LYNDALL GORDON’S GROUP BIOGRAPHY, OUTSIDERS, NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK

OUTSIDERS, Lyndall Gordon’s visionary interlinked biography of five female writers and the experiences that shaped them, is available in paperback from Virago. Described as a ‘thought-provoking group biography’ in The New Statesmen by Erica Wagner and as a book written with ‘passionate intelligence’ by Tessa Hadley in The Guardian, OUTSIDERS was included in New Statesman, Books Live and The Irish Times Books of the Year lists in 2017.

OUTSIDERS tells the stories of five novelists – Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner, Virginia Woolf – and their famous novels. We have long known their individual greatness but in linking their creativity to their lives as outsiders, this group biography throws new light on the genius they share. At that time a woman's reputation was her security and each of these five lost it. But as writers, they made the identities of ‘outsider’, ‘outlaw’, ‘outcast’, their own, taking advantage of their separation from the dominant order to write their brilliant books. What they have in common also is the way they inform one another, and us, across the generations.  Lyndall Gordon names each of these five as prodigy, visionary, outlaw, orator and explorer and shows how they came, they saw and left us changed.

Lyndall has attended a number of festivals and literary events to discuss these inspirational women, including the Bath Festival and Cambridge Literary Festival. Lyndall will be giving the Annual Burnt Norton Lecture at The T. S. Eliot International Summer School in July, discussing the prestigious writer and the women in his life. Rights to OUTSIDERS have recently been acquired by Larrad in Spain and Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing House in China.

Lyndall Gordon's biographies have always shown the indelible connection between life and art: an intuitive, exciting and revealing approach that has been highly praised and much read and enjoyed Like all Lyndall’s books OUTSIDERS will continue to delight and inspire readers for a long time to come.

Praise for OUTSIDERS:

‘Fascinating… The strength of spirit of these outsiders shines from the pages and through the ages as Gordon takes us deep inside their minds, hearts, and books.’ — Anita Sethi, The Observer

‘As the role of women undergoes yet another convulsion, it’s good to read, in Lyndall Gordon’s OUTSIDERS, of the robust intelligence of five women who made a powerful contribution. The work and lives of Emily Brontë, George Eliot, Mary Shelley, Olive Schreiner and Virginia Woolf are well known. Gordon’s thesis sets out just how original and brave they were – and at what cost. We owe them much.’ — Joan Bakewell, New Statesman, Books of the Year 2017

‘I love how Lyndall Gordon thinks and I love the clarity and reach of her writing, combining imaginative audacity with scholarly scruple. Her OUTSIDERS, a collection of portraits of George Eliot, Emily Brontë, Virginia Woolf, Olive Schreiner and Mary Shelley, builds into a lucid meditation on how certain writers become lighthouses for each other.’ — Joseph O’Connor, Irish Times Books of the Year 2017

‘Visionary, beautiful’ — Karina Szczurek, Books Live, The best books of 2017 

‘A lively and enterprising group biography’ — Catherine Taylor, Financial Times

NANCY TUCKER’S THAT WAS WHEN PEOPLE STARTED TO WORRY OUT NOW

In her new book THAT WAS WHEN PEOPLE STARTED TO WORRY, published in hardback and ebook by Icon Books, Nancy Tucker brings together the experiences of sixty young women aged 16-25 to present the wide scope of mental illness and the impact it has on everyday life. Nancy’s writing is frank, funny and compassionate, offering readers the opportunity to better understand what it is to live with an unwell mind. Nancy’s book is also out in audio with Audible UK.

‘In the waiting room, I see a lot of people who I could tell had real, serious Problems. They deserve to be here. I don’t. I’m a fraud. A lazy wreck seeking an excuse for her incompetence. I’m useless.’ Abby, 24

THAT WAS WHEN PEOPLE STARTED TO WORRY examines modern perceptions of mental illness, placing women’s lived experience at the centre of that narrative. Nancy encourages readers to examine their preconceptions of these conditions with tongue-in-cheek ‘guidebook’ sections, and throughout these chapters we hear Nancy’s own voice and experiences, creating a compelling and cohesive narrative.

Through these stories of women pushed to the very edge, Nancy reveals something universal about what it means to grow up a woman, and shines a light on perspectives recognisable for anyone who has been affected, directly or indirectly, by mental illness. The result is a book that is unique: in turns funny, disturbing and deeply moving; sensitively handled, and intimate without being

Nancy’s first book THE TIME IN BETWEEN (Icon Books, 2016) explored her own struggle with anorexia and bulimia nervosa. In the Sunday Times Christina Patterson praised the memoir as ‘astonishingly good’ and in The Psychologist Sara Gilbert wrote it was ‘an illustration of the complexity of an eating disorder.’

