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Endeavour Press: Proud & Prejudiced: Jane Austen, The Mother of All Chick-Lit Novelists

2013-06-18T05:41:38Z

News about the forthcoming Bridget Jones was released recently. It struck me as quite strange that many called Helen Fielding's first diary the original chick-lit novel. I couldn't help think that those who did so had not actually read the book, for if they had they would have realised how much Bridget Jones's Diary owes a debt to Jane Austen.

Read more: Chick Lit, Jane Austen, Bridget Jones, Ebooks, Books, UK Books, UK Culture, UK-Ebooks, UK Entertainment News

Barbara Taylor Bradford Slams 50 Shades As Badly Written And 'Not Sexy'

2013-06-18T17:27:52Z

Her first novel, A Woman Of Substance, was a bestseller about a woman who didn't spend her time getting spanked, but rather went through hell and back...

Read more: Barbara Taylor Bradford, Women, 50 Shades of Grey, Bondage, Sex, Books, Christian Grey, Poll, El James, UK Lifestyle News

Preetam Kaushik: Circuits for Authors | Will Robots Ever Write a Booker Prize Winning Novel?

2013-06-17T12:12:47Z

So we're clear on this so far - robots can create formulaic novels that very well stand a chance of having a target group and they can also create hit music. Now here's the crux of the argument - do we really want to live in a world where novels are formulaic and music is only made by machines? Oh wait, it is already so.

Read more: Philips Parker, Writers, Robots, Kevin Warwick, Booker Prize, Programme, Amazon, UK Books, UK-Tech-2013, UK Tech News

Helen Chandler: You Are What You Read?

2013-06-13T11:09:39Z

Reading is, and always has been, absolutely integral to my life. Both my parents were librarians, and books were everywhere at home. English was my favourite subject at school - what a doss, you just read a book and then wrote about it - and, inevitably, I ended up going on to read English at university.

Read more: Reading, Books, UK Books, Passion, UK Culture, UK Arts, Writing, Ebooks, UK Lifestyle News

Polly Courtney: Why John Green has got it wrong: Self-publishing isn't about doing it yourself

2013-06-13T10:12:08Z

Self-publishing is about staying in control of your destiny as a writer and having a say in how your book is packaged, produced, distributed and promoted. It is about making your own decisions, in collaboration with the experts (and in some cases, fans) to ensure that your work reaches readers in the way that is right for you.

Read more: Publishing, Books, Self-Publishing, Polly Courtney, Editing, John Green, Traditional Publishing, UK Books, UK Culture, Video, UK Entertainment News

Alice Charles: Pirate Cinema - Cory Doctorow (Review)

2013-06-13T07:35:21Z

In the not-so-distant future we see teen video mash-up geek Trent McCauley run away from his home in Bradford for the bright lights of the Big Smoke a...

Read more: National Security Agency, Illegal Downloading, Film, Books, Hollywood, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Entertainment News

James Mahon: Hollie McNish, A British Poet of the 21st Century

2013-06-12T22:42:26Z

When we think of poetry we think of old men from hundreds of years ago miserable and confused.
What we do not think of is Eminem, Obama, The Streets, Hollie McNish is breaking boundaries and showing that poetry has a place and a role in the 21st century and she is using social media to bring it to the world.

Read more: Modern Literature, Social Media, English Poetry, British Poems, Hollie Mcnish, Digital Age, Cambridge, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Arts, Video, UK Lifestyle News

Sara Sheridan: UK's Quirkiest Book Festivals

2013-06-12T16:28:19Z

I love book festivals and I spend at least every second weekend over the season talking about my books in a variety of tents, classrooms, huts, proper theatres, village halls - you name it. There are almost 150 book festivals all over the UK and most of them take place in the summer.

Read more: Free Word Centre, Literature, Literary Festival, Sara Sheridan, Travel, UK Culture, Book Festival, Hebrides, UK Events, Edinburgh, Reading, UK Books, UK Arts, UK Lifestyle News

Laxmi Hariharan : Are We Writing Too Much to Be Reading?

