East London charity celebrates 7000th book bike delivery
A charity offering books to deprived households in several East London boroughs has this week celebrated its 7000th drop-off—and they’ve all been delivered by bicycle. BookBike was established by Emdad… Read more »
Tails of the unexpected: Pembrokeshire library offers dog reading sessions
The UK is a nation of dog-lovers, with a PDSA survey estimating 26% of UK adults keep a hound as a pet; that’s around 9.6 million dogs. And with the coronavirus… Read more »
82% of British school children surveyed report never studying Black, Asian, or minority ethnic authors
Did you know that a young child from an ethnic minority background is more likely to read a book with an animal protagonist than a human one of their own ethnicity? So reported the Centre… Read more »
AP rules “Black” should now be capitalized; change seen as long overdue
On June 19, 2020—better known, this year, as Juneteenth—the Associated Press formally ruled that the word “Black,” when used in “a racial, ethnic or cultural sense,” must be capitalized. In… Read more »
Derogatory dictionary debated; Brits bashed for bigotry
So begins a petition addressed to the editors of the august Oxford Dictionary of English. (Side note: a little-known law stipulates that the adjective “august” must precede every written reference… Read more »
Newly-minted Brexit coin proving controversial, you’ll be surprised to hear
In “incredibly predictable news” news, the recently-announced fifty pence coin commemorating the UK’s exit from the European Union* has caused outrage and controversy. But not for the reasons you might… Read more »
“Climate strike” is chosen as 2019’s word of the year
Last year we wrote about the annual tradition that is Collins English Dictionary word of the year, as chosen by lexicographers since 2013. Following on from last year’s winner “single-use,”… Read more »
Booker Award split between two deserving writers; irritation abounds
Sheesh! Can’t any of these people do anything right? As though attempting to one-up a string of disappointing Nobel Prize decisions—including last year’s non-award scandal and this year’s decision to… Read more »
Readers protest outdated dictionary entries; “What’s the matter with being sexy,” asks UK honcho
Ain’t no way Mike Lindgren is not going to kick off his first-ever Moby with a Spinal Tap reference … especially when some UK protestors have noticed that the august… Read more »
Beowulf authorship debate takes another turn; suggests a single author
Hwæt!* This week, the all-action, Grendel-battlin’, sea-voyagin’, crown-of-Geatland-wearin’ hero Beowulf was the subject of renewed debate. Authorship of the Scandinavian epic poem, which dates from between 1,200 and 1,300 years ago,… Read more »