Nancy Tucker is a 22-year-old writer and student, currently studying for a degree in Experimental Psychology at Pembroke College, Oxford. Nancy’s first book, THE TIME IN BETWEEN (Icon, 2016), explored her own struggle with anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Nancy aspires to eventually apply her understanding of mental illness to a career in clinical psychology, and has a particular interest in the treatment of binge eating disorder and personality disorders. 

You can read an extract from Nancy’s new book from The Observer here.

Praise for Nancy Tucker:

‘A startlingly affecting, starkly written account of her anorexia. This isn't just another anorexia misery memoir — it's a work of literature’ — Jacqueline Wilson

‘I found Tucker’s account of her illness clear-sighted, eye-opening, moving and wise.’ — The Bookseller

‘THE TIME IN BETWEEN is a tremendous achievement’ — New Statesman

‘THE TIME IN BETWEEN is stylish an incisive and Tucker weaves her tale of fear and food, confusion and calories grippingly and with skill.’ — Joanna Moorhead, The Guardian

‘A haunting first-person account of Tucker’s struggle with anorexia as a child… Her writing is distinctive, engaging and slightly spiky.’ — Helen Nianias, The Independent

PROFILE ACQUIRE LUCY MANGAN’S DIARY OF A SUBURBAN LADY

Photo Credit: Stylist

Lucy Mangan’s brilliant fictional account of life in the suburbs, DIARY OF A SUBURBAN LADY, has been snapped up by Profile Books. Rebecca Gray, Associate Publisher at Profile, has acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann and Louise Lamont at LBA. Profile will publish DIARY OF A SUBURBAN LADY in Autumn 2019.

Rebecca Gray says: ‘I’m so delighted that the marvellous Ms Mangan has decided to bring the DIARY OF A SUBURBAN LADY to Profile, we’re going to have a ball publishing it. From marital misadventures to children’s first haircuts to horrifying threadworm experiences, with plenty of friends and frenemies along the way, it’s a hilarious skewering of the combination of sweetness and nightmare that is modern family life. Hopefully she’ll have some thoughts on last minute World Book Day costume demands too.’

Lucy Mangan says:  I’m thrilled to be publishing this book with Profile and to have Rebecca by my side as I venture into fiction for the first time, with this modern take on THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY (E M Delafield’s dry-witted classic of family life and other vexations). I intend to neglect my own family entirely as I get to work on DIARY OF A SUBURBAN LADY, which I hope will be a comic journey through the vicissitudes of modern domestic and professional life that will go well with a double gin and tonic at the end of the day.

Lucy will be attending the Derby Book Festival in June to discuss her memoir on childhood reading, BOOKWORM, which was published by Square Peg in March 2018.

Lucy Mangan is a journalist and a writer for the Guardian. She has written for most major women’s magazines, including Grazia, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, and has a weekly column in Stylist magazine. She was named Columnist of the Year at PPA Awards in 2013. Her works include MY FAMILY AND OTHER DISASTERS, HOPSCOTCH AND HANDBAGS: The Essential Guide to Being a Girl, and THE RELUCTANT BRIDE. A commemoration of 50 years of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, INSIDE CHARLIE'S CHOCOLATE FACTORY was published by Puffin UK/US in 2014.

Visit Lucy’s Guardian page

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THE HIDDEN STAR BY K. SELLO DUIKER AVAILABLE ACROSS THE US!

THE HIDDEN STAR, K. Sello Duiker’s magical story of one girl’s quest to change things for the better, is now available in the US from Cassava Republic. A captivating tale for young readers, THE HIDDEN STAR, has previously been brought to audiences in Nigeria, West Africa and the UK by Cassava Republic, and was first published by Penguin Random House South Africa’s imprint Umuzi.

Eleven-year-old Nolitye lives in a shack with her mother Thembi in Phola, a dusty township on the edge of Johannesburg. She loves maths and collecting stones, which she keeps in a bucket under her bed. She also has magical powers: she can communicate with dogs.

Nolitye’s granny used to say: ‘If you mess with a woman, you mess with a stone,’ and when Nolitye finds a magical stone on the dusty streets of Phola, her granny's words take on a new meaning. Along with her two friends — pampered Bheki, and Four Eyes, a reformed member of the Spoilers gang led by Rotten Nellie — Nolitye puts the powers of the stone to good use. For the first time the threesome can stand up to the Spoilers, Nolitye can save the life of Rex, the leader of a pack of talking township mutts, and dare to look scary MaMtonga — with her living brown-and-green snake necklace — in the eye.

