Leah Golder discusses the reality of book banning and censorship.
‘Purist and Elementary’: Issues of Censorship and Book Banning
To what extent should we have a creative licence?
‘Public Domain Day’, otherwise known as New Year’s Day , marks the expired copyright on texts entering the public domain. A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to name a few released in 2022. The significance of giving way to creative licence can be seen in the development since The Great Gatsby’s release in the US in 2021, with 34 new print editions published in the past year and the development of a television adaptation by Michael Hirst.
‘the industry could and should do a lot more’: Interventions and their necessity in Diversifying Publishing
Leah Golder discusses why the publishing industry urgently needs to do more to diversify its workplace.
Originality has Died so that the Book Cover May Live On
Amelia Chambers discusses the unoriginality of recent book covers
The Brave New World of Cover Design and Audience
We are living in an age of book covers that pander to social media users, viewing their prospective purchases on small smartphone screens. Publishers have to know their particular audience, and their books must be able to catch your eye immediately. But must universal success always come in the form of bold strokes of bright colour and block titles that swallow up the page?
Whose Responsibility is Representation?
Following a recent article published by The Guardian, detailing Monica Ali’s depression caused by the reaction to her novel Untold Story, the conversation surrounding who is responsible for representation in literature resurfaced. Should the role fall solely on the same people who are under-represented? Or should society, as a whole, strive for equal representation for all writers and experiences?
The Author and the Ghost
Have you ever considered hiring a professional ghost?
No, not the supernatural kind – the literary kind. Splicing the word “ghostwriter” into two, this professional ghost entices prospective clients with the promise of its own invisibility. It increases its allure by marketing itself as a formless entity detached from its own literary labour.
Capitalising on the Coronavirus
“The outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease” and the search for a vaccine. Is this an extract from the BBC on the developments of COVID-19? No, this is the synopsis to Stanley Johnson’s novel The Virus.
The Rebirth of Chris Kraus
I Love Dick is a manifesto for a generation of women who want to have it all, say it all, and be it all. Its journey from an underground, experimental novel to a cult classic shows far how ideas about women and femininity have evolved in that time.
The Power of #Bookstagram
Rainbow colour-coded bookshelves, special edition hardbacks surrounded by fairy lights, atmospheric coffee shop scenes with a splayed open paperback on the table – this is what you can expect to see when scrolling through the 39 million posts under the ‘bookstagram’ hashtag on Instagram.
thestray.org 