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.
In the Media is taking a break over the summer and will return mid-September. (This is for a number of personal reasons.) Thanks to everyone who reads and shares the round-up and articles from it every fortnight and to all those fantastic women writers whose work I have the privilege of sharing.
The news has moved so quickly the past fortnight that I’ve struggled to keep up. Right now there’s nowhere to begin but with Brexit. Huge amounts of commentary: Lynsey Hanley, ‘Divided Britain‘ in The LRB; Zoe Williams, ‘Nigel Farage’s victory speech was a triumph of poor taste and ugliness‘; Emily Tierney, ‘‘I Bregrexit’: I voted for Brexit – and now I realise what a terrible mistake I made‘ in The Independent; Jeanette Winterson, ‘We need to build a new left. Labour means nothing today‘ in The Guardian; Carol Ann Duffy, ‘Poets on tour: ‘the UK has been torn in two like a bad poem’‘ in The Guardian
And concerns from women of colour: Lola Okolosie, ‘These are scary times for people of colour. It’s time for a big conversation‘ in The Guardian; June Eric-Udorie, ‘Thanks to Brexit, I’m afraid to be a young black woman in Britain‘ on Fixit; Bridget Minamore, ‘Was the EU a rare “safe space” for a young woman of colour?‘ on The Pool; Bim Adewunmi, ‘Why Brexit Has Broken My Heart‘ on Buzzed; Anita Sethi, ‘On being a brown-skinned Brit in a post EU referendum world‘ on The Pool; Maya Goodfellow, ‘“I’ve never felt less welcome in this country”‘ on Media Diversified; Chimene Suleyman, ‘I am the proud child of an immigrant and I have experienced hate and racism this week‘ on The Pool; Joy Goh-Mah, ‘Why calls for Londependence display not elitism, but a deep-seated fear‘ on Media Diversified.
The week before the vote, MP Jo Cox was murdered on her way to her constituency surgery. Lucy Powell, ‘My friend Jo Cox was a force of nature. We must serve her memory well‘ in The Guardian; Doreen Lawrence, ‘Honour Jo Cox by meeting division with compassion – and anger with love‘ in The Guardian; Marina Hyde, ‘So Britain, are you ready to enter the United Kingdom of Ukip?‘ in The Guardian; Laurie Penny, ‘Britain’s Breaking Point‘ in the New Statesman; Chimene Suleyman, ‘Britain has confused social sociopathy for economic debate‘ on Media Diversified; Polly Toynbee, ‘The mood is ugly, and an MP is dead‘ in The Guardian.
Prior to this there was the attack on LGBT nightclub Pulse in Orlando. Eleanor Margolis, ‘After the Orlando attack, Pride matters more than ever‘ in the New Statesman; Olivia Laing, ‘On the Orlando shooting and a sense of erasure‘ in The Guardian; Tanya Byrne, ‘“I am a lesbian,” I told my brother after Orlando‘ on The Pool; Rebecca Traister, ‘After Orlando, It’s Clearer Than Ever: This Election Is a Civil War‘ in The Cut; Morgan Cohn, ‘What the Orlando Nightclub Pulse Meant to Me As a Queer Teen‘ on The Cut; Una Mullally, ‘Orlando killings are an attack on all LGBT people‘ in The Irish Times; Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Orlando, and how radical Islamist beliefs, irresponsible gun laws and homophobia came together‘ on The Pool.
In the aftermath of both shootings, poems went viral on social media: Katy Waldman, ‘“Good Bones” Poet Maggie Smith on Watching Her Poem Go Viral in the Wake of the Orlando Shooting‘ on Slate; Charlotte Runcie, ‘Jo Cox and Philip Larkin’s The Mower: why internet mourners turn to poetry‘ in The Telegraph.
In happier news, women have been dominating the prizes again. Lisa McInerney clocked up a second win for The Glorious Heresies with the Desmond Elliott Prize. She’s interviewed on The Pool. Sarah Crossan added the Carnegie Medal to her haul for One. Margaret Atwood was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize; Claire Fuller won the Royal Academy and Pin Drop Short Story Award 2016, Abiola Oni was announced as the winner of the BAME Short Story Prize and female poets dominated the Forward Prize poetry shortlists.
