28/02/2011

LitNews 5: Some Interesting News from the World of Books


Some interesting bits from the world of books:

While Western writers party in lavish conferences... "fiction writers and poets have always done the important work of challenging authority. For proof, just look at the rates at which authors are imprisoned and punished. [...] Literature has always been a way to confront society’s ills [...] And the poets and writers of the region have served as historians and journalists."

Tell it to publishers who care only about their bottom line: "Literature should reach out to people and it should not limit itself within the confines of literacy . It should make an impact on society, should transform history, and demolish hurdles that hinder the growth of society."

Rupert Murdoch's empire is concerned about morality. Ha. Ha. Money and morality. Ha. Ha. "Political correctness is now about to affect the behaviour of writers, with the American arm of HarperCollins introducing a "morality clause" that gives it the right to terminate a contract if "an author's conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals or if such behaviour would materially damage the work's reputation or sales". Lucky for us readers that writers such as Lowry, Burroughs, et al, got published before Murdoch came to preach his "morality".

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