In this week’s edition, three Americans top the shortlist for Great Britain’s 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction; a profile on just how few children’s books feature disabled characters; looking back on the influence of Amy Tan on other Asian-American authors; Edgar Award nominees discuss the status of the mystery novel; NYC Mayoral candidates talk about how to help New York City authors struggling to earn a living; and more.

In London, Women’s Prize for Fiction Names its 2021 Shortlist
Publishing Perspectives
The UK’s most prestigious prize for women novelists announces its shortlist for the 2021 prize. It consists of two British writers, one Barbadian and three Americans, including Brit Bennet (The Vanishing Half), Yaa Gyasi (Transcendent Kingdom), and Patricia Lockwood (No One is Talking About This). The winner will be announced on May 7.

The Current State of Disability Representation in Children’s Books
Book Riot
“According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s 2019 study, only 3.4% of children’s books have disabled main characters. Compare this statistic with the CDC’s finding that 26% of Americans have disabilities, and it’s easy to see there’s a problem.”

How Amy Tan “Inspired Me and So Many Others Who Followed to Write the Stories That Only We Could Tell”
PBS.org via Literary Hub
As PBS gets ready to premiere its profile of Amy Tan on American Masters, Chinese-American novelist Vanessa Hua talks about the impact of Tan on Asian-American writers.

Norton Takes Philip Roth Biography Out of Print
The New York Times
“The publisher also said it would make a donation to sexual abuse organizations equal to the advance it paid Blake Bailey, the author accused of sexual assault.” See The Authors Guild take on the issue of moral clauses and Blake Bailey in this editorial by Francine Prose.

The State of the Crime Novel in 2021: A Roundtable with the Edgar Awards Nominees
CrimeReads
“As the Mystery Writers of America prepare to hand out the year’s top honors, nominees discuss the crime fiction world.”

NYC Mayoral Candidates Outline Steps to Help Writers Reeling from COVID, Economic Woes
New York Daily News
The Literary Action Coalition Advisory Committee on which Authors Guild’s General Counsel Cheryl Davis serves helped conduct these interviews with NYC mayoral candidates to hear their views on the importance of writers and the publishing industry to New York.