The best of the rest:
On or about books/writers/language:
- Juliet Annan, ‘The Unvarnished Truth‘ on Anita Brookner on Waterstones’ Blog
- Deborah Moggach, ‘I try not to look at property porn, but the flesh is weak’ in The Guardian
- Terrence Rafferty, ‘Women Are Writing the Best Crime Novels‘ in The Atlantic
- Barry Forshaw, ‘Are we in a new Golden Age of women crime writers? The five new crime novels you must read‘ in The Independent
- Aisling Twomey, ‘Re-Climbing the Magic Faraway Tree‘ on BookRiot
- Emily Anderson, ‘Little House and the Art of Hiding Your Feelings‘ in The Atlantic
- Emma Cline, ‘My life before writing: on being a child actor‘ in The Guardian
- Nina Stibbe, ‘My life before writing: on an ambition to work in a sawmill‘ in The Guardian
- Margo Jefferson, ‘My life before writing: on musical theatre‘ in The Guardian
- Claire Armitstead, ‘Covers Story: Why are there so many new publishing imprints?‘ in The Guardian
- Kimberly Williams, ‘The Poem Believes that #Black Lives Matter‘ on Drunken Boat
- Laura Miller, ‘Fifty Shades of Shame‘ on Slate
- Michelle Dean, ‘“True Crime Addict” and the Serious Problem of Internet Sleuths‘ in The New Yorker
- Rachel Louise Snyder, ‘The Writer’s Curse, The Writer’s Blessing‘ on Literary Hub
- Rowan Whiteside, ‘Pretty maids all in a row‘ in Standard Issue
- A. Igoni Barrett, ‘Meeting Nadine Gordimer‘ on Catapult
- Carmen Maria Machado, ‘I Know What I Read that Summer‘ in The New Yorker
- Ruff Thorpe, ‘Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid‘ on Vela
- Felix Kent, ‘Discovering Emma Lathen: On Fear, Family, and Comfort Reading‘ in The Toast
- Rebecca Onion, ‘Where Is the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of Gun Control?‘ on Slate
- Anthony Madrid, ‘On a Certain Epigram by Anna Akhmatova‘ in The Paris Review
- Louise Adams, ‘Is ‘devouring’ books a sign of superficiality in a reader?‘ on Aeon
- Alison Flood, ‘Why Books Are a Love Magnet‘ in The Guardian
- Louise O’Neill, ‘Readers tell me my book showed them that being raped wasn’t their fault‘ in The Guardian
- Rachel Cooke, ‘Anita Brookner’s rare and welcome take on old age‘ in The Guardian
- Deena Goldstone, ‘“What we talked about was the work”: The nourishing intimacy of the writer-mentor relationship‘ on Salon
- Elizabeth Harper ‘Our Adored Cadavers‘ on Hazlitt
- Simon Doonan, ‘Valley of the Dolls at 50‘ on Slate
- Carol Ann Duffy, ‘Five poets go on tour: Carol Ann Duffy’s travel diary begins‘ in The Guardian
- Eleanor Wasserberg, ‘Foxlowe and the Summer Solstice‘ on 4th Estate
- Deborah Smith, ‘Publishing is an industry, but translation is a community‘ in The Independent
- Claire Hennessy, ‘I Never Had an Eating Disorder‘ on The Coven
- Leesa Cross-Smith, ‘Reading Lately‘ on The Collapsar
- Isabel Costello, ‘What The French Taught Me About Sex‘ in Red
- Belle Boggs, ‘Writer, Mother, Both, Neither‘ on Literary Hub
- Megan Abbott, ‘Remembering Lois Duncan, the queen of the young adult thriller novel‘ in The Guardian
- Emma Kennedy, “My younger self snogged boys like it was going out of fashion” in The Telegraph
- Zoe Williams, ‘Feminism, but not as we know it … 50 years of Valley of the Dolls‘ in The Guardian
