Morning Links: June 26
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, by Ruby Lal
Publishing
At Buzzfeed: YA Twitter Can Be Toxic, But It Also Points Out Real Problems. “But often, frustration about a book isn’t just about that book. It’s about the many books like it that readers have already seen. It’s about a desire that all kids see themselves represented in books. It’s about ongoing frustration with an industry that gives lip service to diversity but remains overwhelmingly white. And to understand that frustration, we need to understand that diversity advocates have been having this conversation for a very long time.“
Book Awards
At Georgia Author of the Year: Judge Statements on 2019 Winners and Finalists. As always, one of my favorite way of finding new-to-me authors and books is via smaller, more localized awards. Pulling from this list, I’m particularly looking forward to Ruby Lal’s Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, Deborah Wiles’ A Long Line of Cakes, and Phil Hudgins and Jessica Phillips’ Travels with Foxfire: Stories of People, Passions, and Practices from Southern Appalachia.
At the Guardian: Two books about Northern Irish Troubles win Orwell prize 2019. “Anna Burns’ experimental novel Milkman won the inaugural prize for political fiction, while the prize for political writing was awarded to Patrick Radden Keefe for his book Say Nothing.“
Libraries
At vermont.gov: New Name for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award to Be Selected by Vermont Youth. “State Librarian Jason Broughton made the decision to change the award’s name based on a January 2018 recommendation from the Board of Libraries. The board acted after taking testimony recommending a name change to address contemporary issues affecting promotion of the program. It also heard concerns about Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Vermont’s eugenics movement.“ Oh, wow. This is not a rabbit hole I’ve been down… YET. Related.
At NCAC: Statement on Ohio House Speaker’s Attempts to Suppress Pride Events. “House Speaker Larry Householder’s letter pressuring the Ohio Library Council to cancel youth events in celebration of Pride month is an assault on free speech principles and an abuse of political power.“
At Inside Higher Ed: Librarians Move to Take Dewey Name Off Medal. “The Council of the American Library Association voted Sunday to remove the name of Melvil Dewey, one of the founders of the association and inventor of the book classification system named for him, from the association's medal. A resolution passed by the Council said that "whereas Melvil Dewey did not permit Jewish people, African Americans, or other minorities admittance to the resort owned by Dewey and his wife" and "whereas Dewey made numerous inappropriate physical advances toward women he worked with and wielded professional power over," his name should not remain on the medal.“ Related.
A/V
At Tor.com: Babylon 5 Is the Greatest, Most Terrible SF Series. “…but what makes Babylon 5 unique is that it does not separate the two narrative approaches into neat, tidy bins like, say, The X-Files did with its “mythology” and “monster-of-the-week” episodes, which can essentially be watched independently of each other to create two very different television shows starring the same characters. In Babylon 5, lore-heavy episodes often have frivolous B-plots and seemingly inane stand-alone adventures can affect the course of the series in unexpected ways.“ Yes, we DID just start watching Babylon 5 for the zillionth time, why do you ask???
At Deadline: WarnerMedia Streamer Orders ‘Station Eleven’ & ‘Made For Love’ Series From Patrick Somerville & Paramount. I loved Station Eleven. That is all.