Louisa Thomas | The Writes of Womxn

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 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.

There’s an election in the UK this week. As you’d expect, there’s been a number of articles about it, policies and where the previous coalition has left us. Huffington Post have been running a ‘Beyond the Ballot’ series. Contributions include: Vivienne Westwood, ‘The Housing Crisis – Politicians Are Criminals‘ and Denise Robertson, ‘Today, There Are No Housing Lifelines for People Who Fall on Hard Times‘. Media Diversified also have a series called ‘Other Voices’. Contributions include, Maya Goodfellow ‘Why aren’t politicians talking about racial discrimination in the job market?‘ and ‘Letting migrants drown in the Mediterranean, is this what the Tories mean by ‘British values’?‘ and ‘The pro-Tory business letter: a reminder that politics shouldn’t be dominated by a privileged few‘

Elsewhere, Zoe Williams wrote ‘10 big misconceptions politicians have about women‘ in The Pool; Deborah Orr, ‘Scotland is sending a curveball down Westminster way – and it’s not just Labour that will get hit‘ in The Guardian; Gaby Hinsliff, ‘We floating voters may be unenthused but we’re definitely not unprincipled‘ in The Guardian; Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett wrote, ‘Why I’m thinking about spoiling my ballot‘ in the New Statesman; Laura Waddell, ‘Pink Vacuum Politics‘ on Libertine’ Suzanne Moore, ‘Parliament? Over the years I’ve met several powerful men there who have no idea of boundaries‘ in the New Statesman; Hannah Pool asks, ‘Why aren’t black women voting?‘ in The Pool; Suzanne Moore, ‘I’m sick of this estate agent election‘ in The Guardian

Saturday saw the death of crime writer, Ruth Rendell. The Guardian reported her death and ran a series of articles: Val McDermid wrote, ‘No one can equal Ruth Rendell’s range or accomplishment‘; Mark Lawson, ‘Ruth Rendell and PD James: giants of detective fiction‘; Stanley Reynolds wrote her obituary; here she is ‘In Quotes‘ and if you haven’t read anything by her, The Guardian also recommend ‘Five Key Works’ while The Telegraph have, ‘The best of Ruth Rendell: 10 to read, watch and listen to‘.

And then there was that beach body ready advertisement. Responses to which ranged from Gemma Correll, ‘Hilarious Illustrations Show You How to Get “Beach Body Ready”‘ in Stylist; Hadley Freeman, ‘What is a beach body anyway?‘ in The Guardian, and Tara Costello explained, ‘Why I Stripped to Make a Statement‘ on the Huffington Post.

Congratulations to Marion Coutts on winning the Wellcome Prize. Jenny Turner writes in The Guardian as to why Coutts is her hero. The shortlist for the Encore Award was announced and includes Harriet Lane, Amanda Coe, Rebecca Hunt and Deborah Kay Davies. And Gaby Wood was ‘…made Booker’s literary director‘ reports The Bookseller.

And the woman with the most publicity this week is Leesa Cross-Smith who’s the featured writer on Atticus Review. She’s interviewed and has two stories up, ‘My Lolita Experiment‘ and ‘Dandelion Light‘; another in Synaesthesia Magazine, ‘The Darl Inn‘, and her column on Real Pants this week is ‘Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? & Girlfriendships‘.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

