In the Media, November 2015, Part Two

Posted on November 29, 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.

There have been a number of powerful pieces published over the last fortnight by women about women reading books by white men and trying to please an establishment that loves white male writers. Rebecca Solnit wrote, ‘80 Books No Woman Should Read‘ on Literary Hub and Sigal Samuel responded with ‘What Women Can Learn From Reading Sexist Male Writers‘ on Electric Literature. Jennifer Weiner wrote, ‘If you enjoyed a good book and you’re a woman, the critics think you’re wrong‘ in The Guardian but the big one was Clare Vaye Watkins ‘On Pandering‘ published on the Tin House blog. On Flavorwire, Alison Herman published a response titled, ‘Claire Vaye Watkins’ “On Pandering” Describes a Specific Experience of Writing and Gender, But Has the Power to Start a Broader Conversation‘ and it did. Nichole Perkins wrote ‘A Response to “On Pandering” in the LA Times; Aya de Leon wrote, ‘In Gratitude for Claire Vaye Watkins and my own Fatherlessness as a Woman Writer‘ on her blog; Marie Phillips wrote, ‘Writers: we need to stop pandering to the white, male status quo‘ on The Pool; Katy Waldman argued, ‘Claire Vaye Watkins’ Tin House Essay “On Pandering” Has a Very Limited Definition of “Male Writers”‘ on Slate

The woman with the most publicity is Patricia Highsmith. The film of her novel The Price of Salt, renamed Carol was released on Friday (in the UK). In the New Yorker, Margaret Talbot writes ‘Forbidden Love: The Passions Behind Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt‘; there’s an interview with Phyllis Nagy, screenwriter and Highsmith’s friend on Bookanista; Frank Rich wrote, ‘Loving Carol‘ on Vulture

The Irish Book Awards were announced this week, including wins for Anne Enright, Louise O’Neill, Susan Jane White, Jane Casey, Sinead Moriarty,Sara Baume and The Long Gaze Back anthology edited by Sinéad Gleeson. While in London, the Costa Book Awards shortlists were announced.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Edwidge Danticat, ‘Best Untranslated Writers: Kettly Mars‘ on Granta
Avril Horner and Anne Rowe, ‘Iris Murdoch is ‘promiscuous’ while Ted Hughes is ‘nomadic’. Why the double standards?‘ in The Guardian
Kathleen Alcott’s ‘Ghosts of Thanksgiving‘ on Literary Hub
Mallory Ortberg, ‘A Day In the Life of an Empowered Female Heroine‘ in The Toast
Danika Ellis, ‘Every Book Should Have Queer Characters‘ on Bookriot
Leila Roy, ‘2016: All Women, All the Time (An FAQ)‘ on Bookriot
Huma Quershi, ‘How do I love thee? Let me Instagram it‘ in The Guardian
Constance Augusta Zaber, ‘Dear Cisgender People Who Write, Publish, And Read “Trans” Books‘ on Bookriot
Nick Ripatrazone, ‘Born from Books: Six Authors on Their Childhood Reading‘ on The Millions
Cathy Rentzenbrink, ‘Can reading fiction prepare us for tragedy?‘ in The Guardian
Kate Dempsey, ‘on The Space Between: poetry beyond words‘ in The Irish Times
Jennifer Maloney, ‘Betting Big on Literary Newcomers‘ in The Wall Street Journal
Vanessa Thorpe, ‘Meet Britain’s new generation of fearless young female playwrights‘ in The Guardian
Leila Aboulela. ‘How Anita Desai inspired me to write‘ in The Scotsman
Elizabeth Minkel. ‘Alone Together: At Book Riot Live‘ on The Millions
Katy Simpson Smith, ‘Motherhood, Writerhood, and Calling a Job a Job‘ on Literary Hub
Catherine Simpson, ‘Writing a woman in crisis‘ on Isabel Costello’s Literary Sofa
Nicola Skinner, ‘Why women’s diaries are the ultimate act of defiance‘ on The Pool
Doreen Carvajal, ‘Anne Frank’s Diary Gains ‘Co-Author’ in Copyright Move‘ in The New York Times
Rachel Charlene Lewis, ‘Yes, Your Writing Is Shaped By Your Identity – But What You Publish Is Too‘ on Paper Darts
Vendela Vida, ‘Highly Unlikely‘ in The New York Times

Personal essays/memoir:

Fanny Blake, ‘I went on holiday to India with my best friend and left my husband at home‘ on High 50 Travel
Guadalupe Nettel, ‘Bezoar‘ in Granta
Roxane Gay, ‘Breaking Uniform‘ on Good
Heather Seggel, ‘A Life in Boxes: What it’s Like Being Homeless for Ten Years‘ on Broadly
Alana Massey, ‘Theological Scars‘ on Hazlitt
Michele Leavitt, ‘Hidden in a Suitcase‘ in Guernica
Rebecca Giggs, ‘Whale Fail‘ in Granta
Nicole S. Chung, ‘Language Lessons: On Adoption, Identity and Loss‘ in The Toast
Neda Semnani, ‘Memoirs of a Revolutionary’s Daughter‘ on The Baffler
Nicole Miller, ‘The River Rises to Meet You‘ in Guernica
Molly Crabapple, ‘Drawn and Cornered‘ on New Republic

Feminism:

Kui Kihoro Mackay, ‘Every Day a Feminist‘ on Mama’s Junkyard
Johanna Thomas Corr, ‘Are you an unpaid emotional labourer at home, and at work?‘ on The Pool
Mira Ptacin, ‘What Happens When You’re Pregnant in Prison‘ in Elle
Holly Brockwell, ‘Desperate not to have children‘ on the BBC
Alison Gee, ‘The trouble with saying you don’t want children‘ on the BBC
Gaby Hinsliff, ‘When authorities show no respect for women, there are dire consequences‘ on The Pool
April Woolf, ‘The Feminist Asylum That Redefined Women’s Mental-Health Treatment‘ in The Cut
Rowan Forster, ‘Does Mixed-Gender Wrestling Promote Equality or Violence Against Women?‘ in Vice
Azadeh Moaveni, ‘ISIS Women and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape‘ in The New York Times
Rachel Syme, ‘Selfie: The revolutionary potential of your own face, in seven chapters‘ on Medium
Yuan Ren, ‘“There’s a huge social stigma to being overweight”: o ne woman’s account of fat shaming in China‘ in Stylist
AN Devers, ‘Good-bye, Uterus, Good Riddance‘ on Lenny Letter
Isabel Rogers, ‘“Messy or Dressy?” Meet Glossy Bossy‘ on her blog
Samira Ahmed, ‘Marriage, Margaret Thatcher & the closet of female expectations‘ on her blog
Dayna Evans, ‘On Gawker’s Problem with Women‘ on Medium

Society and Politics:

Lois Beckett, ‘How the Gun Control Debate Ignores Black Lives‘ on Pro Publica
Meghan Murphy, ‘Why don’t we talk about the pain of friendship break ups?‘ in The New Statesman
Molly Crabapple, ‘The Paris Attacks, Refugees, and the Brutal Fiction of Borders‘ on Vice
Marina Weiss, ‘#Trigger Warning: Fear and Loathing on Campus‘ on Weird Sister
Viv Groskop, ‘What (and what not) to say to someone who has lost weight‘ on The Pool
Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi, ‘Spending Review 2015: The economy should be the next big feminist issue‘ in the New Statesman
Eve Fairbanks, ‘Why South African students have turned on their parents’ generation‘ in The Guardian
Raad Rahman, ‘Will I Die a Muslim?‘ on Guernica
Laila Lalami, ‘To Defeat ISIS, We Must Call Both Western and Muslim Leaders to Account‘ in The Nation
Fay Wells, ‘My white neighbor thought I was breaking into my own apartment. Nineteen cops showed up.‘ in The Washington Post
Larissa Pham, ‘The Architecture of Racism at Yale University‘ on Guernica
Lisa Hix, ‘How America Bought and Sold Racism, and Why It Still Matters‘ on Collectors Weekly
Hanna Rosin, ‘The Silicon Valley Suicides‘ in The Atlantic
Carol Spindel, ‘A Line Through the Heart of Paris, the French Prime Meridian‘ on Guernica
Alexandra Schwartz, ‘Sunday in Paris’ in The New Yorker
Rebecca Mead, ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves‘ in The New Yorker

Film, Television, Music, Art and Fashion:

Helen O’Hara, ‘Finally, a superhero to call our own‘ on The Pool
Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Cheer up Adele, life gets better as you grow older‘ in The Guardian
Sara Pascoe, ‘Zoolander 2 isn’t just bad for trans people – it’s a step backwards for us all‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Seltzer, ‘“The Hunger Games” Strange, Simultaneously Progressive and Regressive Take on Gender‘ on Flavorwire
Lili Loofbourow, ‘The 17th-Century Breastoration: A Time Before Bras‘ on The Hairpin
Limara Salt, ‘What’s to be done about the lack of diversity in TV and film?‘ on The Pool
Maureen Dowd, ‘The Women of Hollywood Speak Out‘ in The New York Times
Anna March, ‘Suffragette and Feminist Inaction‘ on The Rumpus
Lilian Min, ‘A decade after the fact, I’m re-exploring my love of Enya‘ on Hello Giggles

The interviews:

Josie Pickens on The Rumpus
Margaret Atwood in The New York Times
Jeanette Winterson (and Marlon James) in The Guardian
JK Rowling and Laurene Laverne in The Guardian
Anne-Marie Slaughter on Salon
Mary-Louise Parker on Electric Literature
Claire Messud in the Boston Globe
Ottessa Moshfegh on Vice and inThe LA Times
Melinda Salisbury on helloiammariam
Sarah Jasmon on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
Brené Brown in The Guardian
Melissa Green on Stylus
Diana Athill in The Guardian
Yeonmi Park on the Huffington Post
Edwidge Danticat on Literary Hub
Annie Liontas on The Rumpus
Mary Gaitskill in The New York Times
Lauren Groff on Literary Hub
Cathy Rentzenbrink on Northern Soul
Angela Flournoy in The Paris Review
Jenny Johnson on The Rumpus
Sophie Collins on The Institute of Contemporary Art blog
Rainbow Rowell in The Guardian
Jennifer Egan (and George Saunders) in The New York Times
Salena Godden on Opus Independents

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

In the Media: 19th April 2015

Posted on April 19, 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. 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.

The Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist was revealed this week. Sarah Shaffi of The Bookseller reports, ‘Experience tells on Baileys Women’s Prize shortlist‘ while Anna James of We Love This Book introduces us to each of the books and invites us to read along in this video.

Other big news was London Book Fair. For readers, this means announcements about new acquisitions from significant writers. Alison Flood in the Guardian reports, ‘Age shall not weary them: Diana Athill, 97, and Edna O’Brien, 84, are stars of London book fair‘ and ‘London book fair excited by Erica Jong’s new novel‘. The Quietus reports on Viv Albertine’s new book and the cover for Patti Smith’s sequel to Just Kids was released this week, see it in The Pool. If you want a glimpse into what goes on at the fair, Antonia Honeywell wrote on her blog about the panel she was part of, ‘Promoting Debut Authors – London Book Fair 14th April 2015‘.

The woman with the most publicity this week is Evangeline Jennings who’s interviewed on The Indie View, Col’s Criminal Library, Quirky Fiction, Omnimystery News and in character as one of the narrators of her short stories, Helen Wheels on Reflections of Reality.

In this week’s Harper Lee news, ‘PRH reveals Harper Lee title page‘ reports Publishers Weekly.

And in this week’s Elena Ferrante news, if you haven’t read anything by her, she’s this week’s Bedtime Bookclub in The Pool where you can read the first five chapters of My Brilliant Friend. Also in The Pool, Viv Groskop asks, ‘Is being a bestseller all in a name?‘ and Cristina Marconi writes, ‘Elena Ferrante versus Italy‘ on Little Atoms.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Elif Batuman, ‘Reading Racist Literature‘ in The New Yorker
Alice Jolly, ‘My little girl has three mothers‘ in the Daily Mail
Sophie Gilbert, ‘Why Women Aren’t Having Children‘ in The Atlantic
Sarah Laskow, ‘The Nun’s Story‘ in Lapham’s Quarterly
Allison Pearson, ‘Sandwich Woman‘ in The Telegraph
‘Stella prize 2015: the shortlisted authors on the stories behind their books‘ in The Guardian
Amy McDaniel, ‘Frenzied, Zesty, Voracious: A Writing Exchange Between Caracas and Sarajevo‘ on Real Pants
Jennifer Moses, ‘Literary Louisiana‘ in The New York Times
Meg Wolitzer, ‘Literary Idol: on Mary McCarthy‘ in The LA Times
Tracy K. Smith, ‘What Memoir Can Do That Poetry Can’t‘ on Lit Hub
2015 Pen Literary Awards Shortlists
Nick Laird, ‘A New Way of Writing About Race’ (on Claudia Rankine’s Citizen) in the New York Review of Books
Gina Fattore, ‘How Will I Live? Fame, Money, Day Jobs, and Fiction Writing‘ on The Millions
Radhika Jones, ‘Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘ in Time’s 100 Most Influential People
Mallory Ortberg, ‘Things I’ve Learned About Heterosexual Female Desire From Decades Of Reading‘ in The Toast
Lily Meyer, ‘Literary Enemies: Ann Patchett v. Zadie Smith‘ on Ploughshares
Anna Wiener, ‘Millennials, Meet Renata Adler‘ in New Republic
Mallory Ortberg, ‘A Day In The Life Of A Fictional Female Reporter‘ in The Toast
Christina Lauren, ‘Romance Novels Are Primed To Make An Impact On Society, So Stop Calling Them “Trashy,” OK?‘ on Bustle
Mia You, ‘Recreate That Thing!‘ (on Gertrude Stein) on Jacket2
Sally O’Reilly, ‘The Mindful Writer‘ on Bookanista
Victoria Patterson, ‘Minding Other People’s Business: On Dawn Powell‘ in The Los Angeles Review of Books
Sarah Hughes, ‘Feeding the Hunger – female writers are storming the male citadels of sci-fi‘ in The Guardian
Eleanor Arnason, ‘Me and Science Fiction: What Are We, Chopped Liver?‘ on Strange Horizons
Julie Enszer, ‘“Who You Are”: On Anne Carson’s Short Talks and Reprint Editions‘ on The Rumpus
Anita Singh, ‘Agatha Christie and the book cover most foul‘ in the Telegraph
Rachel McIntyre, ‘Why it’s OK to discuss teacher-pupil relationships in teen books‘ in The Guardian
Nicky Richmond, ‘Whose Small, Unpeopled Life Is It Anyway?‘ (on India Knight’s In Your Prime) on Not Entirely Legal
Alena Graedon, ‘Print is dead. Long live print!‘ on W&N
Elisa Gabbert, ‘Inside the Mind of Poetry‘ on The Smart Set
Marisa Wikramanayake, ‘Focus on Australian Women Writers of Ethnic Heritage‘ on Australian Women Writers Challenge
Rahimeh Andalibian, ‘In My Own Words: Up in the Rose Hotel‘ on Publishers Weekly
Laura Sook Duncombe, ‘Literary Ladies Cage Fight: Battle Royale‘ in The Butter
Amanda Hess, ‘My Haters, Myself: Mastering the art of the haterbrag‘ (on Jennifer Weiner) on Slate
Sibéal Pounder, ‘My inspiration: on Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch‘ in The Guardian
Hermione Eyre, ‘on Viper Wine‘ on Waterstones’ blog
N.K. Jemisin, ‘Not the affirmative action you meant, not the history you’re making‘ (on the Hugo Awards) on Epiphany 2.0
Leesa Cross-Smith, ‘Outlander & Aye‘ on Real Pants
Lucy Hounsom, ‘Becoming part of the pattern‘ on Waterstones’ Blog
I.W. Gregorio, ‘One Asian Book is Quite Enough‘ on Diversity in YA
Rachel Billington, ‘Why I followed my grandfather’s final footsteps at Gallipoli‘ in The Telegraph
Jess Meacham, ‘An Appreciation of David Foster Wallace’s Conjunctions and Prepositions‘ on her blog
Lucas Klein, ‘Sinophone Women Write Better‘ on Paper Republic
Nabina Das, ‘Why don’t we have more women on literary award shortlists?‘ on Scroll.in
Rachel Cooke, ‘Caught in the parent trap: the fierce social politics of not having children‘ in the New Statesman
B, ‘A letter to … JK Rowling, whose words gave me a sense of home‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Seltzer, ‘Why We Should All Be Spinsters: Writers Take on a New Feminine Mystique‘ on Slate
Lynn Kanter, ‘30 Women Novelists You Should Know – #24 Emily Gray Tedrowe‘ on Start with a Story

Personal essays/memoir:

Samantha Simmonds, ‘Gone in 60 Seconds: That’s All It Takes for My Children to Turn Me From Sane Mild-Mannered Woman to Screaming Harridan‘ on the Huffington Post
Kaitlyn Wylde, ‘The Corpse of Wall Street‘ on The Rumpus
Leah Reich, ‘Will You Know It When You Get There?‘ on Medium
Sali Hughes, ‘Have you got Summer Affective Disorder?‘ in The Pool
Lucy Mangan, ‘“Why Isn’t This Holiday Making Me Miss Home?”‘ in Stylist
Sarah C. Baldwin, ‘Build-a-Bear‘ on The Rumpus
Lauren Laverne, ‘In defence of not wanting to swim with dolphins‘ in The Pool
Sali Hughes, ‘Madonna has been my life’s guiding light‘ in The Pool
Tracy Wan, ‘The Best Time I Had Alopecia‘ on The Hairpin
Annalise Mabe, ‘The Spies‘ in Proximity Magazine
D.L. Mayfield, ‘When God and Your Mom Think You’re Awesome‘ in The Toast
Bec Susan Gill, ‘The Diminishing Probability of Kanye West Falling in Love With Me‘ on Medium
Wayétu Moore, ‘Love/Woman/Thirty‘ on The Rumpus
Laura Bogart, ‘I can’t forgive my mother‘ on Salon
Awitin Mo, ‘Out of Fracture‘ on her blog
Tracy Thorn, ‘Back in front of the cameras this week – and posing doesn’t get any easier‘ in the New Statesman
Terri Schweitzer, ‘Silent Confrontations in Klamath Basin‘ on Medium

Feminism:

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, ‘Am I beach body ready? Advertisers, that’s none of your business‘ in The Guardian
Roxane Gay, ‘How to Handle Street Harassment: Don’t “Hey, Baby” Me‘ in Glamour
Bridie Jabour, ‘Hate selfie sticks, or just young women having fun?‘ in The Guardian
Suzanne Virdee, ‘Why Girls Are in Danger of Becoming Second Class Citizens and Why We Need to Act Now‘ on the Huffington Post
Rachel McGrath, ‘We Need to Talk About Sexual Harassment That Happens at Concerts and Music Festivals‘ on the Huffington Post
Heather Havrilesky, ‘Ask Polly: Should I Have a Baby or Establish My Career First?‘ in The Cut
Jessica Testa, ‘What Happens When We Treat Anonymous Stories Of Sexual Assault Like Gossip Items‘ on Buzzfeed
Sarah Ditum, ‘Nice try, Maajid Nawaz, but you didn’t go to a lapdancing club because you’re a feminist‘ on Medium
Rebecca Schiller, ‘Sheila Kitzinger was unafraid to confront female sexuality on a daily basis‘ in The Guardian
Monica Mark, ‘Chibok kidnapping: stoicism as girls taken by Boko Haram are remembered‘ in The Guardian
Malala Yousafzai, ‘Malala Letter to Chibok Girls‘ on Scribd
Maggie Stiefvater, ‘The Anatomy of Rage‘ on her blog
Samira Ahmed, ‘The girlification of TV characters’ hair‘ in The Pool
Various, ‘Why Can’t We Accept That Some Women Don’t Want Kids?‘ Zócalo on KCRW
Amy Gastelum, ‘Miscarriage or Murder?‘ in Guernica
Chantelle Fiddy, ‘We Need To Talk About Sexual Harassment In Nightclubs‘ in Mixmag
Lyndsay Kirkham, ‘…I’m No Angel…On Why We Can’t Let Fat People Be Happy‘ on Queen Mob’s Teahouse
Syreeta McFadden, ‘The lack of female genitals on statues seems thoughtless until you see it repeated‘ in The Guardian
Bidisha, ‘The exhibition and sale of Frida Kahlo’s love letters is a grubby violation‘ in The Guardian
Huma Munshi, ‘George Galloway’s comments on forced marriage are a dangerous abuse of power‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Ditum, ‘Why are we so desperate to find a genetic explanation for sex offenders?‘ in the New Statesman
Ann Friedman, ‘Women Can’t End the Wage Gap on Their Own‘ in The Cut
Jessica Valenti, ‘Male politicians always play up gender in their races. Hillary Clinton can, too‘ in The Guardian
Hayley Webster, ‘I want to be a stay at home mum…but it feels impossible‘ on her website
Sharline Chiang, ‘Could I Have Been Jailed For My Miscarriage?‘ on Buzzfeed
Alison Taylor, ‘We are irretrievably married to ourselves, for richer or poorer‘ in The Independent
Eva Wiseman, ‘The smiling face of “seaside sexism”‘ in The Observer
Donna Ladd, ‘A female president would be cool, but I’m not sold on Hillary Clinton yet‘ in The Guardian

Society and Politics:

Vanessa Mártir, ‘Color in AW(hite) Place‘ in Side B Magazine
Nicole Pyler Fisk, ‘Walter Scott, A Black Man, Was Shot To Death — But My White Husband, Also Walter Scott, Is Safe And Sound‘ on Bustle
Dhanya Nair, ‘An Open Letter to UK Politicians From an Immigrant Woman‘ on the Huffington Post
Rebecca Atkinson, ‘How David Cameron has betrayed people with disabilities‘ in The Guardian
Suzanne Moore, ‘Our art schools have become finishing schools for a wealthy few‘ in The Guardian
Parisa Tabriz, ‘Pwnd: How a Google hacker would hack you‘ on Medium
Nissa Rhee, ‘Back to War‘ in Guernica
Jessica Probus, ‘Planning For A Future We Can Actually Imagine‘ on Buzzfeed
Carolyn Asome, ‘The Style Uniform‘ in The Pool
Rebecca Mead, ‘Hilary For President: No Joke‘ in The New Yorker
Jade E. Davis, ‘Black Men Being Killed Is The New Girls Gone Wild‘ on Medium
Luba Ostashevsky, ‘Sacrificial States‘ in Aeon
Julie Chinitz, ‘Shiftiness: The Border In Eight Cases‘ on Lit Hub
Dawn Foster, ‘“Every low-paid interviewee knows their hourly rate to the penny”‘ in The Guardian
Suzanne Moore, ‘Extending right to buy is the Tories’ zombie Thatcherism at its worst‘ in The Guardian
Sultanah Parvin, ‘The Straw Man Cometh‘ on Media Diversified
Palwesha Yusaf ‘The Aid Industry: Can we really get by on doing good with good intentions only?‘ on Media Diversified
Maya Goodfellow, ‘Letting migrants drown in the Mediterranean, is this what the Tories mean by ‘British values’?‘ on Media Diversified
Deepa Bhasthi, ‘That Mallu Joke: Racism in India, and the Fear of the Outsider‘ in Kindle Magazine
Caitlin Doughty, ‘The sacred task of caring for the dead should be a normal part of life‘ in The Guardian
Theresa Brown, ‘Love, Death and Spaghetti‘ in The New York Times
Sophie Heawood, ‘Why is David Cameron so afraid of single parents?‘ in The Guardian
Susan Ferriss, ‘Virginia tops nation in sending students to cops, courts: Where does your state rank?‘ on Center for Public Integrity
Brooke Lee Foster, ‘What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school?‘ in the Boston Globe

Music, Film and Television:

Chantal Braganza, ‘Happy Birthday, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez‘ on The Hairpin
Angela Clarke, ‘How shouting spoilers at Wolf Hall shows the world has imploded‘ on The Wharf
Caroline C, ‘Why Della in Raised By Wolves is the best female character on TV right now‘ on Beamly
Lisa Peet, ‘Punk Rock Indeed: The Two Sides of Viv Albertine‘ on The Millions
Anna March, ‘Dead girls, killer ratings: “Game of Thrones,” “True Detective” and TV’s epidemic of violence against women‘ on Salon
Jaya Saxena, ‘The Bride Paradox Of “Four Weddings”‘ on Buzzfeed
Julie Beck, ‘Dashboard Confessional, or When It Was Cool to Have Feelings‘ in The Atlantic
Angela Watercutter, ‘Ex Machina Has a Serious Fembot Problem‘ on Wired
Lili Loofbourow, ‘The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany‘ in The New York Times
Laura Goode, ‘The New Ladder: Anatomy of Indie Women’s Picture “Farah Goes Bang”‘ on Indiewire

The interviews:

Bidisha on Asian Culture Vulture
Gurkeyrith on The Fem
Mona Eltahawy in The New York Times
Attica Locke on Serpent’s Tail and in The Independent
Lily King on Lit Hub
Tishani Doshi & Karthika Naïr in Granta
Monica McClure on the Huffington Post
Jane Rawson on Australian Writers’ Centre
Ladan Osman on Black Girl in Om
K.A. Holt on the Huffington Post
Alice Stevenson on Bookanista
Sharma Shields on Okey-Panky
Sarah Vaughan on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
Poetry As Practice Contributors on The Quietus
Rachel Billington in The Guardian
Sofi Oksanen in The Guardian
Kim Moore on Seren Books’ Blog
Monica Byrne in The Guardian
Valeria Luiselli on The Guardian Books’ Podcast
Jenny Offill and Ali Smith on the RTÉ Book Show
Sam Baker and Lauren Laverne in The Independent
Toni Morrison in The Independent
Sarah Helm on Slate
Rachel Held Evans in The Atlantic
Roxane Gay on ABC
Jill Alexander Essbaum on The Rumpus
Liza Klaussman in The Independent

If you want some fiction to read:

‘Morning, Noon & Night‘ by Claire-Louise Bennett in The White Review
‘Words Escape Me‘ by Claire-Louise Bennett in 3:AM Magazine
An extract from Preface, or We As Two Separate Planets by Shushan Avagyan (translated by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz) in Words Without Borders
‘Wide Shot‘ by Anna Davtyan (translated by Nazareth Seferian) in Words Without Borders
‘I’m Not Going to Die‘ by Ani Asatryan (translated by Adrineh Der-Bogossian) in Words Without Borders
‘Before Sunrise‘ by Lilit Karapetyan (translated by Nairi Hakhverdi) in Words Without Borders
‘A Mansion with Many Rooms‘ by Kutti Revathi (translated by Lakshmi Holmström) in Words Without Borders
‘Revolution Nathan‘ by Dhamayanthi (translated by Lakshmi Holmström) in Words Without Borders
‘For Your Safety and Enjoyment‘ by Emily Schultz in The Butter
An extract from Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye on Orion Books
‘The Reality Game‘ by Rachael Dunlop
An excerpt of Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre on The Awl
‘The First Six Meters‘ by Vidya Panicker on The Fem
‘Theresa Enters‘ by Amy Silverberg in The Offing
‘Where Things Are Made‘ by Tera Joy Cole in Blunderbuss
‘Right Eye‘ by Isabel Costello on FlashFlood
An extract from The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett on One Book Lane
An extract from The Folded Clock: A Diary by Heidi Julavits on Lit Hub
‘Major Maybe‘ by Ann Beattie in The New Yorker. She talks about it here.
‘Making Babies‘ by Laurie Penny on Motherboard
‘House Heart‘ by Amelia Gray on Longreads
An extract from Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi (translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman) in The Offing
An excerpt from A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan in The Butter
‘The Other Woman‘ by Cath Bore on FlashFlood
‘Clowns/Clown‘ by Mati Colarossi (translated by Arabella Bertola)
‘Killing Stones‘ by Ananda Devi on PEN American

If you want some poetry to read:

‘What Did Sriraman Say?‘ by Perundevi (translated by Padma Narayanan and Subashree Krishnaswamy) in Words Without Borders
‘Highway‘ by Malathi Maithri (translated by Lakshmi Holmström) in Words Without Borders
‘Three Dreams‘ by Sharmila Seyyid (translated by Lakshmi Holmström) in Words Without Borders
‘Fear‘ by Krishangini (translated by Padma Narayanan and Subashree Krishnaswamy) in Words Without Borders
‘Shunaka: Blood Count‘ by Karthika Nair in Granta
‘Gone to Pasture/To Speak‘ by Natalie Eilbert in The Offing
‘Compromised Field‘ by Shareen Mansfield on The Honeyed Quill
‘Humbles‘ by Frances Leviston on Poem Today
‘The Handshake‘ by Isabel Rogers on her blog
‘A Psalm for the Scaffolders‘ by Kim Moore on Seren Books’ Blog

If you want some non-fiction to read:

An extract from Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doherty on Canongate
‘Small Stories #10‘ by Madeline Witt on The Rumpus
Extracts from From The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of The Mind in The Offing
‘Meet the Stanley Cup‘ by Molly Brooks on The Nib
An extract from Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy on Macmillan Audio
An extract from Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris on Lit Hub
An extract from I’m Very Into You: Correspondence 1995–1996 by Kathy Acker and McKenzie Wark on Lit Hub

The lists:

Books of the Week on Publishers Weekly
Anna Freeman’s Stereotype-Busting Women In Historical Fiction on the Huffington Post
20 Fascinating Facts About J.K. Rowling You Probably Never Knew in Stylist
11 new British crime series on PanMacmillan
6 J.K. Rowling Quotes On Failure, Because Failing Well Is A Life Skill That Even The Most Successful Need on Bustle
Women to Watch: 2015 Edition on BookPage
Lorraine M. López’s Six Writers On Social Class on Vela
Five Great Pieces of Advice from J.K. Rowling’s New Book Very Good Lives in Paste
5 Books Written by Queer and Trans Women That Set Me Free on Everyday Feminism
10 Women’s Books in Translation You Should Be Reading in Litro

In the Media: 12th April 2015

Posted on April 12, 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.

The results of the VIDA count was announced on Monday. VIDA: Women in Literary Arts have counted the number of female and male reviewers in the major literary publications. There are some improvements this year, but overall the picture remains grim. For the first time this year, VIDA published a separate count for Women of Colour, it’s as depressing as you might expect. Reaction came from Hannah Ellis Peterson in The Guardian, ‘Male writers continue to dominate literary criticism, Vida study finds‘; Radhika Sanghani in The Telegraph, ‘Men aren’t better writers than women. Literary mags need to close the book on gender bias‘ and on Bustle, Caroline Goldstein declared, ‘The Results of the 2014 Women of Color VIDA Count Are Problematic‘.

VIDA also produced a handout: Things You Can Do Right Now to Advance Women’s Writing. Immediately after the results of the announcement, good things began to happen in Twitterland; Marisa Wikramamanayake created a ‘Women Who Review‘ database. If you’re a reviewer, you can add yourself to it; if you’re an editor at a literary magazine with a gender balance problem, you can have a look at all the women you could approach with review commissions. Judi Sutherland is getting a group of women reviewers together to send reviews to the TLS, contact her on Twitter if you want to get involved, and Amy Mason created Sister Act Theatre (@SisterTheatre): Support + recommendations of/for women working in UK theatre/performance. Worked with a great woman? Need work? Promoting your show? Tell us.

While all that’s been going on, Katy Derbyshire has been collating ‘Some more statistics on translated fiction‘ on Love German Books.

The other big news this week came from an American report that found the number of women choosing to be child-free has increased. The report coincided with the publication of the Meghan Daum edited essay collection Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids and the launch of the film While We’re Young. It’s triggered a number of articles: Emma Gray at the Huffington Post says, ‘A Record Percentage Of Women Don’t Have Kids. Here’s Why That Makes Sense‘; Jane Marie wrote, ‘Why I Stopped Trying to Be a Supermom and Started Being Myself Again‘ on Jezebel’; Hayley Webster wrote, ‘I had an abortion and didn’t talk about it…and I no longer want to live in shame‘ on her website; Hadley Freeman wrote, ‘Why do we still have to justify the choice to be child-free?‘ in The Guardian; Jessica Valenti asked, ‘Why do we never worry about men’s childlessness and infertility?‘ also in The Guardian