- Tiffani Willis, ‘Book Journals: The Perfect Place for Messy and Incoherent Ramblings‘ on BookRiot
- Catherine Johnson, ‘The books world is a massive diversity fail – here’s how we change it‘ in The Guardian
- Keri Walsh, ‘The Horrors and Pleasures of Translating Ulysees‘ on Literary Hub
- Zadie Smith, ‘On The Young Writer Who Teaches Her Everything‘ in Elle
- Lottie Whalen, ‘Mina Loy’s Decorative, Domestic Modernism‘ on Women Are Boring
- Bernadette Murphy, ‘Road Tripping While Female‘ on Literary Hub
- Laura Turner, ‘Created in Her Image: The conservative politics of Joan Didion‘ in The Hairpin
- Michelle Nijhuis, ‘What ‘Frankenstein’ Says About Climate Change‘ on The Atlantic
- Jenny Downham, ‘I hope readers will be less afraid of dementia after reading Unbecoming‘ in The Guardian
- Danielle Dutton, ‘On editing Joanna Walsh’s Vertigo‘ in The Irish Times
- Jonathon Sturgeon, ‘The Novel That Took Marguerite Duras to the Edge of Fiction and Sanity‘ on Flavorwire
- Elaine Showalter, ‘Bring out the cardies and cocktails – it’s time we celebrated Dallowday‘ in The Guardian
- Ainehi Edoro, ‘Why Chinelo Okparanta’s Lesbian Fiction Award Win is Significant for African Literature‘ on Brittle Paper
- Susan Fletcher, ‘Van Gogh and the Ordinary‘ on Virago
- Miranda Popkey, ‘The Trouble of Rational Thought: How Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai cultivates ambition in its readers‘ in The Paris Review
- Flynn Berry, ‘When Your Research Starts to Terrify You‘ on Literary Hub
- Alana Massey, ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Empty My Shelves‘ on Literary Hub
- Sarah Parker, ‘White Heart-Flame of Polished Silver: Amy Lowell and Mary Meriam‘ in The Critical Flame
- Cody Delistraty, ‘Maylis de Kerangal: France’s Unlikely Literary Rebel‘ on The Millions
- Patricia A. Matthew, ‘Black Like Me? Or, How I Learned to Embrace My Inner Emma‘ in The Toast
- Kathy Lette, “After years of loveless sex, Emily Brontë taught me what I really wanted in bed”in Stylist
- Gaiutra Bahadur, ‘How could I write about women whose existence is barely acknowledged?‘ in The Guardian
- Emma Lee Moss, ‘‘New York problems’: literature puts a city on the couch‘ in The Guardian
Personal essays/memoir:
- Ana Castillo, ‘When Two Feminists of Color Fall in Love‘ on Literary
- Chitra Ramaswamy, ‘Expecting: On Pregnancy, Metaphor, Pain and Joy‘ on For Books’ Sake
- Judith Freeman, ‘An Outlier in Ogden: on Growing Up Mormon‘ on Literary Hub
- Ariel Leve, ‘An Abbreviated Life‘ on Literary Hub
- Esmé Weijun Wang, ‘Memento Mori‘ on Catapult
- Emma Straub, ‘Elliott Smith, Either/Or‘ in The Paris Review
- Miranda Sawyer, ‘My Middle-Age Dread‘ in The Guardian
- Crissy Van Meter, ‘A Dear Friend‘ on Catapult
- Kristen M. Ploetz, ‘The Elucidating Light of a Missed Sunset‘ on Gravel
- Jane Eaton Hamilton, ‘Infarct, I Did‘ on The Rumpus
- Emma Jacobs, ‘Growing up with two fathers: a dad and a stepdad‘ on The Pool
- Jessica Woodbury, ‘Me, Lois Duncan, and the Middle School Library‘ on BookRiot
- Christy Wampole, ‘Fathers Who Leave and Fathers who Return‘ on Literary Hub
- Gretchen Marquette, ‘My Father’s Unexpected Poetic Life‘ on Literary Hub
- Allison Wright, ‘Dive Bars and Card Games with Dad‘ on Literary Hub
- Ysabelle Cheung, ‘Hearing Sculptures, Seeing Sounds‘ on Catapult
