Greta Thunberg named TIME person of the year; jointly scoops Waterstones book of the year
You might have heard there’s an election on today in the UK*. Brenda from Bristol: NOT ANOTHER ONE! Yes, Brenda, another one. Because that’s just how we roll over here… Read more »
Packaging tampons as books: the subversive new way to avoid a sexist tax
Let’s talk periods. Around 49.6% of the world’s population is female, and 26% are of reproductive age, and therefore likely to menstruate. It’s a biological fact. It is a precursor… Read more »
Climate activists Extinction Rebellion have a book coming out as the UK sort-of declares a climate change emergency
On Wednesday, the UK became the first country in the world to declare a national climate emergency. This comes after weeks of protests took places across the UK and other European… Read more »
Alaa al-Aswany, Egyptian author and activist, is being sued by the Egyptian military for insulting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Alaa al-Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building and critic of the political regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will face a lawsuit filed by the military authority of Egypt. According to reporting… Read more »
Publishers donate thousands of books for refugees
The idea began with Denise Chávez, the owner of Casa Camino Real Book Store and Art Gallery in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and a desire to help. The idea: Get… Read more »
Two indigenous poets read a collaborative poem atop a melting glacier
Last summer, two indigenous poets collaborated to create a pretty badass project. That is, reciting their poetry on top of a melting glacier on a remote spot of southern Greenland’s… Read more »
Benjamin Zephaniah turns down poet laureate nomination
Writer, poet, and musician Benjamin Zephaniah has made it clear that he is not interested in replacing Dame Carol Ann Duffy as poet laureate after her resignation in May 2019.… Read more »
A human conveyor belt of protest literature in Southampton
Human chains have been used for a variety of reasons – saving the lives of stranded swimmers, protesting terribly shitty immigration policy, rescuing puppers – but last weekend saw a first: a… Read more »
School bans backpacks; boy protests by bringing books to school in a microwave
We all remember those Autumn school days, right? Crisp mornings spent trudging through papery leaves, box-fresh stationery jostling in your pencil case, the sweet scent of decay permeating the air. Frosty… Read more »
Is young adult literature too dark?
Is YA literature breeding pessimism in today’s youth? Has YA become, dare we say, too woke? Such is the verdict from the Wall Street Journal’s op-ed piece in response to… Read more »