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Juliet Greenwood, ‘Women and Myths in Storytelling‘ on Women Writers, Women’s Books
Laura Miller, ‘Our enduring Tudor obsession: Sex, ambition, wealth and power never go out of style‘ on Salon
Robert McCrum, ‘The 100 best novels: No 81 – The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962)‘ in The Guardian
Lauren St John, ‘My American West adventure – in pictures‘ in The Guardian
Jen Calleja, ‘Verfreundungseffekt: Waiting For Something To Happen —Tsou Yung-shan’s The Waiting Room‘ on The Quietus (Includes an extract from the book translated by Michelle Wu
Rachel Cooke, ‘Stevie Smith, steel soul of the suburbs‘ in The Observer
Linda Besner, ‘Changing face: The emergence of a new genre of memoir addressing the consequences of a changing planet‘ in The National Post
Fran Lebowitz, ‘Why Childhood Was a Good Fit‘ in The Wall Street Journal
Kathryn Schulz, ‘What Part of “No, Totally” Don’t You Understand?‘ in The New Yorker
Alison Flood, ‘Allison Pearson revisits bestselling heroine in middle age‘ in The Guardian
Krutika Mallikarjuna & Krystie Lee Yandoli, ‘If Carrie Bradshaw Wrote Her Column In 2015‘ on Buzzfeed
Jill Alexander Essbaum’s Hausfrau Playlist on The Pool
Elizabeth Day, ‘Can writing a male character make you think like a man?‘ on The Pool
Jean Morris, ‘Reading in Translation‘ in Shiny New Books
Anna Thomasson, ‘Researching A Curious Friendship‘ in Shiny New Books
Laura Kalpakian, ‘On Writing Three Strange Angels‘ in Shiny New Books
Rebecca Mascull, ‘Song of the Sea Maid, Science and Setting‘ in Shiny New Books
Claire Fuller, ‘The Writing of Our Endless Numbered Days‘ in Shiny New Books
Adèle Geras, ‘A Strange Phenomenon‘ (on Dorothy Whipple) on The History Girls
Rene Denfeld, ‘Why I Talk to Death Row Criminals‘ on BBC World Service
Jacob Victorine, ‘How to Translate a Map: Clare Cavanagh: Poetry 2015‘ on Publishers Weekly
2015 Best Translated Book Award Fiction Longlist on Three Percent
Amy Bloom, ‘Literary Tastes‘ on VQR
Francesca Mari, ‘The Assistant Economy‘ in Dissent
Michelle Dean, ‘Passing Through‘ (on Nella Larsen) in Lapham’s Quarterly
Sady Doyle, ‘Before Lena Dunham, there was Anaïs Nin – now patron saint of social media‘ in The Guardian
Anuradha Roy, ‘The making of books, and of friendships‘ on Scroll In
2015 Authur C. Clarke Award Shortlist
Amanda Holpuch, ‘US postal service delivers misquote on Maya Angelou stamp‘ in The Guardian
Shane Breslin, ‘So are we really in the middle of an Irish literary renaissance?‘ on Irish Writing Blog
Parisa Ebrahimi, ‘Why I Fell For Frances & Bernard‘ on Vintage Books
Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, ‘The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison‘ in The New York Times
Ane Farsethas, ‘Lydia Davis at the End of the World‘ on Lit Hub
Mallika Rao, ‘The Kids Are ALL-CAPS‘ on the Huffington Post
A.M.F. Winn, ‘Not Just an Ugly Face‘ on the Huffington Post
Niki Browes, ‘The Girl On The Train: Who’s Reading It And Why You Need To‘ in Instyle
Siobhan Curham, ‘on Empowering Books for Women and Girls‘ on Adventures With Words
Emily Wolfteich, ‘Saudade and the Untranslatable‘ in Asymptote
Tessa McWatt, ‘Why read a book (let alone write one)?‘ on Bookanista
Laura Kipnis, ‘Marry by 30‘ (on Kate Bolick’s Spinster) on Slate
Kat Brown, ‘Children’s book written by the young Queen Victoria to be published‘ in the Telegraph
Dinika Amaral, ‘Finding Language in the Code‘ in Guernica
Claudia Rankine & Beth Loffreda, ‘On Whiteness and the Racial Imaginary‘ on Lit Hub
Leslie Jamison, ‘This Female Consciousness: On Chris Kraus‘ in The New Yorker
Jemma Wayne, ‘10 Things You Didn’t Know About After Before‘ on Legend Press
Candy Gourlay, ‘Growing up I thought Filipinos weren’t allowed to be in books‘ in The Guardian
Elisa Gabbert, ‘Who Gets to Review? Tranströmer, Ishiguro, and Critical Expertise‘ on Electric Literature
Anne Lamott shares all that she knows: “Everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy, and scared” on Salon
Megan Garber, ‘How to Say ‘Yes’ (by Not Saying ‘Yes’)‘ on The Atlantic
Jo Hogan, ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers: How Twitter and Book Bloggers Changed My Life‘ on her blog
Afrikult, ‘Tsitsi Dangarembga‘ on For Books’ Sake
Colm Tóibín, ‘A tale of two poets, Thom Gunn and Elizabeth Bishop‘ in The Guardian
Marina Warner, ‘Learning My Lesson‘ on the LRB YouTube
Jennifer Rankin, ‘Traditional books on paper open a new chapter of success‘ in The Guardian
Lee Brackstone, ‘How I came to publish Sarah Hall‘ on Faber & Faber
Kathleen Coyle, ‘Lost in Translation: Norwegian Novelist Regine Normann‘ on For Books’ Sake
Judith Thurman, ‘Good, Clean Fun: A Revival of “Gigi”‘ in The New Yorker
J.C. Gabel, ‘Anatomy of a Cover: The Complete Works of Flannery O’Connor‘ in The Paris Review
The Encore Award Longlist
Liza Klaussmann, ‘‘A talent for living’: how the Murphys inspired Villa America‘ on the Picador blog
Matthew Sweet, ‘Memoirs of the Spacewomen‘ on BBC Radio 3

Personal essays/memoir:

Mary Anne Mohanraj, ‘“Don’t you want to be normal?”‘ on Salon
Samantha Irby, ‘i’m taking my dead dad on vacation.‘ on bitches gotta eat
Sarah Miller, ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Woman: My March Madness‘ in The Toast
Erin Wisti, ‘Showing My Scars: On Self-Harm‘ in The Butter
Grace Moltini, ‘Beer and Loathing in Deutschland‘ in The Riverter
Nichole LeFebvre, ‘Love in Lilac Velcro‘ in The Butter
Sali Hughes, ‘Confessions of an email hoarder‘ on The Pool
Anna Wiener, ‘Ecstatic Dance: To Fly, To Heal, To Love‘ in The Toast
Kelly Davio, ‘The Waiting Room: I’ll Take a Side of Empathy with Those Cheerios, Please‘ in The Butter
Huda Hassan, ‘My Mother’s Child‘ on The Hairpin
Rushaa Louise Hamid, ‘How I Found Myself When My Skin Changed Its Identity‘ on Buzzfeed
Sali Hughes, ‘When did it become compulsory to enjoy exercise?‘ on The Pool
Leah Reich, ‘You’d Be So Nice‘ on Medium
Dana Tommasino, ‘Learn To Cook (in 21 Easy Steps)‘ on The Rumpus
Susie Boyt, ‘New York: It’s Show Time‘ in Harpers Bazaar
Katie Rose Guest Pryal, ‘A Mother’s Suicide Attempt and the Guilty Burden of Statistics‘ in The Toast
Liz Prato, ‘The Terrible Things I Learned About My Dad: On Abuse and the People We Love‘ in The Butter
Claire Greaves, ‘I Cannot Erase My Existence and Therefore I am Going to Get Better‘ in the Huffington Post
Charlotte Philby, ‘The darkest secret of my new motherhood‘ in The Guardian
Alison Taylor, ‘My parents are my greatest love of all‘ in The Independent
Emylia Hall, ‘Offspring‘ on Book Slam

Feminism:

Jessica Valenti, ‘It wasn’t Jackie’s job to get the details of her rape correct. It was Rolling Stone’s‘ in The Guardian
Srishti Dutta Chowdhury, ‘A Decorum of Purity‘ in Kindle Magazine
Hanna Rosin, ‘Despite Damning Report, Rolling Stone Will Continue “To Do What We’ve Always Done.” Are They Serious?‘ on Slate
Carolyn Wysinger, ‘First Boi In – Dressing Queer in the Corporate World‘ on Media Diversified
Sophie Tanner, ‘“‘I’ve Decided To Marry Myself, To Celebrate My Life as a Happy, Single and Self-Fulfilled Woman”‘ in Stylist
Olga Khazan, ‘Why Some Women Choose to Get Circumcised‘ in The Atlantic
Lauren Laverne, ‘What is a “real” woman anyway?‘ on The Pool
Laura Craik, ‘What does plus size even mean?‘ on The Pool
Helen O’Hara, ‘Why you’re not going to a romcom this weekend‘ on The Pool
Rebecca Mead, ‘Two Beds and the Burdens of Feminism‘ in The New Yorker
Lucy Mangan, ‘Why Are Periods Still Shocking‘ in Stylist
Julia Phillips, ‘Feminism at the End of the World‘ on Jezebel
Tracy Kuhn, She Wears it Well‘ on Volvo Diaries
Rebekah Lowin, ‘Photographer teaches daughters: “Strong is the New Pretty”‘ on Today
Heidi Mirza, ‘Black British feminism then and now‘ on Media Diversified
Glosswitch, ‘Sussex police’s victim-blaming anti-rape campaign: why is it victims, not rapists, that must change their behaviour?‘ in the New Statesman
Lottie O’Conor, ‘Is Reddit’s feminist ‘hero’ merely feeding the stereotypes that hold women back?‘ in The Guardian
Arwa Mahdawi, ‘Sorry Dove, empowerment isn’t a personal care product‘ in The Guardian
Hayley Krischer, ‘How a New Wave of Feminist Cooking Publications Is Redefining Women’s Relationship to Food‘ on Flavorwire
Key Ballah, ‘My body is not an invitation‘ on Patheos
Jessie Thompson, ‘Am I a Joke Feminist?‘ on the Huffington Post
Barbara Ellen, ‘Men know nothing at all about being sex objects‘ in The Observer
Anna March, ‘Dead Girls Sold Here‘ on The Rumpus
Bridget Christie, ‘We’re a nation of armchair activists – and that’s OK‘ in The Guardian
Matilda Kahl, ‘Why I Wear the Exact Same Thing to Work Every Day‘ in Harpers Bazaar

