition Among Writers in the Margins‘ on VIDA
‘Notes to Self‘, Authors look back at their work on The Guardian
Antonia Honeywell, ‘The View from Over the Hill‘ on the Faber Academy site
Lionel Shriver on Lammily in The Guardian
Frances Leviston reflects on Elizabeth Bishop in the Edinburgh Review

The interviews:

Celeste Ng in The Guardian
Amanda Coe in The Guardian
Margaret Drabble in The Believer
Emma Jane Unsworth in Flux
Michelle Magorian in We Love This Book
Jo Mazelis on Novel Kicks
Megan Amran on the AV Club
Elly Danica on The Butter
Helle Helle on English Pen
Claudia Rankine on Guernica
Margaret Atwood, Twitter Q&A on Harper Voyager
Andrea Levy in The Independent
Emily St. John Mandel on the National Book Foundation
Rachel Joyce in the Irish Times
Cheryl Strayed and Gillian Flynn in The New York Times
Alina Gregorian in BOMB Magazine
Marilynne Robinson on Open Book (BBC Radio 4) and on the National Book Foundation
Sarah Davis-Goff, co-founder of Tramp Press on Totally Dublin
Non Pratt on Bookends and Pages Blog
Louise Glück on Poets and Writers
Toni Morrison on The Colbert Report

If you want some fiction/poetry to read:

‘Kitty and Pussy‘ by Anne Neumann on Liars’ League
‘Alight at the Next‘ by Eley Williams in 3:AM Magazine
An excerpt from Significance by Jo Mazelis on Writers’ Hub
‘The Imaginary Road‘ by Jackie Kay on Manchester Literature Festival (click on the box on the right of the screen to download)
An extract from The Night Falling by Katherine Webb
‘Where We Must Be‘ by Laura Van den Berg on Electric Literature
Three Poems by E.C. Belli on Blunderbuss
‘Exes‘ by Joanna Walsh on Queen Mob’s Tea House

The lists:

Eliza Mariah’s Sci-Fi Round-Up on her blog
The 50 Best Independent Fiction and Poetry Books 2014 on Flavorwire
The Best Young Adult Books of 2014 in The Telegraph
Christmas Gift Books People Will Love to Find Under the Tree in Marie Claire
17 of the Most-Highlighted Quotes from the Best Fiction by Women of the Past Two Years on Bustle
Books of the Week in Publishers Weekly
Latinas for Latino Lit: ‘Remarkable’ Children’s Books of 2014 on NBC
10 More Books Set in Edinburgh on Scottish Book Trust
Winter Reading List on Stylist
10 Women Writers of LGBT YA on For Books’ Sake
75 Reasons Why Margaret Atwood Is Awesome on Book Riot
Top 5 Women Writers of the Beat Generation on For Books’ Sake (Waterstones adjust your display tables accordingly.)
The Top 10 Crime Debuts of 2014 on Crime Fiction Lover
The 25 Books Every Woman Should Read by Lisa Simpson in Stylist
If you like this book by a man, you’ll love this book by a woman on Buzzfeed
50 Writers You Need to See Read Live on Flavorwire
11 Memoirs Every Woman Should Read in Her 20s on Bustle

And the best things I’ve read this week:

Ali Hope, ‘Slamming the bedroom door‘ on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall on her blog
Isabel Rogers, ‘Truth and Fiction‘ on her blog
Claire Fuller, ‘Crab Wood‘ on Tin House
‘From Literary Protégée to Competition Rival‘, Ann Patchett and Madeline Miller’s friendship on Something Rhymed
Emma Jane Unsworth, ‘Readers love a good anti-hero so why do they shun anti-heroines‘ in The Guardian
Shauna Miller, ‘Why We Still Need Leslie Feinberg‘ on The Atlantic
Valeria Luiselli, ‘Building a New World‘ on Worlds Without Borders
Nicola Griffith, ‘Branding: It Burns‘ on The Weeklings

In the Media: 9th November 2014

Posted on November 9, 2014 by naomifrisby

It’s awards time again this week. Congratulations to Helen Macdonald who won the Samuel Johnson Prize with her stunning memoir H is for Hawk. There’s an article about it and an interview, both in The Guardian. You can also listen to interviews with all the shortlisted writers on BBC Radio 4.

While in France, Lydie Salvayre won the Prix Goncourt with Pas Pleurer.