2013-06-10T13:50:08Z

If I could spend even seven days, in my own home unplugged from my devices, perhaps I could recapture some of that stillness inside which is so needed to create--to read or write.

Read more: Digital Disruption, Kindle, Digital Footprint, Writing, Twitter, Kingston University, Sylvain Tesson, Reading, Indie Authors, Facebook, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Arts, UK Entertainment News

Laxmi Hariharan : Can You SEO Your Way to the Bestseller List?

2013-06-11T07:22:55Z

Chris McVeigh-- he runs FourFiftyOne a digital publishing consultancy as well as seoforbooks--said, "SEO is a huge opportunity for Indie authors to become discoverable" adding "it is not a discoverability but a visibility problem for many authors."

Read more: Publishing, Amazon Kindle, Seo, Writing, Self-Publishing, Search Engine Optimization, Ebooks, E-Book, Amazon, Author, Google, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Tech News

Celia Lyttelton: Manorbier Castle Chronicles

2013-06-07T19:15:01Z

So I guess its back to Manorbier for another staycation because it costs too much, either by sea or air to get the family off this damp little island groaning under the weight too many people.

Read more: David Bowie, Kew, Women in the Peerage, John Stanford, John Lanchester, Sean Smith Photographer, Rory Mcewen, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Arts, UK Lifestyle News

Jane Hilton: 'Precious' Arrives in New York

2013-06-07T19:00:00Z

I wanted to reveal the souls of these women, and in order to do this the text could not be near the image. This has definitely worked, leaving powerful photographs and a compelling text. I couldn't have asked for better reactions. I might add that this is despite the men's magazines that wanted to publish this work, but at the last minute thought it was too controversial.

Read more: Photography, Prostitution, Art, London, Americana, Books, New York City, UK Art, Photography Exhibition, UK Culture, UK Entertainment News

Can Books Ever Be Art?

2013-06-05T15:47:58Z

To those who say print is dead, Carl Pappenheim has a novel way to prove them wrong.

The London-based artist creates beautiful silhouette images of...

Read more: Novels, Roald Dahl, UK Books, Art, UK News, UK Culture, UK Lifestyle, UK News

B.J. Epstein: For Women Readers Only

2013-06-05T19:00:00Z

In an ideal world, men and women would be judged by the same standards and would have equal access to prize, as well as to having their work published, exhibited, performed, etc., and to receiving grants, and so forth. Unfortunately, Polly Courtney seems to have forgotten that we don't live in an ideal world.

Read more: Creativity, Women, Women's Rights, Women Artists, Awards, Orange Prize, Polly Courtney, Baileys Women?S Prize for Fiction, UK-Books, UK Culture, UK Entertainment News

Women's Prize For Fiction: Watch Live Stream Of Awards Here

2013-06-05T09:43:40Z

The live stream of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 awards is now over. A.M Homes won the Prize with her novel May We Be Forgiven.

Watch the ful...

Read more: Literature, Arts, Video, Orange Prize, Women's Fiction Prize 2013, Books, Orange Prize for Fiction, UK Lifestyle News

Sarah Wharton: A Beginner's Guide to Boy Nobody

2013-06-05T08:40:35Z

Action-thriller Boy Nobody is the first in a trilogy of young adult novels by Allen Zadoff about a teen assassin, brainwashed by The Program to be a perfect, emotionless killing machine - imperceptible by the authorities because he's just a kid.

Read more: Young Adult Books, Allen Zadoff, Boy Nobody, Jaden Smith, Book, Novel, Jaden-Smith-Boy-Nobody, UK Film, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Entertainment News

Polly Courtney: Baileys Women's Fiction Prize: Another Landmark in Literary Sexism

2013-06-04T19:00:00Z

Fiction is one of the few walks of life where gender doesn't matter. In the real world, we are judged on our looks, our voice, our stance. In board rooms we struggle to make ourselves heard. On construction sites we are ogled. Books are genderless products that can be enjoyed by men and women regardless of what chromosomes the author happens to have.

