In the Media: 26th April 2015

Posted on April 26, 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.

This week’s been all about friendship. The Cut declared it Friends Forever Week and ran a series of articles including, ‘The Friend Who Showed Me the Life I Could Have Had‘ by Nell Freudenberger; Emily Gould wrote, ‘Envy Nearly Wrecked My Best Friendship‘; Carina Chocano, ‘9 Friends Who Made Me Who I Am‘; Heather Havrilesky, ‘The Friend I’ve Been Fighting With for 20 Years‘; ‘Clique-Stalking: Instagram’s Greatest Social Pleasure‘ by Maureen O’Connor, and ‘25 Famous Women on Female Friendship‘. While Megan O’Grady wrote ‘This Spring’s Literary Subject May Have You Calling Your Pals‘ in Vogue; Lauren Laverne says ‘It’s time to rehabilitate matchmaking‘ in The Pool, Sulagna Misra writes ‘How Captain America Helped Me Make Friends in the Real World‘ on Hello Giggles and Leesa Cross-Smith writes, ‘Broken Friendships & Knowing All Too Well‘ on Real Pants.

If you’re still to discover it, one of my favourite blogs Something Rhymed covers friendships between female writers and is run by two female writers who are also best friends, Emma Claire Sweeney and Emily Midorikawa. On the site this week, ‘Crying Tears of Laughter: Irenosen Okojie and Yvette Edwards‘.

And then there’s the Amy Schumer sketch with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patricia Arquette and Tina Fey celebrating Louis-Dreyfus’ ‘Last Fuckable Day’. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must watch it RIGHT NOW! And when you’ve done that you can read Eleanor Margolis, ‘This Inside Amy Schumer sketch about the media’s treatment of “older” women is perfect‘ in the New Statesman and/or Lynn Enright, ‘Hollywood actresses skewer sexism and ageism brilliantly‘ in The Pool.

Unfortunately, it’s also been about Twitter trolls: Soraya Chemaly wrote in Time, ‘Twitter’s Safety and Free Speech Tightrope‘; Fiona Martin wrote ‘Women are silenced online, just as in real life. It will take more than Twitter to change that‘ in The Guardian; Sali Hughes wrote, ‘Trolls triumph by shutting down women’s voices‘ in The Pool

Congratulations to Yiyun Li who became the first woman to win the Sunday Times short story award and to Emily Bitto who won The Stella Prize this week.

In this week’s Harper Lee news, ‘Reese Witherspoon set to record Harper Lee’s new novel‘ reports Alison Flood in The Guardian.

And the woman with the most publicity this week is Kate Bolick, author of Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own, who writes ‘How Writers Can Grow by Pretending to Be Other People‘ in The Atlantic, and is interviewed on Slate, in Cosmopolitan and on Longreads. While Stephanie Gorton Murphy writes, ‘The Uneasy Woman: Meghan Daum, Kate Bolick, and the Legacy of Ida Tarbell‘ on The Millions.

The best of the rest:

On or about books/writers/language:

Doireann Ní Ghríofa, ‘on writing Clasp and what became of Airt Uí Laoghaire’s horse‘ in The Irish Times
Ali Smith, ‘on Public Libraries‘ in The Independent
Anne Milano Appel, ‘Skirting the Juniper Brambles: A Translator Narrowly Misses Getting Trapped in the Copyright Thicket‘ on Publishing Perspectives
Anne Boyd Rioux, ‘Creating the Literary World of the Future: A Response to VIDA’s Recommendations‘ on The Millions
‘“Can You Think About Rising?” A year after the firings of two top women editors, four journalism leaders discuss the challenges of editing while female‘ in Politico
Sage Stossel, ‘Writers who are also mothers‘ in The Boston Globe
Lindsay Merbaum, ‘Not a Real Writer: How Self-Doubt Holds Me Back‘ on Electric Literature
Caitlin White, ‘J.K. Rowling’s New Robert Galbraith Novel Is Coming, and Her Announcement Proves Again Why She’s the Queen of Twitter‘ on Bustle
Moira Redmond, ‘The Girl on the Train – and other express encounters in literature‘ in The Guardian
Sarah Winman, ‘What it means to be a reader‘ on Waterstones’ blog
Elizabeth Andre, ‘Now Writing Is for Extroverts Too‘ on The Rumpus
Ann Patchett, ‘Owning a bookstore means you always get to tell people what to read‘ in The Washington Post
Norah Vincent, ‘On the Subject of My Suicide‘ on Literary Hub
Rosy Edwards, ‘Why You Should Never Read Your Reviews, and it’s Not the Reason You Think‘ on the Huffington Post
James Parker, ‘Renata Adler: Troll or Treasure?‘ in The Atlantic
Alice Stephens, ‘Behind in the Count‘ in the Washington Independent Review of Books
Elif Shafak, ‘Books were my crazy, wise companions in a conservative world‘ in The Pool
Leslie Wilson, ‘Writing Last Train from Kummersdorf – A Little Bit of My Soul‘ on The History Girls blog
A Celebration of Reading, by Outside the Box: Women Writing Women on Jane Davis’ website
Concepta Cassar, ‘Food For Thought: What Montaigne Can Teach Us About Ultraprocessed Foods‘ on Litro
Robin Black, ‘What’s So Great About Young Writers?‘ in The New York Times
Sulagna Misra, ‘The Everyday Matters of Superheroes, Part I: Civil War, Marvel Nine Nine, and Dwayne McDuffie‘ and ‘The Everyday Matters of Superheroes, Part II: Jane Austen, AUs, and Pacific Rim‘ in The Toast
Amanda Holmes, ‘Reading Wuthering Heights with Juvenile Offenders‘ on Women Writers, Women’s Books
Melissa Harrison, ‘How to get down to grips with writing a book? Take a walk on the wild side‘ in The Guardian
Sunili, ‘Reading as Revolution: Why I’m still banging on about People of Colour and Literature‘ on Medium
Kelly Jensen, ‘A Conversation About Girls’ Stories with Laurie Halse Anderson and Courtney Summers‘ on Bookriot

Mallory Ortberg, ‘How To Tell If You Are In A Shirley Jackson Story‘ in The Toast
Arifa Akbar, ‘A foreign language can make sex scenes read better‘ in The Independent
Rene Denfeld, ‘Books Saved Me‘ on Waterstones’ blog
Michelle Dean, ‘Race, wit and mansplaining: female authors debate at Los Angeles books festival‘ in The Guardian
Genevieve Cogman, ‘Women in SF&F Month‘ on Fantasy Cafe
Taylor Sperry, ‘Readers may binge, but they do not purge‘ on Melville House
Jessamyn West, ‘Kind of a Big Deal: What it’s like to be a famous librarian‘ on Medium
Kamila Shamsie, ‘How I Began to Read‘ on Yahoo News India
Harriet Mallinson, ‘Is romantic fiction a dangerous passion?‘ in The Guardian
Courtney Maum, ‘Why Being A Debut Author Isn’t Exactly A Dream Come True‘ on Buzzfeed
Joanna Walsh, ‘Kathy Acker’s pioneering adventures in the internet’s erogenous zone‘ in The Guardian
Danielle Lazarin, ‘Where Are the Female Lit Mag Editors? Here.‘ on The Review Review
Caitlin Moran, ‘What Have They Done to My Library?‘ on Nosy Crow
Emily Beber, ‘Passed over to a broken machine: on Claire Potter’s Mental Furniture‘ in 3AM: Magazine
‘Glamorous and Bold: The Story of the First Black Female Cartoonist‘ on Black Then
Bronte siblings bicentenary plans announced on the BBC
Alissa Wilkinson, ‘The Power of Confession‘ in Pacific Standard
Jonathan Shia, ‘Alison Bechdel: The Bechdel Test “Has Been a Very Strange Turn in My Life”‘ on Vulture
Kaitlyn Greenidge, ‘The Riotous Power of Toni Morrison‘ in VQR
Melissa Moorer, ‘This Writer is on Fire: Cathy Linh Che‘ in The Butter
Alyssa Cole, ‘History in Color: A Black American Romance Roundtable‘ in The Toast
Paul Kerschen, ‘Sour, Salty, Bitter, Spicy, Sweet: On Can Xue and Five Spice Street‘ in Music & Literature
Alexander Chee, ‘From Potter to Tartt To Ferrante: How We Came to Love the Multi-Volume Novel‘ on Literary Hub
Rachel Joyce, ‘In my head, books are always competing with real life‘ in The Telegraph
Anna James, ‘Slew of second novels set for this summer‘ in The Bookseller
Alison Flood, ‘Report finds UK books world has marginalised and pigeonholed ethnic minorities‘ in The Guardian