The Green Carnation shortlist was announced this week and there are four women on the shortlist of six – congratulations to Kerry Hudson, Kirsty Logan, Anneliese Mackintosh and Laurie Penny. Prior to the announcement, Antonia Honeywell wrote her thoughts on the longlist.

The National Book Awards (UK) shortlists were also announced this week. Lots of books by women worth a read on there too.

And the Saltaire Society shortlisted a self-published book for their First Book Award, The Last Pair of Ears by Mary F. McDonough. The first self-published book to be shortlisted for a Scottish Prize.

That might make you think about Paul Kingsnorth’s novel The Wake which was the first crowd funded novel to be longlisted for The Man Booker Prize earlier this year. Well, Unbound, Kingsnorth’s publishers have announced a Women in Print campaign to try to increase the number of female authors published.

This week has also seen The Bookseller’s report on diversity in publishing – still not good enough, is the overriding conclusion.

It wouldn’t be an average week these days without a Lena Dunham story. Accused by a right-wing journalist of sexually molesting her younger sister following a confessional passage in her book, discussion ensued from Emily Gould, Katie McDonough, Mary Elizabeth Williams and Carolyn Edgar on Salon; Sarah Seltzer on Flavorwire; Emma Gannon on The Debrief; Grace Dent in The Independent. To cheer you up after that, here are 37 Funny and Inspired Thoughts from her book tour on Buzzfeed.

In more cheering news about prominent females, Mallory Ortberg, founder of The Toast, had her book Texts for Jane Eyre published in America this week. In the Los Angeles Review of Books, Sarah Mesle wrote a stunning essay/review about the book’s feminist credentials. She’s interviewed on Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post and The Guardian. And you can read an extract, 7 Brutal Literary Breakup Texts on Buzzfeed.

And the Amy Poehler stories are still going. The woman herself answers the Proust Questionnaire in Vanity Fair. Here’s 5 Unexpected Things Marie Claire learned from Poehler’s book. Jessica Valenti has (mis?) read the book and declared ‘bitchiness’ the secret to Poehler’s success in The Guardian. Also in The Guardian, Hadley Freeman told us ‘Why Amy Poehler is the Ultimate Role Model for British Women‘.

The best of the rest articles/essays:

Jeanette Winterson on the books that changed her life in The Telegraph
Meg Wolitzer, ‘Why are teenage girls drawn to books about mental instability?‘ in The Guardian
‘Finish that Book!‘, Juliet Lapidos in The Atlantic
Tracey Thorn on going through phases in the New Statesman
Dreda Say Mitchell, ‘Heroes to Die For‘ on Grab This Book
Kate Mayfield on shrouds on her blog
Erica Wagner on Rebecca Solnit and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the Financial Times
Sarah Galo on the Jennifer Egan edited ‘The Best American Short Stories 2014’ in The Guardian
‘Writers on the Titling Process‘ in The Millions
‘The Unfashionable Genius‘ on Marilynne Robinson in Commonweal Magazine
Lynn Shepherd, ‘Pushing Pamela: Book Hype, 18th Century Style‘ in The Spectator
‘Women Rise in Sci Fi (Again)‘ by Rose Eveleth in The Atlantic
Isabel Wolff on ‘The Forgotten Women of the War in the East‘ on Women Writers, Women’s Books
Ruth Margalit on rereading The Giving Tree in The New Yorker
Anakana Schofield, ‘Sorry, Mrs O’Duffy‘ on the lack of pensions for women in the Irish armed forces on the London Review of Books blog
Louisa Treger on The Page 69 Test blog, talking about how Virginia Woolf led her to Dorothy Richardson on Blog Her and discussing how it feels to be between her fictional and real worlds on Women Writers, Women’s Books
Jenny Diski, ‘Some things are best met with silence’ on her blog
Frances Ambler, ‘Punk Debunked‘ on the plagiarism claims against Vivienne Westwood
Isabel Costello, ‘My First Year as an Agented Writer‘ on her blog
Catherine Ostler on Agatha Christie’s disappearance in The Independent
Darcey Steinke’s tribute to a former teacher in The Roanoke Times
Adèle Geras on ‘finding your voices‘ on The Great British Bookshop
Sally Gardner, ‘Dyslexia and Me‘ in The Guardian
Sonal Champsee, ‘How I Started the Margaret Atwood Revolution‘ in Hippocampus
‘What to Read When You’re Not Expecting‘ on The Millions
‘What Would Jessica Fletcher Tweet?‘ on PopMatters
Lionel Shriver, ‘I was poor but I was happy‘ in The Guardian