Read more: Baileys, Orange Prize for Fiction, Sexism, Orange Prize, UK Culture, Kate Mosse, Hilary Mantel, Baileys Prize for Fiction, Women's Fiction, UK-Books, Chick Lit, UK Entertainment News

Seth Freedman: Up Against The Wall

2013-06-03T10:04:08Z

William Sutcliffe burns with passion when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stressing his belief that 'it's time for Jews to stand up and say something' about the decades-old occupation of the West Bank.

Read more: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Politics, Zionism, Books, UK Politics News

Pat Higgins: Game of Thrones: Avoiding Bloody Spoilers

2013-06-04T05:59:40Z

This week's Game of Thrones was an important one, with a scene unexpected enough to make viewers spill their coffee, their tears or other bodily fluids. If you haven't seen it, check it out as soon as you can. Preferably before reading anything else, speaking to anyone else, logging on to Twitter or even thinking too much about this post.

Read more: Sky Atlantic, Twitter, Game of Thrones, Books, UK TV, TV Spoilers, Doctor Who, Frankie Boyle, Reviews, Tv, UK Entertainment News

INTERVIEW: Kate Mosse On Co-Founding The Women's Prize For Fiction

2013-06-04T03:47:45Z

It's been a busy year for Kate Mosse, chair of the Women's Prize for Fiction, one of the biggest literature prizes in the world.

Not only has the i...

Read more: Baileys, Book Publishing, Publishing, Orange Prize, Kate Mosse, Baileys Prize for Fiction, Orange Prize for Fiction, Books, Culture, UK Entertainment News

V.C. Linde: Review of 'Manly Food' by Simon Cave

2013-06-04T04:04:55Z

Obviously, as a woman it's possible that I could be a little put off my a cookbook called Manly Food but as Cave sets it up at the very beginning as "hearty, bold, adventurous and downright greedy" it's clear that gender has nothing to do with it (I'm certainly both hearty and greedy...)

Read more: Quadrille, Cookbook Reviews, Recipes, Manly Food, Cookbooks, Beth Evans, Book Reviews, Food, Eating, Simon Cave, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Lifestyle News

Tom Sperlinger: In Praise of Alice Munro

2013-05-30T13:58:21Z

Munro has some limitations as a writer and there is repetition in her subject matter and use of the story form. Those who overstate her 'greatness' may have done her no favours, if such rhetoric detracts from her very real qualities. Munro's work is original and much more subtle than either Wu or Lorentzen allow.

Read more: Literature, Alice Munro, Fiction, Candian Literature, UK Books, UK-Culture, UK Entertainment, UK Entertainment News

Baileys Replaces Orange As Women's Prize For Fiction Sponsor

2013-06-03T03:13:28Z

The Women’s Prize for Fiction has announced a new partnership with Baileys, the cream liqueur beverage. From 2014, the competition will be known as ...

Read more: Literature, Baileys, Books, Orange Prize for Fiction, Fiction, Orange Prize, Women's Prize for Fiction, Culture, UK Entertainment News

Ben Mirza: I Am An Executioner: Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran

2013-05-31T17:25:25Z

Rajesh Parameswaran is a new writer, and I Am Executioner is his first collection of short stories, which deal with the age old subject of love. But the love Parameswaran explores takes many guises and isn't just confined to man and woman.

Read more: Literature, I Am an Executioner, Indian Literature, Books, Rajesh Parameswaran, UK Books, UK Culture, UK Entertainment News

'Frightening' Decline Of Bookshops

2013-05-31T15:53:28Z

Britain's wealth of secondhand bookshops are going out of business "at a frightening speed", an expert has warned.

A generation brought up on ebook...

Read more: Hay-on-Wye, Secondhand Books, Bookshops, Hay Festival, UK News, UK Culture, Kindle, Books, Amazon, UK News