Personal essays/memoir:

Hayley Webster, ‘I love cemeteries and memorial gardens…I need to see the evidence someone existed‘ on her website
Ashley C. Ford, ‘I Moved to New York on Crutches’ on Femsplain
Jo Hogan, ‘Heartbeats and Heartbreak‘ on her blog
Lisa Grunwald, ‘The Art of Being Apart‘ in the New York Times
Anna Feintuck, ‘Making sense of the city‘ on Scottish Book Trust
Edwidge Danticat, ‘Without Her‘ in The New York Times
Cal Flyn, ‘How do you acknowledge a shameful heritage?‘ in The Pool
Sadie Stein, ‘Shying‘ in The Paris Review
Abby Kloppenberg, ‘Small Talk: Intimacy Doesn’t Require Two People, Does It?‘ on Medium
Heidi Julavits, ‘Turning Clutter Into Joy‘ in The New York Times
Robyn Wilder, ‘How motherhood messes with your identity‘ in The Pool
Leah Reich, ‘The Princess Who Learned To Lock Her Heart Away‘ on Medium
Madhurima Chakraborty, ‘By Any Other Name‘ on The Hairpin
Nicole Soojung Callaghan, ‘First Steps: Searching for My Birth Family‘ in The Toast
Anastasia Selby, ‘The Day Before Thanksgiving I Got an Abortion‘ on Weird Sister
Bridget Foley, ‘“I am not supposed to be alone. I am one of a pair”‘ on Salon
Kelly Davio, ‘The Waiting Room: There Was That One Time‘ in The Butter
Alexandra Neuman, ‘Tampon‘ on The Fem
Pia Ehrhardt, ‘Inpatient, Outpatient‘ in The Butter
Jess Bergman, ‘Letters to Anita: On My Grandmother’s Legacy‘ in The Toast
Dini Karasik, ‘A Country Called My Mother‘ in The Butter
Claire Greaves, ‘How Am I? Honestly!‘ on the Huffington Post
Laura Turner, ‘The Claustrophobia of Fear‘ on Medium

Feminism:

Caitlin Moran, ‘on Getting Her Legs Out‘ on The Pool
Maanvi Singh, ‘See Priya Cook: Gender Bias Pervades Textbooks Worldwide‘ on NPR
Margaret Corvid, ‘Moving on from the “happy hooker”: why I love my job as a sex worker‘ in the New Statesman
Adeline Ginn, ‘Why Do Fewer Women Vote?‘ on the Huffington Post
Anonymous, ‘I had an abortion because of extreme morning sickness. Spare others that pain‘ in The Guardian
Camille Beredjick, ‘When A Queer Woman Counts Calories‘ on Buzzfeed
Jetta Rae, ‘The Incidental Activism Of My Going Outside‘ on Ravishly
Nilanjana S Roy & Radhaben Garva, ‘Painting the Women’s Movement‘ in Granta
Jane C. Hu, ‘Gal Science: What Is Female Brain?‘ in The Toast
Jamie Lauren Keiles, ‘Acceptable Catcalls‘ on The Awl
Suzanne Moore, ‘Wanting to be liked won’t earn you respect‘ in The Pool
Imogen Fox, ‘Sideburns for women: get in the loop‘ in The Guardian
June Carbone and Naomi Cahn, ‘The Marriage Calculus‘ in Aeon
Polly Neate, ‘Domestic Abuse Can Deny Women Their Vote – Here’s How‘ on the Huffington Post
Alexandra Heminsley, ‘Paula Radcliffe’s final marathon‘ in The Pool

