We love Elif Shafak, if that wasn’t entirely clear… This month, in partnership with Penguin, we are celebrating all things Elif Shafak. If you’re searching for a truly inspirational woman, look no further. Here are 5 reasons you should get to know her, if you don’t already. She’s an International Feminist Icon Elif is an […]

The second in our series, in this blog we spotlight Audre Lorde, the American writer, feminist, and civil rights activist. Self-described as “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”, Lorde’s work continues to inspire us as she combatted racism, sexism and homophobia through her writing. Audre Lorde was a 20th century American writer and poet, born in […]

Translation Partnerships in Focus: Han Kang/Deborah Smith & Elena Ferrante/Ann Goldstein I imagine the process of assigning a translator to a book must be a bit like matchmaking. Rather than deciding if two people might have a romantic connection, a publisher must ask themselves whether the translator will connect with the text. Will they be […]

It’s scary to think that lockdown has made that magical feeling of turning a corner and spotting a bookish treasure trove a thing of the past. Wandering through the rows and rows of those undiscovered stories calling your name seems like a dream away. What’s even scarier is the fact that this feeling may never […]

Despite the upending of pretty much every part of our lives, COVID-19 has not taken away our love of books. Wonderful bookworms everywhere have been sharing their favourite reads, new releases and read-alongs with people all over the world. As August is Women in Translation month we thought we’d share some uplifting stories of how […]

There is a proverb that says, “if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together”. I’ve found this to be true and it’s what, for me, makes the sisterhood aspect of this month’s Liberté, Egalité, Sororité theme so important. For liberty and equality to mean something it […]

Here at Books That Matter we wanted to recommend some must-read LGBTQ+ literature to celebrate Pride Month. Of course, we encourage you to engage with these incredible authors throughout the year. However, it is especially important as we protest for and remember the oppression of LGBTQ+ communities both historically and today. We’ve included some fiction, […]

When the 1991 shortlist for the Booker Prize was announced, none of the authors were women despite 60% of books published that year being written by women. When the press brought this glaring omission to everyone’s attention, a group of industry professionals met to discuss how they could change things. The Women’s Prize Committee was […]

Many of us were saddened and angered by the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. George was an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck. While this kind of police brutality is nothing new, the incident lit a spark and there is now a palpable desire […]

If you’re talking about lockdown as if it’s an extended yoga retreat, you need to check your privilege. In the last week, I have seen so many people in the online space talking about 2020’s lockdown as our “gift”. “Exactly what we needed”, “time for ourselves”, “an opportunity to disconnect”. But for people without the […]