Why We Need More Older Characters in Fiction
In a 2013 Guardian article the novelist Penelope Lively, then aged 80, bemoaned the depiction of older characters in fiction: The stereotypes of old age run from the smiling old dear to the grumbling curmudgeon. In fiction, they are rife – indeed fiction is perhaps... Read more
LGBT+ History through Contemporary Fiction
Minority rights aren’t only deeply important for minorities. Like the canary in the coal mine, they can also indicate a society’s flexibility, respect and overall health. Equality benefits everyone, so LGBT+ History month in February is an opportunity for all of us to... Read more
Lockdown Reading
Books to console, inspire and escape into… With all but essential workers on lockdown, and our social lives on hold, the time seems ripe for a (lockdown) reading revolution. But this is no holiday; anxiety will skew what and how we read. Perhaps you want to... Read more
Perspectives on Identity in Short Stories
I often get to the end of a novel and think Now I know where it’s going, I’d love to read it again. But, as a book blogger reading around 150 contemporary novels a year, I rarely do. But short stories are different. There’s always time to reread those we particularly... Read more
Victims, Villains and Vulnerability
Over a decade ago, the children’s charity, Barnardo’s, ran a controversial advertising campaign aiming to raise awareness of the damaging impact of being born in poverty. The Advertising Standards Authority received almost 500 complaints about the ads, which showed... Read more
Q&A with Anne Goodwin
It’s a great privilege to have the opportunity to work with the extraordinarily talented authors here at Inspired Quill. But it’s easy to forget that our readers don’t have the same insights into their creative process, professional backgrounds,... Read more