- Akin Kumarasamy, ‘Shade‘ on Guernica
- Karen Palmer, ‘The Reader Is the Protagonist: Exiting a Horror Story‘ on VQR
- Nadine Sander Green, ‘Disappearing Into The Wind‘ in Hazlitt
- Robin Wasserman, ‘What It’s Like To Write About Your Best Friend’s Death‘ on Buzzfeed
- Louise O’Neill, ‘My dad raised me to be a warrior, not a princess, and for that, I am forever grateful‘ in The Irish Times
Feminism:
- Asma’u Shaheedah, ‘On Shame‘ on Ezibota
- Marianne Cooper, ‘Why Women (Sometimes) Don’t Help Other Women‘ in The Atlantic
- Dorthe Nors, ‘On the Invisibility of Middle-Aged Women‘ on Literary Hub
- Alana Semuels, ‘Women Take Over the Family Farm‘ in The Atlantic
- Laura Miller, ‘A Second Look at the Second Wave‘ on Slate
- Rebecca Donner, ‘Blaming the Victim‘ on Slate
- Nancy Uddin, ‘How I Made Space for Feminism in My Relationship with My Desi Parents‘ on Black Girl Dangerous
- Maria Konnikova, ‘Pornucopia‘ on Aeon
- Elizabeth Day, ‘Why taking risks shouldn’t just be a man’s game‘ on The Pool
- Sarah Pinborough, ‘The Oscar Pistorius trial was strange and heartbreaking for survivors of domestic abuse‘ on The Pool
- Viv Groskop, ‘What can I learn from women 20 years younger than me?‘ on The Pool
Society and Politics:
- J.C. Pan, ‘The Dystopian Future in Which Everyone Is the Boss‘ on Literary Hub
- Stephanie Barton, ‘In the Service of the Sun‘ in Guernica
- Ann Friedman, ‘Obama’s Legacy for Women Shows a Feminist President Is Not Enough‘ on The Cut
- Hannah Jewell and Gena-mour Barrett, ‘How To Hire More White Men For Your Office‘ on Buzzfeed
- Jennifer Gonnerman, ‘Home Free: How a New York state prisoner became a jailhouse lawyer, and changed the system‘ in The New Yorker
- Roxane Gay, ‘White Crime: On race, crime, and Brock Turner‘ on Lenny Letter
Film, Television, Music, Art, Fashion and Sport:
- Naomi Fry, ‘In the Restroom at the Walter Reade Theater‘ in The Paris Review
- Ilana Masad, ‘The Forgotten Queer Woman Who Revolutionized Radio‘ on Broadly
The interviews/profiles:
- Miranda Sawyer in The Telegraph
- Jessie Burton in The Observer
- Annie Proulx in The New York Times and on Foyles
- Cynthia Ozick in The New York Times
- Yoko Tawada in Aesop
- Toni Morrison in Elle and on Publishers Weekly
- Sareeta Domingo on Gal-Dem
- Sarah Perry and Amy Liptrot on Caught by the River
- Anna Noyes on Electric Literature
- Lionel Shriver on Literary Hub
- Ariel Levy in The New York Review of Books
- Maile Meloy on Hazlitt
- Kaitlyn Greenidge on Salon
- Joanna Walsh in The Irish Times and the Irish Examiner
- Rebecca Schiff on Lilith
- Sally Rooney and Joanna Walsh in Granta
- Misan Sagay in The Guardian
- Helen Phillips on Necessary Fiction
- Emma Cline in The New York Times
- Melissa Broder in Brooklyn Magazine
- Dorthe Nors in Bomb Magazine
- Natasha Walter in The Observer
- Stephanie Danler in The New York Times
- Nuala O’Connor and Siobhan Mannion on Granta
- Angela Flournoy on Mary Review
- Jill Dawson on Foyles
- Louisa Treger on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
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
- Jendella Benson on Media Diversified
- Books by Women We’d Love to See in English on Literary Hub
The Writes of Womxn 