The Book of Human Emotions and 2020

It’s been some time since I wrote anything here, and it’s been some time since Words & Matter was little more than a fledgling idea to write about books.

The Book of Human Emotions is a wonderful book

The truth is I haven’t been much actively into books in the last two years, although that is slowly reverting (I won’t claim any great victory or revelation yet, habits being stubborn little things to break!). Little and often may be the way, but reading and writing anything at all seems best.

There’s a sunglasses manufacturer called William Painter, and in a promo vid on YouTube, there’s a line in which William Painter himself (supposedly) says:

The only way to do a thing is to do it.

Whether he did or not is irrelevant, but because I pontificate and can fall foul of indecision, I’ve co-opted this into: ‘The best way to do a thing is to do it’. Because action and decisions not taken are worse than the occasional mistake or error. In any case, the best thing to do about not reading is reading; and for not writing…writing. And holy heck there’s tonnes to write about.

If the UK political scene doesn’t throw up some incredible readng and writing in the new decade - revelations or reflections - it would be somewhat shocking. Then there’s the climate, and I’m doing my own little bit of fictional writing inspired by the ecological trouble we seem to be getting ourselves into.

What else is there we can do? Those little changes, I’m doing those too.

But my mind is rusty to this habit still, and my thoughts a little muddled. Like puppies in a pen all bumbling soft and energetic, a mass of lovable fur….now I am writing my brain is firing off all sorts of beacons. I’ll leave this here without getting too long; except to say that I got a new book for Christrmas.

My brother bought me The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith. It’s a lovely book, and shows how well he knows me. I love learning, growing deeper and broader, as a human. And I love - once upon a time, demonstrably - such delightful titles. It’s about time that habit returns.

Oh! One quick thing before I forget, if you’ve not heard about it, Strong Words magazine is excellent, the sort of book magazine I wish existed when I was a boy with a rather well-stocked local library. If you’ve not yet heard of it, do check it out.

No doubt I’ll mention that again.

Happy reading, and Happy New Year, Decade, Bizareness.

Editor's Blog #3: Finished a book (I know) + thoughts

I went away to France for a week and start and finished a book. That shouldn't in itself be surprising, but the fact it was only my second completed book in two years is troubling. The shame I feel is real believe me, but the sense of achievement feels addictive. And so the need to continually read once again rears its head!

Hello blessed creature, good to see you again! 

The book I completed? Matt Haig's The Humans - easy to love, enjoyable, relatable, sad and heart-warming also. Do read it if you haven't. You'll likely burn through it. 

I need more time for books, this site requires that at the very base level. After all, I can't write about things I know little of And so regular reading. I miss it, I love it, and I'll report back with more thoughts on that, this site and more very very soon I hope.

To those who haven't read for a while, just like me, go on. Shift the bookmark!

Peace and adventure,

Kevin 

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Awards backlash

Kiran Millwood-Hargrave is one BAME author who some believe has been ignored

CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) has found itself facing some strong criticism about a lack of diversity, with neither the institute's Carnegie or Kate Greenaway Medal longlists featuring a single BAME author.

The Carnegie medal is awarded to an "outstanding" book written in English for children and young people, and the Kate Greenaway Medal recognises "distinguished illustration" in a book for children. The longlists for both awards are 20 nominees long, and despite a clear depth of talent neither features a title by an author of Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic identity.

We gave out a "wow" when we heard, and it's news which has been met with a strong response from some quarters of the book industry. That despite CILIP stating it: "acknowledges and respects the concerns expressed", and assuring all titles were "judged on merit and on an equal playing field".

It's a sentiment refuted by Jhalak Prize co-creator Sunny Singh, who took to Twitter to make her own feelings known: 

This is a deliberate snub by Carnegie/Greenaway. Can be read as nothing else given the current climate plus extraordinary output this year

— Citizen of Nowhere (@sunnysingh_n6) February 16, 2017

Those sentiments were echoed by Jhalak co-creator Nikesh Shukla, who revealed his sadness about CILIP's statement. He added: "An equal playing field happens when no one has any cause or suspicion to note the lack of diversity. An equal playing field happens when more than a handful of authors from marginalised backgrounds gets published."

It's hard to argue, and it's hard to argue further still with a series of tweets Ms Singh referred to - by Sarah Shaffi (online editor of The Bookseller). Ms Shaffi, we think, offers an excellent tear-down of the elements for concern, with the first tweet in the series highlighted below. Still, we recommend clicking through to read those that follow:

The "equal playing field" argument does not survive deep scrutiny - utterly brilliant books by BAME authors were ignored.