Society and Politics:

Bim Adewunmi, ‘An Article About Black Women Shouldn’t Have To Come With A Warning Label‘ on Buzzfeed
Rachel Munroe, ‘Have You Ever Thought About Killing Someone?‘ on Medium
Kim Brooks, ‘The Struggle To Reclaim Parenting‘ on Buzzfeed
Sarah Stillman, ‘Where Are the Children?‘ in The New Yorker
Amanda Ripley, ‘The Upwardly Mobile Barista‘ in The Atlantic
Tyler Wetherall, ‘Female distillers prove women know their alcohol – and always have‘ in The Guardian
Amy Merrick, ‘Designing for Disability‘ in The New Yorker
Paula Cocozza, ‘Unlike Matilda Kahl, I enjoy making decisions on what to wear every morning‘ in The Guardian
Beejoli Shah, ‘My Bindi Is Not Your Bindi‘ on The Frisky
Zakia Uddin, ‘What It’s Like Speaking A Different Language From Your Parents‘ on Buzzfeed
Elizabeth Minkel, ‘From Nate Silver to #Milifans: welcome to the age of political fandom‘ in the New Statesman
Sophie Heawood, ‘How hard can it be to cancel a mobile phone or satellite TV contract?‘ in The Guardian
Lo Kwai Mei-en, ‘Reports from the Field– Speak Test: The Silencing of the Racialized Body‘ on VIDA
Chimene Suleyman, ‘From Boyle to May, Immigration, as it turns out, has done rather well on providing jobs‘ on Media Diversified
Eleanor Margolis, ‘No more “gal pals”: why do we assume lesbians are confused, attention-seeking, or man-boycotting straight women?‘ in the New Statesman
Kristina Kay Robinson, ‘What’s Old Is New Again‘ in Guernica
Morgan Meaker, ‘How has Britain’s most deprived community fared under the coalition?‘ in the New Statesman
Marcia Rigg, ‘I Am Tired of Reports and Recommendations – What We Need Is a Culture Change in Attitudes Towards Mental Health‘ on the Huffington Post
Natalie Bennett, ‘It’s Time for the UK to Stand Up for Migrants‘ on the Huffington Post
Natasha Devon, ‘I’m a size 14 to 16, and Jamelia doesn’t think I should be able to shop for clothes that fit me – is she ok?‘ in The Independent
Caroline Criado Perez, ‘Why don’t you care who made your clothes?‘ in the New Statesman
Rachel Shabi, ‘Britain must help stop the human tragedy in the Mediterranean‘ in the Evening Standard
Jameela Jamil, ‘Thank God I’m Not Jamelia‘ on the Huffington Post
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, ‘Hooray for the Milifans. They can change the world for the better‘ in The Guardian
Lauren Smiley, ‘What Strippers Can Teach Uber‘ on Medium
Angela Flournoy, ‘When Black Neighbourhoods Disappear‘ on Literary Hub
Joanna Biggs, ‘Keep smiling if you want a job in 2015‘ in The Guardian
Zoe Williams, ‘Demanding more: on where democracy lives in the 21st century‘ on the Penguin blog
Deborah Orr, ‘Why the hysteria over Nicola Sturgeon?‘ in The Guardian
Bryony Gordon, ‘Katie Hopkins is a monster of our own making‘ in The Telegraph
Hannah Pool, ‘Jourdan Dunn draws attention to fashion’s problem with black hair‘ in The Pool
Laurie Penny, ‘There may be nothing to vote for — but there’s plenty to vote against‘ in the New Statesman
Zoe Williams, ‘Katie Hopkins calling migrants vermin recalls the darkest events of history‘ in The Guardian
Jane Rawson, ‘Don’t Mention the War‘ in Overland
Sarah Ditum, ‘What Katie Hopkins wrote was monstrous. But save your anger for the politicians who decided to let migrants drown‘ in the New Statesman