But soon Nolitye finds out that the purplish-blue magic stone is one of five needed to put right things that started to go wrong the day her father died in a mining accident when she was five years old. Or so she was told by her mother... Merging a cast of characters from African myth and folklore with everyday township life, K. Sello Duiker created a magical world and a truly wondrous quest that will appeal to an ageless audience.

By his untimely death, K. Sello Duiker had published various short stories and two novels. THIRTEEN CENTS was awarded the Commonwealth Prize for a first novel, while THE QUIET VIOLENCE OF DREAMS was translated into four languages, and won the Herman Charles Bosman Prize for English Literature. THE HIDDEN STAR was published posthumously.

Praise for THE HIDDEN STAR:

‘An absorbing story about friendship and courage’ – BookTrust

‘Magic and mythology mingle with everyday life in this engaging tale about a girl who discovers a powerful magic stone...a pleasurable fantasy story with a strong nod to mythology. Readers will warm to Nolitye and her relatable run-ins with the school bully and will delight at the quirky details of Duiker's magic in an otherwise realistic setting… A satisfying fantasy story in a place not often represented in the genre. Recommended for most middle grade collections where fantasy is popular.’ – School Library Journal

‘Entertaining and pacy, but it succeeds in evoking the innocence and curiosity of a child, while communicating larger truths about the vulnerability of human beings…I got goose-bumps reading it.’ – Fred Khumalo, The Sunday Times Lifestyle

‘A fantastic journey from inside the cardboard-covered, corrugated iron walls of her shack into a world of African myth and folklore…This will enchant all young readers.’ – Kate Turkington, joburg.co.za

‘Duiker has taken South African fiction to another level with this convincing mix of the experiences of a child growing up in a modern township …It’s a truly wonderful novel whose words flow like poetry, taking you into another world.’ – Angelique Serrao, The Saturday Star

AN ANTHOLOGY OF WRITING FOR BLACK BRITISH MEN: SAFE EDITED BY DEREK OWUSU ACQUIRED BY TRAPEZE

SAFE, a comprehensive anthology of writing by and for Black British men edited by Derek Owusu, co-host of the successful literature podcast Mostly Lit, has been bought by Trapeze. Commissioning Editor Emma Smith acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Juliet Pickering for SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. The anthology will be published in hardback, ebook and audio in March 2019.

What is the experience of black men in Britain? With continued conversation around British identity, racism and diversity, there is no better time to explore this question and give black British men a platform to answer it. SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, is that platform. Including essays from top poets, writers, musicians, actors and journalists, this timely and accessible book brings together a selection of powerful reflections exploring the black British male experience and what it really means to reclaim and hold space in the landscape of our society.  Where do black men belong in school, in the media, in their own families, in the conversation about mental health, in the LGBT community, in grime music – and how can these voices inspire, educate and add to the dialogue of diversity already taking place? Following on from discussions raised by THE GOOD IMMIGRANT and WHY I’M NO LONGER TALKING TO WHITE PEOPLE ABOUT RACE, this collection takes readers on a rich and varied path to confront and question the position of black men in Britain today, and shines a light on the way forward.

Emma Smith said: “This book was impossible not to publish. It’s necessary, authentic and high-calibre writing by an impressive roster of contributors who collectively hold the power to shape attitudes and shift discourse. SAFE will amplify black British male voices, open minds and forge a conversation about cultural identity. I am so proud to be working with Derek on this agenda-setting book that will resonate for generations to come.”

Derek Owusu said: “This is a book about mental health, about violence, about racism, about homophobia, about colourism, but it’s also a book about love, about learning, about compassion and about community. I’m so grateful to have been given the chance to work on this book with so many amazing writers, people as passionate as I am about adding to the current discourse.”

Derek Owusu is a writer, host of hit podcast Mostly Lit, and mentor to young people at Urban Synergy. He discovered his passion for literature aged 23 – before then, he had never read a book cover-to-cover. It was a revelation that came too late for his university path, so instead of switching course, he snuck into English literature lectures at The University of Manchester.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN

Amongst contributors such as poet Suli Breaks, award-winning author Alex Wheatle, Channel 4 news reporter Symeon Brown, writer and Musician Musa Okwonga and Guardian editor Joseph Harker, a competition is now open for essay submissions – the winner of which will feature as the final contributor to SAFE. For more information and terms, please see https://www.mostly-lit.com/safe-competition

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