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This Week in Literary News: Week of March 15

Our weekly round-up of literary news here at Catalyst and beyond, is brought to you by our intern Naomi Valenzuela. Naomi is from Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, and is majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in English & American Literature at the University of Texas, El Paso, with plans of working in the publishing business after graduation.

Editor’s Note: One additional item in this week’s news is that in honor of Women’s History Month, all titles by the talented women authors of Catalyst are on sale! Visit our shop to order.

The New York Times covers how bookstores are coping with the current events and how they adapted to keep their businesses going.

Read It Forward has some tips on how to lend a hand to your communities’ booksellers, and how to help authors and readers alike.

Also at The New York Times, new novelists share their promotion plans before the pandemic and what they are doing now to promote their books.

The Guardian shares this year’s winners of the Windham and Campbell prize and some of their thoughts on the current crisis.

Need more reading material for Women’s History Month? Lit Hub has got you covered with 10 new books about women’s history, dealing from generational stories to anti-immigration.

Brittle Paper has a compilation of helpful and/or motivational tweets of African authors and their reactions to the pandemic.

Over on Strange Horizons, there’s an issue titled “100 African Writers of SFF,” where Geoff Ryman interviews African writers while focusing on the cultural life of African cities.

If you’ve been at home with your children, reading can be a great pastime with them. Book Riot has a great article on what you can do when reading aloud to them.

This Week in Literary News: Week of March 8

Catalyst’s own David Muirhead (Cat Among the Pigeons) has had a poem read by the AVBOB poetry project, an annual poetry contest open to South African Citizens. Listen to the poem here.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Read it Forward has a list of books written by women journalists, who are still underrepresented in the field.

In Greece’s refugee camps, literature is being used to comfort those in hard times. The Echo mobile library is a minivan filled with books that are lent out to the children and adults at these camps read more about this good deed at The Guardian.

If you’re near the Brooklyn area over the summer and want to learn more about digital publishing, Electric Literature is looking for interns who believe in their mission to make literature more relevant, exciting, and inclusive!

At BBC, there’s an opinion piece about authors writing the stories of those who are different from themselves in fiction and the worries of cultural appropriation.

Related to this topic, NPR has an article and podcast on Grace Halsell’s 1969 book Soul Sister, and the limits of empathy.

Over on LitHub, they have the lists of the finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary awards, which showcase works that celebrate or explore LGBT+ topics.

Brittle Paper takes a deeper look into the 2020 Lambda awards, acknowledging the representation given to writers from Africa and the Caribbean.

Amidst the chaos around the globe, self-help books about silence and minimalism are becoming more popular among people. Read more about it on the Washington Post.

This Week in Literary News, Week of March 1

In publishing news, ViacomCBS has put Simon & Schuster up for sale. The multinational media conglomerate says that the company no longer fits into their business plans. Read more on The New York Times.

On Brittle Paper, there’s a gathered series of humorous tweets showing readers how different writers have a different interpretation of Nigeria in their fiction.

Also on Brittle Paper, an article on The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros. Originally written in 1672, it has been translated into English and details the life of Walatta Petros, an important figure within Ethiopia’s Tawahedo Church tradition.

The Washington Post has an article on how the coronavirus has led to an increasing amount of “survival guides” for the virus on Amazon and underlines how unreliable information may be spread through self-publishing.

Continuing on the topic of the coronavirus, it persists to harm the literary industry as The Guardian reports on the cancellation of the London book fair due to fears and involuntary financial strains on publishers.

The Guardian also has an opinion piece discussing World Book Day and the tradition of dressing up to celebrate the day.

Electric Lit has a neat selection of adult novels accompanied by illustrations. From thrillers to biographies, there is something for everyone in these books with graphic elements.

Last but certainly not least, Bridget Krone author of Small Mercies, one of our latest releases, has an interview for Intralingo’s Spotlight series. Take a look at it over on Intralingo’s podcast or their YouTube channel.

This Week in Literary News, Week of February 23

Global Lit in Libraries co-founder and translator Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds (L) and Jessica Powers

Our own Jessica Powers attended the PubWest conference this year where representation in publishing was one of the biggest subjects discussed. Read more about the conference and what Jessica had to say on these topics at Publishers Weekly.

Last week, we shared an article on giving books to local prisons. This week, NPR has an article discussing censorship implemented in prisons on certain types of literature, many having themes around race and criminal justice.

In global news, the Coronavirus has been affecting many different industries. LitHub takes a look at its effects on the publishing industry, more specifically the Italian publishing industry.

To all the book-loving introverts, Book Riot has some tips on joining book clubs, stepping out of your comfort zone, and surviving these get-togethers.

Looking for different ways to get kids more involved with reading? Brightly has a fun reading challenge for children for the upcoming month of March that will keep them engaged!

Electric Lit has an interview with Anastacia-Renée, JP Howard, t’ai freedom ford, and Safiya Sinclair, four black women poets discuss a range of topics, from political writing to their inspirations.

The Guardian has an interesting book list: from Alice in Wonderland to The Haunting of Hill House, a perspective on what happens when imaginary friends follow you past your childhood.

At Kirkus Reviews, they reviewed our upcoming releases by Niki Daly, Here Comes Lolo and Hooray for Lolo, and had many great things to say about Lolo and her adventures!

This Week in Literary News

Want to lend a helping hand in your community? On Electric Lit, this article shows you how teaming up with NYC Books Through Bars can help deliver books to local prisoners.

Brittle Paper has information about book reviewers for Publisher’s Weekly. They are calling for book reviewers, an opportunity for more diversity within the publishing industry.

Also on Brittle Paper, an article about the 2020 London School of Economics’ LSE Shape The World festival and this year’s inclusion of a panel centered around “African Talks: The Global Legacy of African Women Writers”.

Over on New Internationalist, our own Yewande Omotoso (Bom Boy), writes about navigating through Johannesburg without a car, and finding a new perspective in the city.

OkayAfrica has an article and video on Samba Yonga’s TED Talk where she discusses the need to create superheroes for and from Africa.

There is an excerpt from one of our releases, Sacrificed by Chanette Paul and translated to English by Elsa Silke, over on The Johannesburg Review of Books.

The New York Times has an article about stories of the female trio and explores how this trope is so effective in literature and outside of it.

The Carnegie Medal longlist for 2020 gives us many retellings of classic literature such as Moby Dick and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but with a twist. Check out this article at The Guardian, and take a look at the reimagining of these books.

Lastly in more Catalyst news, Shaka Rising by Luke Molver is on sale for 50% off! Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity as it ends in February.