Wildlife

"In  a recent blog for the Scottish Review of Books , I wrote about the lack of quality  fiction  by women currently being published. Or should I say, not being published. I speak as a reviewer: I review paperbacks and hardbacks for Scottish and London broadsheets, approximately 20-25 books per month, and mainly books by women. My London editor had complained she couldn't find enough fiction by women to send me; the book cupboard in my local newspaper office was almost bare of any (and by "any", I mean fiction by women that isn't chick-lit, a Tudor romance, doesn't involve vampires/witches/demons, or isn't formulaic crime). Where was the good stuff, I asked? The original literary novel, or the high-end commercial work?" Read More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/09/good-fiction-women-gone?INTCMP=SRCH

There are worrying signs from some quarters that online reviewers are being held to much stricter terms than traditional journalists receiving review copies http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/dec/05/publishers-bloggers Also, Martin Boyce wins Turner Prize: https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/artanddesign/2011/dec/05/martin-boyce-turner-prize-winner ' George Shaw should have won the Turner. That he didn't shows art is now judged by criteria that are pretentious and empty' http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/dec/06/turner-prize-spurns-george-shaw?CMP=twt_fd

Cinderella Published  Monday 5 December 2011  at  12:39  by  Susie Wild Even in the year of a Royal Wedding, not every modern girl wants to grow up to be a princess. In Newport, however, Will and Kate fever appears to have taken hold and many women and girls in the audience are dressed up as exactly that, settling down to believe in fairytale dreams. Hiss & Boo’s production keeps the ancient story traditionally soft, sappy and relatively unchanged, and a more contemporary world is instead only hinted at with the Ugly Sisters’ Primark bags and occasional, catty LOLs. The cast of Cinderella at the Riverfront, Newport The romantic leads Nichola Lagan (Cinderella) and Rob Wilshaw (Prince Charming) are suitably saccharine and prove strong on vocals, but the song choices are often weak. Still, it is a saving grace that the show hasn’t suffered too much under the influence of X Factor. Instead, it leans towards the stuff of real magic with a flying horse, firework...

The Raconteur's  America issue is out now . All 314 pages of it. See all the photos from the Swansea launch in  our Facebook album . Buy  America  for £10 .

You can see my blogs from Hay Festival in Kerala . Part 3 of Sunday, the final entry, should be going up soon. I had a blast. Highlights include having dinner with Jung Chang, not letting the monsoon rain stop a bunch of Welsh poets from having a good time in Kovalam, being touristy with Dylan Moore, drinking with Simon Armitage, Cat Weatherill, Ed Vere and co and the finale beach party. Big thanks to Germaine G for donating her mini bar supplies to us when we arrived at the after party to find the hotel bar was open to sit at, but not actually serving drinks. I also tacked on a mini beach holiday. Result. 

Ha ha. I'm in The Mirror.  # dmurphyisfab  :)  http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/talktalk/2011/11/08/d-murphy-swansea-telly-why-i-should-win-digital-heroes-wales-115875-23544870/   # swanseatelly   # swansea   # digitalheroes

Parthian Books announces a new editorial dream team - Kathryn Gray is the new Editor, and Jon Gower and myself are the two new Associate Editors. Delighted!

Sun, 2011-11-06 19:08 |    Susie Wild Parthian are pleased to announce that we are the new publisher of literary magazine  The Raconteur . Join us this autumn for a number of events to celebrate the launch of the 'America' issue in the new paperback format. 'Full of insights and valuable perspectives on the literary world’. – Alain de Botton The ‘America’ issue promises a transatlantic treasure trove of the freshest fiction and poetry from both sides of the pond, ruminations and reminiscences of the writing life from American writers working in Europe and European writers ‘over there’, travel pieces and reportage from across the United States, an eclectic mix of interviews and features as well as an all-but-definitive A-Z of American Letters. Contents include: Godfrey Hodgson on American politics Allegra Goodman on the American novel Jack Foley on the birth of the beats New fiction from Tom Abbott, Russell Celyn Jones and Todd Zuniga New poetry from Rhian Ed...

'For an event last week at Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre, I was in conversation with Cardiff authors Tessa Hadley and Deborah Kay Davies (the latter via virtual interview, available in full here shortly). The session’s title, ‘Interior Lives’, was appropriate, because the worlds of both Hadley’s  T he London Train  (out in paperback this January) and 2010’s  True Things About Me  by Book of the Year winner Davies are fiercely claustrophobic.' Read Gwen's blog in full:  http://newwelshreview.blogspot.com/2011/11/interior-lives-women-through-lens-of.html

Yes, I do get the irony of blogging about my article from this week's WM... Do you know your own Google ranking? Is life only happening if it is worthy of a status update and are the number of your Twitter followers in danger of overtaking @stephenfry? Writer Susie Wild insists all this online interaction is making us deeply unhappy, and the only way to reconnect is to unplug ... THERE was a time you’d only Google someone when you were playing the dating game. It was meant to minimise the risk that you wouldn’t be compatible – you wouldn’t like their job, their hobbies or, perhaps, their face. Thanks to being adults post-internet, when you typed in their name to the search box, chances were that your potential suitor’s workplace website, Facebook page, and embarrassing Flickr albums would appear to you within seconds: them asleep, them drunk, them kissing someone else, those college fashion mistakes – their wedding day. Then, employers seeking reliable employees got in on the a...