The interviews:

Sarah Waters interviewed by Rachel Cooke about the play she’s written in The Guardian
Lindsay Hunter on Electric Literature
Jane Rawson on Annabel Smith’s blog
Roxane Gay on Phillips Exeter Academy website
Anne Fine on Gender-Biased Books on BBC Radio 4
Amy Mason on Bristol 24/7 and Scottish Book Trust
Kate Zambreno on Catherine Mavrikakis’ A Cannibal and Melancholy Mourning in The Believer
Rose Chast on her inspiration at The New Yorker festival
Jenny Offill on Book Forum
Averill Curdy in AGNI online
Laurie Penny on Flavorwire
Jill Meyers and Callie Collins on running A Strange Object independent press on Bustle
Caitlin Moran on Talking Writing
Jo Mazelis on the Seren Books blog
Mindy Kaling on ‘Writing the Michael Scott Character as a Woman’ at The New Yorker festival
Zoe Pilger in Flux
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Washington Ideas Forum on The Atlantic (you might need to scroll through the videos)
Mary Costello on The Works, RTÉ
Margaret Atwood on Mr B’s Emporium blog
Anne Lamott on Salon
Christina James’ editor (who’s also her husband) on Strange Alliances
Eliza Griswold in Guernica
Rebecca Levene on Fantasy Faction
Lynn Kanter on the PhD in Creative Writing Blog
Lydia Millet interviewed by Jonathan Lethem in BOMB
Annabel Smith on Seraglio
Sali Hughes on Get the Gloss
Anne Rice in The Independent

In translation:

Jenny Erpenbeck (tr. Susan Bernofsky) ‘Homesick for Sadness’ on the fall of the Berlin Wall in The Paris Review
Julie Winters Carpenter interviewed about translating Japanese poetry on the Asymptote Blog

If you want some fiction/poetry to read:

Juliet Jacques, ‘Surveillance City‘ on Queen Mob’s Tea House
Gillian Flynn, ‘Trouble at Osage Lake High‘ from Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing By Your Favorite Authors on Buzzfeed
An extract from Mary Costello’s Academy Street on Canongate Books
‘Stand Still‘ by Shelly Oria on Guernica
Joanna Ruocco, ‘Gallup Poll’ and ‘The Face of Things’ in Threadcount
An extract from Miranda Dickinson’s I’ll Take New York on Tishylou’s World
Bethan Roberts’ ‘Like Rabbits‘ in The White Review
‘Luz‘ by Laura Bylenok
‘Plots from the Sopranos Re-Interpreted by Lydia Davis‘ (Not really, in case that wasn’t obvious) on Hobart
Antonya Nelson, ‘Primum Non Noncere‘ in The New Yorker, which she discusses here.
The first chapter of Amanda Coe’s Getting Colder on Virago’s site

The lists:

My 5 favourite books to reread on Lonesome Reader
33 Books You Should Read Now, Based on Your Favourite Films on Buzzfeed
13 Successful First Novels by Female Writers on Popsugar
5 Stunning Debut Novels to Add to Your To-Read Pile in the Huffington Post
9 Cli-Fi Books for Teens on Scottish Book Trust
The Best Debut Novels of 2014 according to Hannah Beckerman in the Huffington Post
10 Forgotten Children’s Books (8-11) on the Scottish Book Trust site
Best Queer Characters in Fiction on For Books’ Sake
The 8 Best Under the Radar Books to Read this Fall in Vogue
12 New Books all Twentysomething Women Will Be Obsessed with This Fall in Cosmopolitan
5 YA Books That Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat on Huffington Post
13 Best Books to Read in November in Good Housekeeping
6 Things We Learned from J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter stories on Mental Floss
10 Amazing Female Novelists Under 50 on Buzzfeed
Five Challenging Memoirs by Remarkable Women Writers by Alice Jolly (who’s publishing her own memoir through Unbound – see top of the post) on For Books’ Sake

And the 13 (I tried to keep it to 10 but it’s been a very good week) best things I’ve seen this week:

Meaghan O’Connell’s ‘A Birth Story‘ on Longreads
The new Read Women bookmarks designed by Joanna Walsh, creator of #ReadWomen2014
100 Days of African Reads on Sister Killjoy’s Facebook page (runs from 10th October 2014 to 8th January 2015)
Andrea Levy, ‘How I learned to stop hating my heritage‘ in The Guardian
Ekphora, ‘A Liberating Rupture‘ on her blog
‘An Illustrated Guide to Writing People of Color‘ by MariNaomi on Buzzfeed
‘The War Is Over (If You Want It)‘ Rebecca Solnit on Tom Dispatch
Olivia Lang’s profile of Hilary Mantel in Elle
‘Notes on the Exotic‘, Andrea Lee in The New Yorker
Ann Patchett’s correction to the New York Times
Lucy Ribchester’s Pinterest board for The Hourglass Factory
Sarah Butler’s ‘Remaining Values Should Probably Be Left Alone‘ on her blog
The book trailer (it’s more of a mini-film than a book trailer) for Tiffany Murray’s Sugar Hall

In the Media: 5th October 2014

Posted on October 5, 2014 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.

Is anyone else aware there’s a film version of Gone Girl out this week? Love it or loathe it, you certainly can’t miss it. Gillian Flynn’s been interviewed by Emma Brockes in The Guardian and told Vulture about 21 Things that Influenced her books. Erin Kelly wrote in the Telegraph about Why we are all in the grip of suburban noir, while Stylist ran some Words of Wisdom from History’s Greatest Female Crime Writers and Vulture ran a list of Seven Books to Scratch Your Gone Girl Itch which are not what you might expect (I’ve reviewed four and have two of the remaining three on my TBR).

Also having a moment is Jane Eyre and her creator Charlotte Brontë partly due to The Secret Life of Books‘ episode dedicated to the book last week. Presenter of that episode, Bidisha, wrote a piece telling us Beware Your Classic Heroines as they might not be all you thought they were. Pam McIlroy wrote Is Jane Eyre passive or strong? in reaction to the programme. While Claire Hayes wrote about rereading and rethinking Jane Eyre as part of the Massive Open Online Course she’s taking. And if you can’t stand Jane Eyre (just me?), here’s Lucy Hughes-Hallet’s piece from earlier in the year about Why Villette is better.

Lots this week about gender parity or, more specifically, the lack of it. Anne Boyd Rioux wrote on her blog about the Challenge to a (Woman) Writer’s Credibility following the Washington Post’s review of Karen Abbott’s Liar Temptress Soldier Spy and on The Millions asked Is There No Gender Equity in Nonfiction? (I don’t need to remind you not to read the comments on that one, do I?) Rebecca Winson from For Books’ Sake wrote in the TES about their Balance the Books campaign, to challenge the gender divide on the new UK GCSE specifications. While Elisabeth Donnelly wrote on Flavorwire about the difference between Lena Dunham and Aziz Ansari’s Million Dollar Book Deals.

(Portrait by Jay Grabiec )

Talking of Lena Dunham (and other current high profile feminists), she’s still big news this week following the publication of her book. Roxane Gay interviewed her on Vulture and posted the outtakes. While the New York Times ran a piece on how she was turning her book tour into ‘a Literary Circus’. While the LA Times linked her with Laurie Penny to discuss how they are ‘rewriting womanhood for the 21st Century‘. Standard Issue interviewed Penny while the TLS ran a piece discussing Penny’s book alongside Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism and The Vagenda titled ‘Modern Sexism‘. And as I’ve mentioned Gay, I’m very excited by the news that The Toast have hired her to run their new sister site ‘The Butter’.

In translated literature news, there’s a great portrait of Russian writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya in The New Yorker and a piece on Chinese Women Writers by Chialin Yu on Women Writers, Women’s Books. Still the Elena Ferrante pieces continue: there’s a podcast on The New Yorker about her mysterious power and Kat Stoeffel has a girl-crush on her on The Cut. While there’s an extract of Catherine Bessonart’s forthcoming novel And if, at Notre Dame, by night, translated by Louise LaLaurie on French Culture. All the more interesting for having the original text alongside the translation. And finally, Sal Robinson at Melville House commented on the possibility of a Women in Translation prize.

I never mention poetry. It’s not because I don’t enjoy it, more that I don’t feel even vaguely qualified to talk about it. However, I’m changing that as of this week (talking about it, that is). Poet of the moment, Kate Tempest is in The Guardian talking about how rapping changed her life. This fantastic poem, Leak by Lauren Levin in The Brooklyn Rail is well worth a read. While Patience Agbabi performs the Prologue from her reworking of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

If you prefer prose, Lionel Shriver emerged as the winner of the BBC National Short Story Award, you can read ‘Kilifi Creek‘ on The Guardian site; Hilary Mantel’s ‘The Long QT‘ from The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher; the opening of Marilynne Robinson’s new novel ‘Lila’ on the Virago Books, or Bidisha’s new novel-length fiction work Esha Ex on her blog.

