Sometimes, the Rumpus makes fun of the book blogs, especially when they write about whether William Shatner would beat James T. Kirk in a fight to the death. But this week is different. This week, the blogs are acting like the fifth estate they someday might be. They’re running all kinds of stories on gender politics in the literary world, from pointing out a dreadfully sexist piece in The Daily Mirror to objecting to the fact that NPR just released a top 100 book list with only seven women authors. The Rumpus is angry at misogynists, but it’s hopeful about the book blogs.
All of that, people who talk to bookshelves, and “the crap good writers make,” below the fold.
Jacket Copy slams Dick Meyer at NPR’s list of the best 100 American novels for including only seven women.
The Guardian takes The Daily Mirror‘s Derek McGovern to task for saying that “the best novelists … keep suspense up — women can’t even keep the toilet seat up,” among other things.
Galleycat reports that women in UK publishing earn 15% less.
In light of the start of the new women’s web site DoubleX, the New Yorker‘s Book Bench prints an old exchange between Susan Sontag and Adrienne Rich.
BookNinja reports that Ruth Padel will be the first ever female Professor of Poetry at Oxford University amidst quite the poop storm.
Harriet the Blog publishes a rant by Martin Earl, “In the field of poetry, women make better bloggers than do their male counterparts, also better commentators, better critics and, increasingly, better poets.”
In other news, lit bloggers debate the Kindle at Galleycat, an excerpt at Guernica Magazine about the drivel that even the best writers can produce (via Bookslut), and people who talk to bookshelves at the Guardian’s Book Blog.