'From awards ceremonies to drive-time presenters, radio is dominated by men. But not for much longer, writes one of the team behind the launch of Sound Women, a pressure group devoted to giving women a louder voice...' More:  http://m.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/30/radio-sound-women-sexism-feature?cat=tv-and-radio&type=article

Fantastic article outlining many of my issues with being a female critic in a world that is still so laughably embarrassingly far from gender-equal:  http://www.amandacraig.com/pages/blog_01/blog_item.asp?Blog_01ID=270 PS... "Hi Katy, I'll review some books written by men, if you want... I want."

The Village Social Published  Monday 24 October 2011  at  12:02  by  Susie Wild The Village Social is a surreal musical comedy touring village halls across Wales. Ben Lewis and Dafydd James, the duo behind award-winning 2009 Edinburgh Fringe show My Name is Sue, have again succeeded in creating a deliciously dark oddball hit with a vigorous, well-chosen cast. Upon entry to the bunting-bedecked hall, audience members become the villagers of Cae Bach (‘Little Field’). They are given raffle tickets as they take their seats for the local fundraiser - so far so normal - but soon the local performance night begins to unravel with perfectly-pitched awkwardness. There have been some strange goings-on in the village and, as the evening progresses, the cast begins to act increasingly bizarre. The main attraction is running late, and so the characters fill in by sharing the tales of Cae Bach’s history - feasting and parties in a Celtic other world - centring on their rec...

Guardian open up their newslist. Helpful and insightful or another step towards the takeover of less-informed citizen journalism and media cost-cutting/ job cuts? Discuss... More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/series/open-newslist?fb=native In other media news... The Times and Sunday Times cut 150 editorial posts More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/20/times-job-cuts?fb=native

Better red than dead: the Independent keeps on fighting Should writers review each other?

My book review blog is now live for New Welsh Review. The internet has been in popular use in the UK for 20 years. Now that is has, essentially, come of age, a string of books has been released examining the effects of the internet on humanity. Virtually You   addresses the effect of the disparity between our online and offline personas on our psychological well-being and society. It is a welcome addition to the good arguments already put forth in  Alone Together  by Sherry Turkle,  The Shallows   by Nicholas Carr and  You Are Not A Gadget  by Jaron Lanier. The author, Elias Aboujaoude, is a Silicon Valley psychiatrist who helped to lead the largest US study on problematic Internet use published to date. The study looked at the internet habits of 2,500 US adults and 'revealed alarming rates of online pathological behaviour'. This led Aboujaoude to conclude that while the internet is 'a force for good in many arenas', its dark side still casts a lon...

Up ‘n’ Under Published  Wednesday 5 October 2011  at  11:02  by  Susie Wild Capturing the competitive highs and lows of amateur rugby union, this Welsh adaptation of John Godber’s award-winning Up ‘n’ Under is an enjoyable production. However, beyond the bellyache laughs one finds many cheap gags and the gut-punching disappointment of a vital missed penalty. For this intimate new stage tour, John Godber has exchanged Hull rugby league for union sevens in the South Wales Valleys. As a squad, the teamwork of the cast complements each other well under Richard Tunley’s measured direction. There are entertaining moments of energetic physical theatre and slow-motion movement as the four-player squad get into shape and later humorously play both sides in the big match. One to watch is Gareth Bale - Richard Parker 2 - hauntingly plausible as the downtrodden Arthur. A retired rugby player, Arthur ends up placing a stupid bet with his arch rival Reg that sees him coac...

This old story just got forwarded to me, didn't realise it went live ... a Manchester short for the delightfully drizzly RainyCityStories... Summer-sticky By Susie Wild Location:  Wilmslow Road The warning signs are there. Jo’s voice is rising in pitch. There is going to be a row. Or tears. Possibly both. We are all hungover, off to see our mate’s mate’s band play for the second night in a row at the same venue. Fuel; we sure need some. Manchester is losing its grimy shine, the but-we-aren’t-in-Wales gleam of adventuring appeal. Drastic action is needed. Trailing behind the whiners and need-to-be-drunk-again ditherers I catch Kate’s eye. She knows the drill, the nod is almost imperceptible. She grabs my wrist and we take a sharp right down an alley, careering, our limbs windmilling into the first bar we come across. In the dimly lit pub we lean summer-sticky arms on the syrup-sticky bar, order two house triples and down them. Apart from the barmaid we are the only women there. A...

'we live in “an age of drive-by reviewing, when every reader can tell the (electronic) world whether or not they ‘like’ a particular book.”' Interesting article on the New Yorker site about The Good of the Critic ' The Good of the Novel  will not be dogmatic or prescriptive. To theorise about a genre as fluid, capacious and protean as the novel is to risk incoherence or banality. Each novel set the terms of its own reception, makes its own demands of its readers. As Amit Chaudhuri argues here, the reading of a single novel can realign one’s entire aesthetic. Each novel writes its own constitution.' How did I miss this book? Ordered.