The best of the rest articles:

Jenny Diski’s second entry in her cancer diary in the LRB.
Olivia Laing on Loneliness on Aeon (very late to this but it’s excellent).
Alissa Nutting’s favourite bar on The Millions.
Ruth Ozeki on buddhism and her writing on The Dish.
Kate Mayfield on death on gransnet.
Emma Claire Sweeney on the friendship between Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Something Rhymed.
Kate Mosse on taxidermy in the Daily Express.
Stella Duffy on the Tories ‘Aspiration Suffocation’ (older but very worth it, as is anything Duffy writes) on her blog.
Rob Hardy on Nicola Griffith’s Hild and female identity on The Critical Flame.
Rebecca Makkai on Literary Mansplaining on Read Her Like an Open Book.
Elisabeth Donnelly on Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped and Ferguson on Flavorwire.

And the interviews:

Marilynne Robinson in the New York Times.
Kathleen Founds on Electric Literature.
Caitlin Moran in US Cosmopolitan where she discusses THAT tweet.
Jesmyn Ward (again) discussing Salvage the Bones on Writers & Company.
S.D. Sykes on Rebecca Mascull’s blog (which made me even more desperate to read Sykes’ novel).
Edna O’Brien in The Independent.
Rivka Galchen on Poets & Writers.
R.J. Palaccio on The Guardian Children’s Books’ Podcast.

This week’s lists:

The Best Sentences from Debo Mitford’s Wait for Me! on The Toast.
Flavorwire’s 10 Must Read Books for October.
Bustle’s October’s Best Books.
Seven Japanese Authors to Read (who aren’t Haruki Murakami) on BookRiot.

And my favourite pieces this week:

Anne Booth on burning books and why tackling the darkest corners of society in books is important.
Zadie Smith ‘Find Your Beach‘ on the limitless mind and Manhattan.
The new edition of Five Dials magazine, the second part of the #ReadWomen2014 edited edition. A smorgasbord of fiction and non-fiction pieces.
Marina Benjamin on her changing relationship with her daughter in Aeon.
Susan Minot on the Brown sisters’ Forty Portraits in Forty Years.

In the Media: 28th September 2014

Posted on September 28, 2014 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.

I don’t know if it’s just me but there seems to be a lot of writing about bodies this week. The Observer have a whole section on our attitudes to sex, including this piece by Helen Lewis which looks at teenage girls and cites Lena Dunham, Caitlin Moran and Bryony Gordon, amongst others.

Caitlin Moran is also interviewed on the Longreads blog on ‘Working Class, Masturbation and Writing a Novel‘. While Sam Baker focused her Harper’s Bazaar column on two excellent, just published, fashion and beauty books. They are Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton (I bought it this week and it looks fantastic), which you can hear more about on The Arcade podcast and Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes, who you can read an interview with on Get the Gloss.

And as for other points in life and bodies, Megham Daum has written about different types of parenting in the New Yorker and in the Paris Review, the New York Times obituary writer, Margalit Fox is interviewed about her work.

Feminism was headline news again thanks to Emma Watson’s speech to the UN and the launch of He for She. Joanne Harris wrote on her blog about feminism and why it doesn’t need a name change. Alison Mercer wrote about women’s silence on her blog. While Elena Adler, wrote this on banned books and women.

#Readwomen2014 is still going strong. It’s creator Joanna Walsh gave this fantastic interview to LeftLion (I’m not just saying that because I get a mention, either!); Belinda Farrell wrote this on her year of reading women, and Daily Life published this piece by Aviva Tuffield, Stella Prize executive director on why men need to read more books written by women. While VIDA ran a piece on the marginalisation of female writers, focusing on Mavis Gallant.

In writers who are very much in the spotlight, you can listen to all the BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted stories. Alison Bechdel spoke to Buzzfeed about what she’s doing next. Hilary Mantel was on the Culture Show while Sarah Ditum wrote seriously about her in the New Statesman and the Daily Mash took the piss. Ali Smith did The Guardian webchat and Elena Ferrante did the Financial Times Q&A.

Speaking of women in translation, translator Kate Derbyshire wrote this about why she wants to establish a prize for women in translation.