In the media is a weekly round-up of features written by, about or containing female writers that have appeared during the previous week and I think are insightful, interesting and/or thought-provoking. Linking to them is not necessarily a sign that I agree with everything that’s said but it’s definitely an indication that they’ve made me think. Also, just a note to make it clear that I’m using the term ‘media’ to include social media, so links to blog posts as well as traditional media are likely.
I don’t know if it’s just me but there seems to be a lot of writing about bodies this week. The Observer have a whole section on our attitudes to sex, including this piece by Helen Lewis which looks at teenage girls and cites Lena Dunham, Caitlin Moran and Bryony Gordon, amongst others.
Caitlin Moran is also interviewed on the Longreads blog on ‘Working Class, Masturbation and Writing a Novel‘. While Sam Baker focused her Harper’s Bazaar column on two excellent, just published, fashion and beauty books. They are Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton (I bought it this week and it looks fantastic), which you can hear more about on The Arcade podcast and Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes, who you can read an interview with on Get the Gloss.
And as for other points in life and bodies, Megham Daum has written about different types of parenting in the New Yorker and in the Paris Review, the New York Times obituary writer, Margalit Fox is interviewed about her work.
Feminism was headline news again thanks to Emma Watson’s speech to the UN and the launch of He for She. Joanne Harris wrote on her blog about feminism and why it doesn’t need a name change. Alison Mercer wrote about women’s silence on her blog. While Elena Adler, wrote this on banned books and women.
#Readwomen2014 is still going strong. It’s creator Joanna Walsh gave this fantastic interview to LeftLion (I’m not just saying that because I get a mention, either!); Belinda Farrell wrote this on her year of reading women, and Daily Life published this piece by Aviva Tuffield, Stella Prize executive director on why men need to read more books written by women. While VIDA ran a piece on the marginalisation of female writers, focusing on Mavis Gallant.
In writers who are very much in the spotlight, you can listen to all the BBC National Short Story Award shortlisted stories. Alison Bechdel spoke to Buzzfeed about what she’s doing next. Hilary Mantel was on the Culture Show while Sarah Ditum wrote seriously about her in the New Statesman and the Daily Mash took the piss. Ali Smith did The Guardian webchat and Elena Ferrante did the Financial Times Q&A.
Speaking of women in translation, translator Kate Derbyshire wrote this about why she wants to establish a prize for women in translation.
This week’s other noteworthy articles are:
- A translation of one of Russian writer Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya aka Teffi’s stories in the New Yorker.
- Debut author, Claire Fuller on how she got an agent.
- Claire McGowan says goodbye to Guilty Pleasures on The Conversation.
- Two pieces on Virgina Woolf – Rachel de Moravia on Woolf, Feminism and Modern Architecture in Edge Condition Vol. 3 (you’ll need to download the PDF) and this on Kabe Wilson rearranging ‘A Room of One’s Own’ to create a new story ‘Of Woman or So’.
- A profile of Lynne Tillman by Colm Tóbín in the New Yorker. (Late to this but still great.)
- Nadine Gordimer remembered by Tony Eprile in The Nation.
- Val McDermid on The Grisly History of Forensics in The Guardian.
And the interviews:
- Gillian Flynn in the Telegraph.
- Cary Bray in the New Humanist.
- Catherine Lacey on Electric Literature.
- Caroline Kepnes on Bolo Books.
And this week’s lists:
- Emily Gould’s Top Ten Fall Must-Reads.
- Ten Indie Titles the National Book Awards Overlooked on Electric Literature.
- The Best British Words for Rain by Melissa Harrison in the Financial Times. (Late to this but it’s wonderful.)
- An African Reading List on Bookriot.
- The Most Feminist Moments in Sci-Fi History on The Cut.
- Four Brilliant Memoirs by Female Musicians on Emerald Street.
The Writes of Womxn 