John Yau, ‘Language Is Not Colorless: The Amazing Writing of Sawako Nakayasu‘ on Hyperallergic
Bim Adewunmi, ‘Crush of the week: Toni Morrison‘ in The Guardian
MJ Carter, ‘We should thank a Devon shoemaker for freedom of the press’ in The Guardian
Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, ‘“Who Is Cagney Without Lacey?”: The Fug Girls on Writing as a Duo‘ in The Toast
Neil Gaiman, ‘Why I love Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell‘ in The Guardian
Susanna Clarke ‘on the TV Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: “My own characters were walking about!”‘ in The Guardian
Masha Gessen, ‘“Paying Attention and Paying Respect Is All That Writers Can Do”‘ on Slate
Ali Smith, ‘The Joy of Finding Myself Guest Director of Brighton Festival‘ on the Huffington Post
Doreen St. Félix, ‘Toni Morrison‘ on The Oyster Review
Lucy Worsley, ‘It doesn’t matter if The Tudors and Wolf Hall are historically inaccurate and a bit silly‘ in the Independent
Sarah Hilary, ‘Writing a New Crime Series‘ on Headline
EllaClaire, ‘Teenage opinion: why you should read classic books‘ in The Guardian
Patrice Gopo, ‘Does Race Matter If Books, Like ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ Touch Your Heart?‘ in The New York Times
Charlotte Gordon, ‘Why I Teach Mary Wollstonecraft‘ on the Huffington Post
Louise O’Neill ‘on Lisbeth Salander‘ on We Love This Book
Kirsty Logan, ‘Boats, Buddhism and the Boom‘ on Foyles
Hillary Kelly, ‘Bring back the serialized novel‘ in the Washington Post
Arifa Akbar, ‘How many more books will there be telling me how to be a Muslim?‘ in The Independent
Lesley McDowell, ‘Do you have to be middle-class to be a writer?‘ on her blog
Amelia Gray ‘on “Labyrinth”‘ on Real Pants
Hannah Gersen, ‘The Value of Writing Programs: On Why I Don’t Have an M.F.A.‘ on The Millions
Mo Moulton, ‘On Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey: An Essay with Personal Interruptions‘ in The Toast
Charles Wolford, ‘Obsessive Love: Sex in Brontë and Faulkner‘ on Quadrapheme
Allison Pohle, ‘The Last Days of Ladies’ Home Journal‘ on The Hairpin
Hannah Furness, ‘Jane Austen’s real Mr Darcy unmasked by historian‘ in The Telegraph
Alice Audley, ‘Zoella and the YouTuber books you need to buy‘ in The Telegraph
Hanya Yanagihara, ‘How I Wrote My Novel: A Little Life‘ on Vulture
Francine Prose, ‘I admire Charlie Hebdo’s courage. But it does not deserve a PEN award‘ in The Guardian
Julia Copus, ‘A Self Among the Crowd‘ on Royal Literary Fund
Elisa Gabbert, ‘The Art of the Paragraph‘ on The Smart Set
Emma Teitel, ‘Why romance novelists are the rock stars of the literary world‘ on Macleans
Laura Sook Duncombe, ‘Literary Ladies Cage Fight: Mommie Dearest‘ in The Butter
Kirsty Logan, ‘Made-up worlds (and a worldie maid)‘ on Bookanista
Melissa Moorer, ‘This Writer’s On Fire: Lisa Mecham‘ in The Butter
Lizzy Kremer, ‘What Happens Next: Predicting the Future‘ on Publishing for Humans
‘Day and Night I Find Neither Rest Nor Peace’; Charlotte Brontë’s Beautiful Letters On Unrequited Love‘ in Stylist
Katrina Otuonye, ‘On Deadlines, Failure, and Getting Started‘ on Litro
Dr Jenny McAuley, ‘on “Vindication of the Writes of Woman” by Mary Wollstonecraft‘ on The History Vault

Personal essays/memoir:

Alison Taylor, ‘I’ve become part of a new social phenomenon – the boyfriend proposal‘ in The Independent
Stacey Duguid, ‘Marathon Shopper‘ in The Pool
Jordana Narin, ‘No Labels, No Drama, Right?‘ in The New York Times
Michelle García, ‘The War of Forgetting‘ in Guernica
Allison P. Davis, ‘Boxing Helped Me Tap Into My Inner Rage‘ in The Cut
Sonya Lea, ‘Shattered‘ in Guernica
Alana Massey, ‘The Dickonomics of Tinder‘ on Medium
Casie Brown, ‘The Boy Is Mine‘ on The Hairpin
Leah Reich, ‘The Cruelest Month‘ on Medium
Amanda Giracca, ‘The Art of Butchery‘ in Aeon
Rebecca Harrington, ‘The Apple Watch Is Great for Starting Conversations About the Apple Watch‘ in The Cut
Alix Johnson, ‘Telling Stories: Secrets, Lies, and Sexual Assault‘ in The Toast
Vivian Underhill, ‘Steal This Book if You Need To‘ on The Fem
Sali Hughes, ‘Not going out‘ in The Pool
Erika Smith, ‘A Return to Babysitting‘ on The Billfold
Amy Glynn, ‘Desire Lines‘ on Berfrois
Caolan Madden, ‘I Was Somebody: My Weekend With Miranda July’s App‘ on Weird Sister
Tracy Moore, ‘My Love Affair with Androgynous Clothes‘ on Jezebel
Shanrah Wakefield, ‘The Best Time I Burned the Shit Out Of My Hand Whilst Waxing My Box For A Boy‘ on The Hairpin
Lynsey White, ‘Old Maid‘ on her blog
Heather Steadham, ‘Firepower‘ in The Butter
Colleen Kinder, ‘Long Night’s Journey Into Spring‘ in VQR
Louise Troh, ‘The Tragic Love Story Behind America’s First Ebola Victim‘ in Vanity Fair

Feminism:

Hattie Crisell, ‘Why is going grey still such a big deal?‘ in The Pool
Meghan Murphy, ‘On ‘corporate feminism’ and the appropriation of the women’s movement‘ on Feminist Current
Caitlin Moran, ‘How to Build a Girl‘ in The Times
Jennifer Purdie, ‘Mormon, Childless, And Constantly Condescended To‘ on Buzzfeed
Alexandra Duncan, ‘How I Made A Career Out Of Showing People My Cervix‘ on Buzzfeed
Ann Friedman, ‘Older Women Aren’t Enemies, They’re Envied‘ in The Cut
Ann Glaviano, ‘Report from the Field: On (Not) Reporting Sexual Violence‘ on VIDA
Amelia Gentleman, ‘Time, gentlemen: when will the last all-male clubs admit women?‘ in The Guardian
Siobhan Fenton, ‘Why do British feminists care more about sexist adverts than abortion rights in Northern Ireland?‘ in The Independent
H. Liang, ‘Advice to my former self: desperate working mother of two young children‘ on Shrink Grows Kids
Alana Levinson, ‘Girl, Send Me a Frext‘ on Medium
Julia Alsop, ‘Out of Our Hands‘ on Maisonneuve
Jessica Roy, ‘A Modest Proposal: How to Close the Gender Wage Gap‘ in The Cut
Tracey Moore, ‘What Do Men Want? Obedient Wives and Independent Daughters, Apparently‘ on Jezebel
Mara Lee, ‘Kissing historically‘ on Media Diversified
Joanne McAlpine, ‘Looking Back: Fragments From Women’s Shelters (1981 – 1996)‘ in The Toast
Janet Reitman, ‘Abortion Rights at Risk: The GOP Opens a New Front in the War on Women‘ in Rolling Stone
Jane Merrick, ‘Should wolf-whistling be reported to the Police? If you’re Poppy Smart, then yes‘ in The Independent
Shani Gilchrist, ‘Why I Talk To My Sons About My Work‘ on Role Reboot
Vaidehi Mujumdar, ‘The state still controls women’s bodies. Especially brown and black ones‘ in The Guardian
Joni Edelman, ‘Being Thin Didn’t Make Me Happy, But Being ‘Fat’ Does‘ on Everyday Feminism
Joan Smith, ‘Women who waive their anonymity are changing our perspective on rape‘ in The Guardian

Society and Politics:

Megan Garber, ‘The History of ‘Thug’‘ in The Atlantic
Meredith Talusan, ‘From A Symbol Of Athletic Power To A Symbol Of Gender Transition‘ on Buzzfeed
Pilot Viruet, ‘Black Exhaustion‘ on Medium
Shannon Keating, ‘Coming Out as Gay in Elementary School‘ on Buzzfeed
Anna Della Subin, ‘In the Light of Ras Tafari‘ in The White Review
Amie Ferris-Rotman, ‘The Earthquake-Wrecked Town That the Nepali Government Forgot‘ in The Atlantic
Sharon Harrigan, ‘Foie Gras, the Vegetable‘ in VQR
Amy Quan Barry, ‘Forty Years Ago Today‘ in the Huffington Post
Leigh Cowart, ‘The Drug That’s Infecting Indiana‘ on Medium
Dawn Foster, ‘Free Schools‘ in the London Review of Books
Minal Hajratwala, ‘A Brief Guide to Gender in India‘ in Granta
Julie Vuong, ‘What does it feel like to flee your country in an unsafe boat?‘ in The Pool
Erika Hayasaki, ‘Living with Being Dead‘ on Medium
Annie Waldman, ‘Scientific Expertise on Lethal Injection Falls Short‘ in Guernica
Joan Walsh, ‘The hideous white hypocrisy behind the Baltimore “Hero Mom” hype: How clueless media applause excuses police brutality‘ on Salon
Bella Qvist, ‘Freshly Filtered Favouritism: Why I Wouldn’t Want to Be a Barista at Pret‘ on the Huffington Post
Maureen Rich Wallace, ‘My Son Belongs in Your Child’s Class‘ on Medium
Myriam Francois-Cerrah, ‘To talk about race, we need to talk about the problem with “whiteness”‘ in the New Statesman
Kamila Shamsie, ‘Murdered on the streets of Karachi: my friend who dared to believe in free speech‘ in The Guardian
Diana Prichard, ‘Cultivating a New Immigrant Narrative‘ on Medium
Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, ‘The Day AIDS Hit the Fashion Industry‘ in The Atlantic
Rafia Zakaria, ‘Drones — One white death can change everything‘ on Dawn
Alex Morris, ‘How Exactly Do You Teach Femininity?‘ in The Cut
Paris Lees, ‘Why the world needs to stop gawping, and support Bruce Jenner’s transition.’ in Cosmopolitan
Laura Gottesdiener, ‘A Foreclosure Conveyor Belt‘ in Guernica
Elif Shafak, ‘There is no us and them: remembering the lost Armenians‘ in the New Statesman
Nancy Cook, ‘When Cities and Suburbs Work Together‘ in The Atlantic
Morgan Meaker, ‘Gentrification in Brixton: who wins, who loses and who’s to blame?‘ in the New Statesman
Helen Lewis, ‘The battle for better maternity care shows the limits of the Amazon warehouse approach to medicine‘ in the New Statesman

Music, Film and Television, Personalities:

Tracey Thorn, ‘In music today, it’s all or nothing – rich at the top or languishing forlornly at the bottom‘ in the New Statesman
Louisa Thomas, ‘The Boxer and the Batterer‘ on Grantland
Sally Howe, ‘Pulp Nonfiction: Death (and Life) on Reality TV‘ on Blunderbuss
Helen O’Hara, ‘Meryl Streep and Rose Byrne are prising open Hollywood for women‘ in The Pool
Eleanor Margolis, ‘Calling Eurovision too gay for a “family show” is as perplexing as it is insidious‘ in the New Statesman
Lauren Laverne, ‘Katie Hopkins and incendiary opinions are the new celebrity gossip‘ in The Pool
Agata Pyzik, ‘In Praise of Vulgar Feminism: On Kim Gordon and Courtney Love‘ in n+1

The interviews:

Sandra Newman on The Writes of Woman
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the Wall Street Journal
Miriam Toews in The Guardian
Mariel Hemingway in the LA Times
Sarah Gerard on Literary Hub
Aimee Bender on Literary Hub
Elizabeth Alexander in the Washington Post
Lucy K Shaw on Real Pants
Rachel Holmes on Guernica
Sarah Waters in the Huffington Post and Culture Whisper
Meghan Daum on Slate
Jandy Nelson in The Guardian
Tracey Thorn in The Pool
Alison Bechdel in TIME
Michelle Tea on The Rumpus
Valeria Luiselli on Literary Hub
Sarah Lepiciger on Reading Agency
Darcey Steinke on The Rumpus
Jillian Tamaki on The Hairpin
Laura Salters on Sky’s Book Corner
Hilary Mantel on Fourth Estate
Carla Berrocal on Broken Frontier
Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer via Bustle
Vivian Gornick on Publishers Weekly
Anna North on One Book Lane
Janice Galloway in the Falkirk Herald
Liza Klaussman on The White Company
Janet Champ on The Toast
Annelise Finegan on Three Percent
Kate Hamer on Thriller Books Journal
Kim Gordon on The Quietus
Cece Bell in The Guardian

If you want some fiction to read:

‘The Taste of Home‘ by Ola Awonubi on The Reading Life
An extract from The Green Road by Anne Enright in The Irish Times
‘Love Isn’t Easy When You’re the National Anthem‘ by Aoko Matsuda (translated by Jeffrey Angles) in Guernica
‘Light‘ by Leslie Nneka Arimah in Granta (Winner of Commonwealth Writers Short Story for Africa)
‘Famished Eels‘ by Mary Rokonadravu in Granta (Winner of Commonwealth Writers Short Story for the Pacific)
An extract from The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld on Orion Books
‘Redshift‘ by Erin Calabria in Atlas and Alice
‘Chamber in My Heart‘ by Sossity Chiricuzio in Atlas and Alice
‘The School of English‘ by Hilary Mantel in the London Review of Books
An extract from The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan on Foyles
An extract from The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt on We Love This Book
An extract from Today I Am a Book by xTx on Literary Hub
‘Escape, Release, and Return‘ by Leslie Baum in Guernica
An extract from Sphinx by Anne F. Garréta (translated by Emma Ramadan) on Electric Literature
‘A Satisfying End-of-Relationship Goods Exchange In Three Acts‘ by Maria Yagoda on The Hairpin
‘How to Clean a Dollhouse‘ by Betty Capot on Blunderbuss
‘A Sheltered Woman‘ by Yiyun Li (Winner of the Times’ Short Story Award)
An extract from The Sound of a Sundial by Hana Andronikova (translated by David Short) on Body
An extract from The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer
‘How to Hook‘ by Jodi Angel in The Offing
‘The Fairy Sword‘ by Laura Madeline Wiseman on The Fem
An extract from God Help the Child by Toni Morrison on Essence
‘Fortune‘ by Erin Lawless on Books With Bunny
‘Fincan‘ by Mia Hooper in The Toast
‘Normal‘ by Bree in Guernica
An extract from A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson on the Penguin Blog

If you want some poetry to read:

Twenty-One Love Poems (The Floating Poem, Unnumbered) by Adrienne Rich on All Poetry
‘exodon paradoxus (bucktooth tetra)‘ by Dana Ranga (translated by Monika Cassel) in Guernica
‘Backdrop‘ by Andrea Gilham in Atlas and Alice
Two Poems from Monetized by Alissa Quart on The Offing
Three Pantoums by Lo Kwa Mei-en in The Offing
‘The Advantage of Sexual Cannibalism‘ by Antoinette Nena Villami on CactiFur
Three Poems by Marika Prokosh on Lemon Hound
‘The Bookbinder‘ by Clare Best on Anthony Wilson’s blog
‘Whitewashed‘ by Natasha Head on The Tashtoo Parlour
Two Poems by Sandra Simonds on Fanzine
‘Scientific‘ by Marisa Seigel on The Rumpus
Two Poems by Sharon Olinka in Drunken Boat
‘Agression Diary‘ by Annemarie Austin
‘Errant Fathers, Stupid Women‘ by Marina Sofia in Think Pink