Society and Politics:

Emilie Friedlander, ‘How Everlane Turned Hipsters Basic‘ on The Fader
Ann Friedman, ‘Idle Threads‘ on The Baffler
Fanny Malinen, ‘We need a new media to tell the real news‘ on New Internationalist
Shailja Patel, ‘The Road to Garissa‘ in The New Inquiry
Zoe Williams, ‘The Nicola Sturgeon memo: Westminster’s nasty machinations have been exposed‘ in The Guardian
Catherine Matusow, ‘The Complicated Truth About Children and Drowning‘ on Houstonia Magazine
Naomi Wolf, ‘The fastest way to spread extremism is with the censor’s boot‘ in The Guardian
Kari Mugo, ‘Misfits: Reflections on Identity, Race, and Prejudice‘ in The Toast
Brinda Bose, ‘The Outsider Within‘ in Kindle Magazine
Mary Elizabeth Williams, ‘My social media asylum: What I learned during my time away from the trolls (and the brunch pics)‘ on Salon
Bethany Rutter, ‘Fat can be healthy, so don’t tell me you’re dieting for health reasons‘ in The Guardian
Emma Sky, ‘Iraq Is Finished‘ on The Atlantic
Roxane Gay, ‘What the Hell Do We Say Now?‘ in The Butter
Barbara Ntumy, ‘Why I Challenged Farage on Racism‘ on the Huffington Post
Nancy Jooyoun Kim, ‘Open Houses: On Race, Identity, and Looking for a Place to Live‘ in The Butter
Sara Sheridan, ‘Scottish politics offers hope to British voters – and a break from the nastiness‘ in The Guardian
Samantha Rea, ‘Let Children Be Children – Without Jamming Them Into Gender Roles‘ on the Huffington Post
Alexis Okeowo, ‘Lagos Must Prosper‘ in Granta
Alana Semuels, ‘Where the White People Live‘ on The Atlantic
Bella Mackie, ‘Lady Hale is right – blame should be taken out of divorce‘ in The Guardian
Bethany Lamont, ‘Outsider Inside‘ on The Hairpin
Yuliya Komska, ‘My grandparents rejected the Holocaust survivor label. They weren’t alone‘ in The Guardian
Lionel Shriver, ‘Don’t be so hysterical about sex crimes‘ in The Guardian
Marina Hyde, ‘The great unvetted public locked out as party leaders tour sanitised Britain‘ in The Guardian
Caitlin Moran, ‘Why posh boys make me boggle‘ in The Times
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘On The Oba Of Lagos‘ on Olisa

Music and Television:

Abby Higgs, ‘Getting Awkward with Annie Lennox: Part 1‘ on Queen Mob’s Teahouse
Hannah Giorgis, ‘Rihanna And The Radical Power Of “Carefree Black Girl” Celebrity‘ on Buzzfeed
Amanda Ann Klein, ‘The Wonder Years, Memory, and Mourning‘ on Medium
Suzanne Moore, ‘Girls keep it together in front of their rock’n’roll idols. It’s men who turn into gibbering wrecks‘ in the New Statesman
Daisy Buchanan, ‘I love Nirvana, but I get why Kurt Cobain’s daughter doesn’t‘ in The Guardian

The interviews:

Robin Rinaldi in The Independent
Hilary Mantel on Vulture
Ursula P. Archer on ACF Digital Salon
Amelia Gray in Berfrois
Keren David on Delightful Book Reviews
Valeria Luiselli on British Council Literature
Helena Coggan in The Guardian
Becky Albertalli on Buzzfeed
Gillian Rose in Times Higher Education
Caitlin Moran (the Director’s Cut) on The Pool
Bethany Chase on Women Writers, Women’s Books
Jane Thynne in Shiny New Books
Cecilia EkBäck in Shiny New Books
Sarah Bannan in Shiny New Books
Lindsay Hawdon on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
Caitlin Moran (Part Two) on Vice
Lizzie Skurnick on Longreads
Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan on the Huffington Post
Viv Albertine on Weird Sister
Elizabeth McCracken on Paul McVeigh’s blog
Joyelle McSweeney in The Believer
Jill Alexander Essbaum in The Los Angeles Times
Jenn Ashworth (and Richard Hirst) on The Workshy Fop
Amanda Jennings on From First Page to Last Page
Diane Williams on Numéro Cinq
Sarah Hall on Foyles
Laura Watkinson on Intralingo
Nancy Tucker in The Independent
Jennifer Weiner on CBS News
Jennifer Michael Hecht on The Rumpus
Dorothy Koomson on We Love This Book
Ursula Le Guin on BBC Radio 4
Attica Locke in the Los Angeles Times
Heidi Julavits on Vulture
Kirsty Logan on The List
Lauren Berry on Deep South Magazine
Andrea Cohen on Queen Mob’s Teahouse
Tracey Thorn in The Observer
Caitlin Moran in The Guardian
Renée Knight on The Pool
Jemma Wayne & Lara Pawson on Guardian Books’ Podcast
Janina Matthewson on Read Her Like an Open Book

If you want some fiction to read:

An extract from Never Isn’t Long Enough by Diane F. Pickett (YouTube)
‘The Good Wife‘ by Devjani Bodepudi in Kindle Magazine
‘Apollo‘ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in The New Yorker, which she discusses here
‘Our Christophers‘ by Sharma Shields on Electric Literature
‘Bearish‘ by Leesa Cross-Smith
An extract from Glory by Rachel Billington on Orion Books
An extract from The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer on Dead Good Books
An extract from Disclaimer by Renée Knight on The Pool
‘A Story Between Me and Thee on the Occasion of Our Shipwrecking’ and ‘Little Peg Tudor‘ by Rachael Dunlop on Flash! Friday
‘Children’s Stories Made Horrific: Thousandfurs, Or The King Who Wanted To Marry His Daughter‘ by Mallory Ortberg in The Toast
‘Other People’s Butter‘ by Tayler Heuston
‘The Toddler on the Bus‘ by Helen Croney on Scottish Book Trust
‘The Sanded Shard’ by Sara Baume on The Book Show RTÉ Radio 1
The Ladies of the House by Molly McGrann on Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime
‘Not Searching‘ by Claire Fuller on her blog
‘Item Girls‘ by Kuzhali Manickavel in Granta
‘Box 30‘ by Rom Tearne on her blog
An extract from Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent on Liz Loves Books (if you follow the link at the top of the post, you can follow the trail of extracts posted throughout the week)
‘Runaway‘ by Laura Kay on Litro
‘The New Boyfriend‘ by Kelly Link on A Public Space
‘A Fun Home Coda‘ by Alison Bechdel on Vulture
Short Stories by Laura Barnett on her website
‘Paradise Lost‘ by Devjani Bodepudi
‘Every Woman to the Rope‘ by Joanna Quinn in The White Review
‘Smote, or When I Find I Cannot Kiss You in Front of a Print by Bridget Riley‘ by Eley Williams in The White Review

If you want some poetry to read:

‘frances farmer’ & other poems by Afshan Shafi in 3:AM Magazine
‘working title‘ by Mahogany L. Browne in Winter Tangerine Review
‘Billie‘ (for Billie Holiday) by Salena Godden on The Pool
Five Poems by Elizabeth Clark Wessel
‘Future Biometrics‘ by Jillian Weise in Poetry Magazine
‘My Prayer‘ by Agnimita Chatterjee in Kindle Magazine
Three Poems by Geraldine Clarkson on And Other Poems
‘Fuck The Life Abundant‘ Marnie Bullock Dresser in The Fem

If you want some non-fiction to read:

An Excerpt from Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris on The Millions
An extract from Naked at the Albert Hall by Tracey Thorn in The Observer
An extract from Get It Together: Why We Deserve Better Politics by Zoe Williams in The Guardian

The lists:

Books for Spring in Shiny New Books
5 New Books to Read for Your Grown-Up Spring Break in Glamour
32 Perfect Books To Kick Off Your Book Club on Buzzfeed
Books of the Week on Publishers Weekly
29 Important Lessons Jane Austen Taught You About Love on Buzzfeed
100 Best Books of the Decade so Far in The Oyster Review
Spring Fiction Preview: 15 Books You Won’t Want to Miss on Read Her Like an Open Book

In the Media: 5th April 2015

Posted on April 5, 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.

