Millions of people are reading young adult fantasy novels like Twilight or A Court of Thorns and Roses. But the way sexual consent is depicted in these can be confusing or even harmful.
Anguished cries of ‘cancel culture’ rang out with news that six Dr Seuss books would be shelved. But canceling Dr Seuss is not possible, nor is it the best way to build diversity and understanding.
At the turn of the 20th century, with few children’s books featuring Black characters, one young editor implored his peers to ‘Let us make the world know that we are living.’
Many important Australian books have found themselves out-of-print and hard-to-find. The Untapped project aims to change that, bringing classics to a library near you.
Trixie Belden wasn’t as pretty as her best friend, or a cool as Nancy Drew. But she had a ‘mental computer’ for solving mysteries and a non-judgmental moral core.
Will the newest batch of books about the climate crisis change minds? Reading about the problem can help us understand it, but it’s political action that is needed now.
Limited promotion and marketing budgets reinforce false ideas about how well diverse books and writers will sell. This leads to a negative cycle for black, Asian and minority ethnic writers.
Famous expats Charmian Clift and George Johnson, Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen provide inspiration for this heady romance. But the shifts between reality and fiction are distracting at times.
The books chosen as finalists in this year’s Stella Prizes can help us draw on our innate resources. We can seek inner truths and explore ways to support each other thanks to these gifted writers.
Paul Heald, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Fewer books will be available to South Africans, and the books remaining under copyright will be more expensive, if the country gives in to US pressure to extend its copyright term.
We’ve had books, films, plays, theme parks, bars and endless paraphernalia. But after more than 20 years of Harry Potter mania, its commercial spell might finally be waning.
We created a reading-machine that finds poetry hidden in plain sight in popular books. In doing so, we are exploring Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning and reading in a digitised world.
Publishers funnel massive amounts of resources into promoting titles that they think will become bestsellers. But they’ve become spellbound by ‘stories of struggle’ that can succumb to stereotypes.
This collection has become an annual bestseller, navigating fake news and shouty views and offering a fresh perspective on the fundamental issues. Get your copy today.