— Sarah Shaffi (@sarahshaffi) February 17, 2017

Finally we just want to pick up on the idea of 'ignorance', because one of the books that was ignored was The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood-Hargrave. Ms Millwood-Hargrave's book has already been selected for the shortlists of this year's Jhalak Prize and Waterstones Children's Book Prize. It's clear then that in general terms The Girl of Ink and Stars isn't being ignored outright. That title may have been ignored by CILIP, but we wouldn't dare suggest that one book by one author should be on every shortlist. It's not completely surprising it isn't.

What we are completely surprised by - astonished really - is that of two 20-strong lists (a combined 40 nominees) there is not any book by a BAME author. That represents...well, zero representation, and it feels, looks, and even sounds odd to us; just as we're sure it will to many authors (and aspiring authors) across the UK. 
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(The full longlists can be found here).

Samuel French Theatre Bookshop to close in April...bah

**UPDATE - March 2022**
As of March 2018, The Samuel French Theatre Bookshop has been operating from The Royal Court Theatre in London’s Sloane Square.

Sad news today as the Samuel French Theatre Bookshop, sat on Fitzroy Street, London, has announced that it is to close after 187 years.

The reason? A 200% rent hike making it impossible for the bookshop to keep its doors open at its current location. It's really unfortunate stuff, and the doors will be closing for good on the shop come mid-April.

For the unfamiliar, 'French's Theatre Bookshop' is owned by the theatrical licensing and publishing company Samuel French.

The shop has occupied the premises on the corner of Fitzroy and Warren St since 1983, and specialises in plays and theatre books. 

The shop will continue to sell online at www.samuelfrench.co.uk, but regardless it's hard to see a central London bookstore closing as any kind of progress.

We believe bookshops and libraries should live at the very heart of our towns, cities and societies.

Business was growing too, so French's bidding farewell to a physical store - particularly when the decision is out of its hands - is a shame indeed.

Below is an extract of a statement about the closure (which can be read in full here).

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The lease on our current building in Fitzroy Street (where we’ve been since 1983) is coming to an end. Facing an unsustainable 200% rent increase to stay in our current location, and after exploring all options for alternative premises, we have come to the conclusion that sadly it isn’t viable to maintain our London shop. 

We remain resolutely committed to theatre bookselling, and we will continue to sell a full range of plays and theatre books (from both Samuel French and other publishers) through our well established and growing online shop. In recent years, we’ve already seen many of our customers switching to the online store - 4 out of every 5 books we sell are now bought online or through other retailers. We will offer the same selection, expertise and support online that has made our London bookshop such an invaluable resource.

Phillip Pullman confirms His Dark Materials 'equal'

To the delight of His Dark Materials fans, Phillip Pullman has confirmed that a "companion" trilogy to his HDM series is on the way - and that the first title in The Book of Dust is set for publication on October 19th! Needless to say we here at W&M are pretty chuffed about that, and we're sure we're not alone. 

The new trilogy is being referred to as a 'companion' series by the author. But Pullman is also referring to them as an 'equal'. In speaking to American National Public Radio (NPR) Editor, Glen Weldon, Pullman explained his reasoning:

The story begins before His Dark Materials and continues after it...You don't have to read it before... this is another story that comes after it, so it's not a sequel, and it's not a prequel, it's an equal.

A little bit of semantic linguistics required, but the new trilogy will be set before and after the events of Northern Lights, The amber Spyglass and The Subtle Knife. We also know some additional details. Like, as The Book of Dust title suggests, that the bookswill explore the dust particle featured in His Dark Materials. 

That's what I really wanted to explore in this new work. More about the nature of Dust, and consciousness, and what it means to be a human being.

Of course Pullman's series is in part so well-regarded because of the parallels we see between his narrative and the real world; because of the raw connection he conjures between readers and characters. We feel confident that will continue (indeed Lyra Belacqua and "an ordinary boy" will feature in the new series), but ultimately we're really looking forward to getting stuck into another Pullman trilogy!

Some additional thoughts to finish with:

• Hear from Pullman himself via this clip from BBC Radio 4 Today, and read a little more at NPR here.
• Not much reference to Pullman's 'other' His Dark Materials titles - Once Upon a Time in the North and Lyra's Oxford - doing the rounds. However, both are excellent extensions pf the HDM series and well worth your time!