As In the Media seems to be growing by the week, I’ve divided it into more categories. Comments welcome on what you think of the change and whether you’d prefer different/more section headings.

The big news this week is the launch of The Pool, a free, online resource written by women, for women. Writer and broadcaster, Lauren Laverne and writer and former Red magazine editor, Sam Baker are the women behind it, The Guardian ran a piece about the site earlier in the week. ‘Drops’ of content are released during the day; each piece tells you approximately how long it will take you to read/listen to/watch, and you can search by content or by time if you’ve only got a few minutes. You can also sign up for an account which allows you to save articles to your ‘scrapbook’ either to read later or refer back to.

I’ve dipped in a few times this week and I love it; it’s clearly organised with some great contributors. My picks so far would be the book section (of course), where you can read the opening of Caitlin Moran’s How to Be a Girl and the opening of Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum. There’s also an interview with Essbaum and 10 Things You Need to Know About Anne Tyler as well as an article by Baker about why good books often end up making bad films.

Elsewhere on the site, I’ve enjoyed Sam Baker’s ‘Does this mean I’m not allowed to be a LEGO any more?‘; Lauren Laverne’s blog, ‘Is being a teenager harder than ever before?‘; Sali Hughes’ ‘Why every woman needs a solo playdate‘ and ‘Is it ever OK to commit liticide?‘ (although I winced through the whole of that one); Holly Smale’s ‘Why can’t we just get over Cinderella?‘; Gaby Hinsliff’s ‘What would happen if men didn’t have the vote?‘; Stacey Duguid’s ‘Flares if you care‘ where Duguid goes around high street shops trying flares on like you do when you’re shopping (as opposed to raiding the magazine’s fashion cupboard); an extract from Lynsey Addario’s It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War, and Laurene Laverne’s interviews with Caitlin Moran and Kim Gordon.

In Harper Lee news, ‘Harper Lee elder abuse allegations declared ‘unfounded’ by Alabama‘ says The Guardian.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers:

Hannah Rosefield, ‘Barbara Pym and the New Spinster‘ in The New Yorker
Amy Jenkins, ‘Waving or drowning? On her debt to Stevie Smith‘ in The Guardian
Kimberley Francisco, ‘On (Not) Reading Science Fiction as a Teenage Girl‘ on Stacked Books
Jenny McAuley, ‘Jane Austen invented #RealisticYA fiction‘ in The Guardian
Joanna Walsh, ‘Man Booker International Prize draws together variety of best from literature world‘ in The National
Lucy K. Shaw, ‘April Mixtape‘ on Electric Literature
Jill Alexander Essbaum, ‘Writers on Location: on Zürich‘ on Isabel Costello’s Literary Sofa
Laxmi Hariharan, ‘Why the hero of my YA dystopian novel had to be an angry young Indian girl‘ in The Guardian
Hannah Cuthbertson, ‘How Assumedly White Characters are a Disservice to, well, Everyone‘ in The Missouri Review
Alison Flood, ‘The Girl on the Train racks up express sales of 2m in three months‘ in The Guardian
Bim Adewunmi, ‘How “The Girls’ Guide To Hunting And Fishing” Shaped My Twenties‘ on Buzzfeed
Sarah Gilmartin, ‘The rise of the short Irish Story‘ in The Irish Times
Molly McGrann, ‘Prostitution in post-war London: a different kind of independence‘ on Picador Blog
Sarah Hilary, Shelley Harris and Sinéad Moriarty, ‘Richard & Judy Book Club Authors: What Are They Up To Now?‘ on WHSmith Blog
Christine Dwyer Hickey, ‘My Life in Books‘ on Atlantic Books’ Pinterest
Sonya Vatomsky and Kia Groom, ‘Saving “Saving Anne Sexton”: In Which Dead Women are Used as Props (Again)‘ in Quaint Magazine
Sarah Seltzer, ‘Does Magic Stand for Privilege in Harry Potter?‘ on Flavorwire
Eve Johnson, ‘Sonnets And Unrealities: Björk And ee cummings‘ on Queen Mob’s Teahouse
Val McDermid, ‘Why crime fiction is leftwing and thrillers are rightwing‘ in The Guardian
Alexander McCall Smith, ‘The Secret of the Jane Austen Industry‘ in the Wall Street Journal
Roopa Farooki, ‘Monsters in Caves‘ on Royal Literary Fund
Suzannah Gillman, ‘Will the Real Cheryl Strayed Please Stand Up?‘ on The Gloria Sirens
Edan Lepucki, ‘Beyond Binaries: On ‘Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids’‘ on The Millions
Sarah Pinborough, ‘6 Fairy Tales That Need A Shakeup‘ on the Huffington Post
Chris Ayers, ‘Extinctathon‘ ‘a new series, drawn from Margaret Atwood’s MaddAdam trilogy, that illustrates the corporate horrors of the trilogy’s fictional dystopia’
Lindy West, ‘Herland: the forgotten feminist classic about a civilisation without men‘ in The Guardian
Madhvi Pankhania, ‘Miles Franklin award longlist 2015: eight out of 10 nominees are women‘ in The Guardian
Ron Charles, ‘Marilynne Robinson confident about a fourth Gilead novel‘ in The Washington Post
Joshua Farrington, ‘Three debut novels on Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize shortlist‘ (all by women) in The Bookseller
Keija Parssinen, ‘Writing Out of Rage (How Sexual Politics Inspired “The Unraveling of Mercy Louis”)‘ on Read Her Like an Open Book
Laura Sook Duncombe, ‘Literary Ladies Cage Fight: Coming to America‘ in The Butter
Kristi York Wooten, ‘How 1980s Atlanta Became the Backdrop for the Future‘ in The Atlantic
Byddi Lee, ‘How to get ahead in self-publishing: No 1 – you need a lot of hats‘ in The Irish Times
Leslie Jamison And Catherine Lacey’s E-mail Conversation About Narcissism, Emotional Writing And Memoir-Novels on the Huffington Post
Victoria Finan, ‘Independent Bookshop Week book awards 2015 shortlist announced‘ in The Guardian
Rachel Cooke, ‘The pleasure and pain of being a Folio prize judge‘ in The Guardian
Dorthe Nors, ‘A form close to home‘ on English PEN
Emily Midorikawa & Emma Claire Sweeney, ‘Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers‘ on Something Rhymed

Personal essays/memoir:

Eva Wiseman, ‘Living with your parents when you are a parent yourself‘ in The Guardian
Sophie Heawood, ‘It’s midnight. Dare I open the sealed trapdoor in my house?‘ in The Guardian
Dani True, ‘True Romantic #5: The Hope Chest‘ on The Rumpus
Mary H.K. Choi, ‘Eat Pray Roll‘ on Matter *Flashing images throughout
Sierra-Crane Murdoch, ‘Sugar Days‘ in VQR Online
Marika Seigel, ‘On Being the Mom of “the Foreign Kid”‘ in The Butter
Shan Wang, ‘“Happy Birthday” and Other Things My Mom and I Don’t Say‘ in The Toast
Ashley C. Ford, ‘A Queer Hoosier on Still Loving Indiana‘ on Talking Points Memo
Rebecca Riley, ‘How I Learned The Meaning Of Ableism‘ in The Fem
Saudamini Deo, ‘My Name Is Red‘ in Kindle
Lauren Apfel, ‘I called him pathetic, he accused me of ruining his life: What children did to our marriage‘ in Salon
Roxane Gay, ‘Having a Heart, Being Alive‘ in The Butter
Ashley Ford, ‘Disrupting Domesticity: Open Heart, Open Sky‘ in The Butter
Alexis Paige, ‘The Right to Remain‘ on The Rumpus
Lindsay Tapscott, ‘Letter from Montreal: The City Undressed‘ on Maisonneuve
Shannon Fandler, ‘Unprepared In Appalachia‘ on Vela
Elisa Gabbert, ‘Variations on Crying‘ in The Butter
Ruth Dawkins, ‘Now You Are Six‘ on Dorkymum
Deepti Kapoor, ‘Driving in Greater Noida‘ in Granta
Jennifer Weiner, ‘All Grown Up and In Charge of the Seder‘ in The New York Times
Kristen Hanley Cardozo, ‘Three Months Without Breathing‘ on Archipelago
Lavinia Greenlaw, ‘On Not Totally Seeing a Total Solar Eclipse‘ in The New Yorker
Chelsea Biondolillo, ‘Not Travel Writing‘ on Vela

Feminism:

Stephanie St. John, ‘“Mad Men” eulogies: Peggy Olson, feminist hero‘ on Salon
Lili Loofbourow, ‘The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany‘ in The New York Times
Sybil Baker, ‘The DrunkenBoat Fiction Count for 2013‘ in DrunkenBoat
Sarah Ditum, ‘Why I changed my mind about porn‘ in the New Statesman
Sabine Heinlein, ‘The Answer Is Never‘ on Longreads
Anna Cafolla, ‘I’m a girl and I have periods, whether Instagram likes it or not‘ in The Independent
Cate Burlington, ‘Things My Male Tech Colleagues Have Actually Said to Me, Annotated‘ in The Toast
Doreen St Felix, ‘The Prosperity Gospel of Rihanna‘ in Pitchfork
Lucy-Anne Holmes, ‘If you want to write about feminism online, be ready to take on the haters‘ in The Guardian
Jessica Valenti, ‘Don’t stress out. Our kids are just fine when their mothers work late‘ in The Guardian
Shannon Reed, ‘The Historical Feminist Roundtable, Bucket List Edition‘ on Buzzfeed
Susan Cox, ‘Of course men want children more than women do‘ on Feminist Current
Snigdha Poonam, ‘Kidnap, rape and ‘honour’ killings: on the road with a female reporter in rural India‘ in The Guardian
Julie Bindel, ‘What Andrea Dworkin, the feminist I knew, can teach young women‘ in The Guardian
Jessica Valenti, ‘Social media is protecting men from periods, breast milk and body hair‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Ditum, ‘Why rape suspects should not remain anonymous‘ in the New Statesman
Ann Friedman, ‘Can a New Law Really Change the Way College Students Hook Up?‘ in Cosmopolitan

Society:

Katy Reckdahl, ‘The Lost Children of Katrina‘ in The Atlantic
Linda Vaccariello, ‘This Is How We Lose Them‘ in Cincinnati Magazine
Helen Lewis, ‘Life is full of people with bad ideas and awful opinions. Try to meet as many at university as you can‘ in the New Statesman
Sophie McBain, ‘Why are so many people using food banks?‘ in the New Statesman
Gaby Hinsliff, ‘Dear Nigel Farage – children will play if we close roads, not borders‘ in The Guardian
Germaine Greer, ‘At the centenary of Gallipoli; an interrogation of the myth of Australian nationhood‘ in the New Statesman
Samantha Ellis, ‘Theatre should reflect society – and boldly imagine ways for it to change‘ in The Guardian
Grace Dent, ‘In case you were wondering what it’s like to not always look down at your phone, I can tell you‘ in The Independent
L.V. Anderson, ‘We Should Have a Better Condom by Now. Here’s Why We Don’t.‘ on Slate
Meredith Talusan, ‘Being transgender in a transphobic society leads to moments of sheer desperation‘ in The Guardian
Elif Batuman, ‘Electrified‘ in The New Yorker
Olivia Laing, ‘The future of loneliness‘ in The Guardian
Brittney Cooper, ‘The right’s made-up God: How bigots invented a white supremacist Jesus‘ on Salon
Lily Lynch, ‘Forgetting Resistance In The Balkans‘ on Balkanist
Laura Trethewey, ‘Collective Independents‘ on Maisonneuve
Eleanor Margolis, ‘Films about queer women rarely stray from “lesbian drama” clichés – but things are improving‘ in the New Statesman
ER Truitt, ‘Preternatural Machines‘ on Aeon
Glosswitch, ‘How can a memoir convey the damage done by eating disorders, without passing it on?‘ in the New Statesman
Rebecca Harris, ‘The loneliness epidemic: We’re more connected than ever – but are we feeling more alone?‘ in The Independent
Momtazza Mehri, ‘Black, British & Muslim; We’re not just a “Complication”‘ on Media Diversified
Jennifer Hensley, ‘Pills, Pills, Pills – There Is No Medicine‘ on Queen Mobs Teahouse
Vanessa Hua, ‘The Dim Sum Revolution‘ in San Francisco Magazine
Bella Qvist, ‘So Ruby Tandoh came out? It won’t be the last time‘ in The Guardian
Jetta Rae, ‘What ‘Passing’ Says About Our Expectations of Women – And Why This Trans Woman’s Getting It Wrong on Purpose‘ on Everyday Feminism

Music:

Cath Bore, ‘In Defence of the Smash Hits Centerfold‘ on her blog
Linda Grant, ‘It’s not always easy to be a Joni Mitchell fan, but her illness devastates me‘ in The Guardian
Lisa Peet, ‘Viv Albertine, Side One and Side Two‘ on Bloom
Elizabeth Minkel, ‘Why do we mock teenage girls who love One Direction when Top Gear fans are just the same?‘ in the New Statesman
Leesa Cross-Smith, ‘A Love Song & Some Stubbornness‘ on Real Pants

The interviews:

Lynsey Addario in The Guardian
Kim Gordon in The Irish Times
Barbara Klein Moss on Bloom
Jessica Valenti in The Cut
Trish Hopkinson in The Fem
Amy Butcher in The Fem
Meghan Daum on the Los Angeles Review of Books Radio Hour and the Huffington Post and Jezebel
Lydia Davis in The New York Times
Fatima Bhutto on NPR
Johanna Basford on NPR
Alexandra Sokoloff on Grab This Book
Teri Terry in The Guardian
Amber Tamblyn on the Huffington Post
Margret Aldrich on Publishers Weekly
Caitlin Moran on Vice
Alice Stevenson on Bookanista
Renée Knight in The Telegraph
Lauren Van Den Berg on Paul McVeigh’s Blog
Paula Hawkins on Booktopia
Xiaolu Guo on Penguin Blog
Teresa K. Miller on Queen Mobs Teahouse
Cush Jumbo in The Guardian
Hollie Poetry in The Guardian
Hanya Yanagihara in Vogue

If you want some fiction to read:

‘The First Meeting of the People of Unintentional Color Support Group‘ by Gayle Brandeis
An extract from The Long Weekend by Veronica Henry
‘Fall From Oysters‘ by Susan Sanford Blades on Little Fiction
‘Small Stories #8‘ by Madeline Witt on The Rumpus
An extract from Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
Mallory Ortberg, ‘Children’s Stories Made Horrific: The Little Red Hen‘ in The Toast
An extract from The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman
‘Escape, Release, and Return‘ by Leslie Baum on Guernica
‘Voyage of the Coral Princess‘ by Kasia Juno in Guts Magazine
‘Me and the Devil‘ by Eimear McBride on BBC Radio 4
An extract from Sphinx by Anne Garréta in 3:AM Magazine
An extract from The Language of Paradise by Barbara Klein Moss
‘The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson‘ by Rosanna Bruno
‘Dirty Thirties’ and ‘Rugby‘ by Terese Svoboda in Numéro Cinq

Photograph by Jane Feng

If you want some poetry to read:

from The Devastation by Melissa Buzzeo in Trickhouse
‘It Must Have Got Lost In The Mail‘ by Susannah Betts on Vagabond City Journal
Two Poems by Khadijah Queen in The Offing
‘Beat Poem‘ by Leslie Maxwell in Blunderbuss Magazine
‘—moLt shEd‘ by Rebecca Y. Lee in Vagabond City Journal
‘What Breaks First‘ by Jynne Dilling Martin in The New York Review of Books
‘To Proceed You Must First Understand‘ by Barbara Jane Reyes on The Rumpus
‘Carousel‘ by Gabrielle Bates
‘The Medium‘ by Elaine Feinstein in the TLS
‘April Fools’ Day‘ by Elaine Feinstein in The Guardian

If you want some non-fiction to read:

An extract from This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein on Penguin Books Blog
An extract from Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently by Emer O’Toole on the Irish Post
An extract from A Day’s Work by Joanna Biggs in the London Review of Books (£)

The lists:

5 Great Books To Read In April on Buzzfeed
10 Must-Read Books for April on Flavorwire
Diane Pickett’s The 10 Commandments of Southern Writers on Women Writers, Women’s Books
7 Books About Friendship That Prove This Relationship Is The Most Important One You’ll Have in Your Lifetime on Bustle
Here are the the most magical things JK Rowling has ever done in The Independent
12 Writers On The Women Authors Who Inspired Them on Buzzfeed
The Very Best LGBT Books You Need to Read Right Now on The Debrief
JK Rowling’s life advice: ten quotes on the lessons of failure in The Guardian
Molly McGrann’s Top 10 things I learned while writing The Ladies of the House on Female First
24 books for a year of reading only work by women in The Washington Post
14 Illuminating Quotes From “The Girls’ Guide To Hunting And Fishing” on Buzzfeed

(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.