Linkfest is back again! Let’s celebrate that with – that’s right – some delicious, nutritious outside content.
Where Are All The Fat Girls In Literature? – Huffington Post. Mariko Tamaki on the dearth of fat women and girls in literature, particularly YA literature, and what that lack of representation meant to her growing up.
Literature Still Urgently Needs More Non-White, Non-Male Heroes – The Atlantic. More on representation in literature: Monica Byrne on the lack of representation for less privileged groups in classic genre literature.
On which note, The New Star Wars Cast Has Only 1 Woman Who Isn’t Princess Leia – The Atlantic. Spencer Kornhaber points out that out of the cast announced last month for the new Stars Wars films, there’s only one newly-created female character.
Men, stop lecturing women about reading romance novels – The Washington Post. Alyssa Rosenberg on William Giraldi’s recent tirade against romantic and erotic fiction, an overwhelmingly female-driven genre which male litcrits love to deride.
YA books on death: is young adult fiction becoming too dark? – The Guardian. The debate over whether the popularity of YA books which deal with death is a thing to be thankful for or worried about, by Sian Cain.
Author John Banville hits out at violent crime dramas on television – The Guardian. Alison Flood writes up John Banville, Booker prize-winner and pseudonymous crime writer, decrying the ubiquity of violent crime in television drama. Trigger Warning: mention of violence and rape.
Alert, Game of Thrones fans! Characters leaked for Game of Thrones season 5, with new details – WinterIsComing.net. Exciting new details about what’s coming up next year.
EA response to proposed closure of the Institute for English Studies – University of Leicester. Sadly, my alma mater, the University of London, is proposing closure of its Institute for English Studies – here the chair of the English Association responding, with a link to a petition to save it. Update: The University of London is reconsidering its decision due to overwhelming response in favour of saving the IES.
Finally, something that made me smile. Twitter joke took five years to pull off – but totally worth it for Rocky Horror fans – news.com.au.