Here’s A First Look at Akwaeke Emezi’s Romance Novel
New York Times bestselling author Akwaeke Emezi is releasing their first romance novel, and you can get a first look at You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty on Entertainment Weekly’s website. “After spending most of my teenage years buried in romance novels, I always wanted to write one myself,” Emezi said. “You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty [is] a love letter to the brave choices we make in the name of love, the costs we pay for it, and the glory of the reward at the end.” Not only is this Emezi’s first romance novel, it’s also the first book with publisher Simon & Schuster, under the Atria Books imprint. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is out on May 24, 2022.
Sally Rooney Will Not Release Her New Novel in Israel
Best-selling Irish author Sally Rooney will not release her new novel Beautiful World, Where Are You in Israel. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper has reported that the book will not be published in Israel because Rooney is participating in a boycott. Tali Tchelet, a spokeswoman for Modan, the Hebrew-language publisher of her two previous novels, said in a statement, “When we asked about [Rooney’s] third book, the answer was that she is not interested to publish it in Israel.” In a statement, Rooney explained, “The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so.” Rooney is one of several authors who have refused publication of an Israeli edition of a work. In 2012, Alice Walker cited “apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people” as the reason she would not publish The Color Purple in Hebrew.
Stratford Library is Taking Steps to Remove Offensive Colonial Language from Its Catalogue
The Stratford Library in Ontario is working to remove outdated colonial language from the subject headings in its catalogue. This is part of a growing effort of many Canadian libraries to work towards better representing Indigenous people in their collections. Library catalogues have long had problems with the terms used to cover Indigenous subject matter. Sherri Bennewies, a library technician in Stratford, said these institutions “have a colonial bias, and many of [their subject headings] are seen today as racist, discriminatory and just plain incorrect. For instance, Native American creation stories get sorted with folklore or fairytales, while Biblical tales are in the nonfiction section.” The changes in the catalogue are just the beginning of what needs to be done to address the systemic issues within the system, but it is a start. X̱wi7x̱wa Library’s head librarian Sarah Dupont said, “It is a very helpful starting place that will have huge impacts across the country, but there is so much work to do locally and with different types of physical and digital collections.”
The Quiet Disappearance of Queer Stories in Nebraska: The Golden Sower Award List Draws Criticism
Quiet censorship has been happening in the discussions to select the 2022–2023 Golden Sower Award nominees. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s going on in Nebraska.