Music, Film and Television:

Rawiya Kameir, ‘Your Fave Is Problematic, And That’s Okay For You, But They Still Need To Apologize‘ in Fader
Tracy Ann Oberman, ‘Here’s to you, Anne Bancroft‘ in The Pool
Jeanette Leach, ‘Say What You Can‘ on [post-rock]
Lauren Barton, ‘Patti Smith: punk’s poet laureate heads back on the road for her sins‘ in The Guardian

The interviews:

Toni Morrison in The Guardian and on NPR
Nicky Beer on The Rumpus
Kirsty Logan on the Penguin Blog
Charlotte Gordon in the Wall Street Journal
Sabaa Tahir on Publishers Weekly podcast
Yumi Sakugawa on Okey Panky
Heidi Julavits on Electric Literature and Lit Up
Meredith Talusan in The Toast
Emily Schultz in Vol. 1 Brooklyn
Lora Mathis on The Fem
Jillian Tamaki in The Guardian
Laila Lalami on the Los Angeles Review of Books Podcast
Monica Byrne on The Rumpus
Jan Morris in The Guardian
Paula Hawkins on The Daily Beast and in The Guardian
Mary Costello on Electric Literature
Attica Locke on Kirkus and NPR
Renée Knight on The Gymkhana Club
Liz Fenwick on One Book Lane
Helen Skelton in The Guardian
P.P. Wong in The Strait Times
Elizabeth Alexander on Salon
Iona Grey on Rebecca Mascull’s blog
Claire Potter on Very Small Kitchen
Liza Klaussman in The Pool
Andrea Gillies on Novelicious

If you want some fiction to read:

‘The Penis Problem‘ by Suzanne Schafer on her website
‘Last Chapter on Hotel Stationery‘ by Ursula Villarreal-Moura in The Butter
‘The Rental Heart‘ by Kirsty Logan on Storychord
‘Last Night & Yesterday‘ by Joslyn Sklar in The Offing
An extract from Adult Onset by Anne-Marie MacDonald on Literary Hub
‘Maps‘ by Kate Sparks on Whiskeypaper
‘The Beacon‘ by Claire Fuller on her blog
‘Bird Song‘ by Nadia Hassan on Rewriting Mary Sue
‘Far Beyond the Brilliant Sky: 9‘ by Rebecca Burns on The Word Runs Through It
An extract from Amy Wild: Amazon Summer by Helen Skelton
An extract from The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld on Orion Books
The opening of Mental Furniture by Claire Potter on Very Small Kitchen
‘Letters to a Mostly Imagined Correspondent‘ by Katherine Riegal in The Offing
The first five chapters of Villa America by Liza Klaussman
‘You Are a Sacred Space‘, by Yumi Sakugawa in Okey Panky
‘Inkubation‘ by Jacqui Pack on Litro

If you want some poetry to read:

‘Elegie of a Diaspora‘ by Ally Ang on Vagabond City
Five poems by Elizabeth T. Gray Jr. in Drunken Boat
‘All My Creys‘ by Cynthia Arrieu-King in Drunken Boat
‘Pathology‘ by Kenzie Allen on Litragger
Three Poems by MRB Chelko on Blunderbuss
‘Dorothy Parker Swipes Left‘ by Heather Alexander in The Toast

If you want some non-fiction to read:

An extract from Angry in Piraeus by Maureen Freely in The New York Review of Books
‘Small Stories #11‘ by Madeline Witt on The Rumpus
An extract from The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
An extract from Hammer Head by Nina MacLaughlin on Literary Hub

The lists:

The Spinster Hall of Fame: Cut-out Dolls of Five Pioneering Women Writers on Literary Hub
11 Novels That Expectant Parents Should Read Instead of Parenting Books on Electric Literature
LGBTQ* Poets You Should Know: Highlighting Women of Color on The Fem
11 Books To Give Your Future Daughter Throughout Her Life on Bustle
31 Contemporary Poets You Need To Read on Buzzfeed

In the Media: 19th April 2015

Posted on April 19, 2015 by naomifrisby

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: 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 (£)