Writer, Academic, Activist, Commentator

Category: On Books and Publishing

Book reviews and author interviews, as well essays on the state of publishing.

Polyamory Is Gay Marriage for Straight People

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date February 15, 2019

Excerpt: The problem with relationships is not that individuals engage in them in particular ways, but that systems compel individuals to relate to each other in particular ways.

Academia Film, Art, Television, and Media On Books and Publishing

A World of Shame: Time, Belonging, and Social Media

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date June 12, 2018

Excerpt: This is a murder mystery without a murder. Think of it like a Brian De Palma movie from the 1970s: a streetwalker is found dead in an alleyway, and the detective assigned to the case is about to write it up as another transaction gone awry until he begins to see the clues that unravel a sprawling political conspiracy.
The body is incidental.

Academia Capitalism, Class, Inequality On Books and Publishing Race, Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

When Academics Attack: My Piece Critiquing Academia Is Blocked by Lefties Complaining about Censorship

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date June 14, 2017

Today, academics are only dangerous to those on the left, like me, who dare question its fragile sense of self-worth and “danger.”

Feminism On Books and Publishing Race, Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Complicity, Not Tyranny: The Anger over Lori Szala’s Abortion Article

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date May 18, 2017

Abortion rights are as good as nil in this country.

Capitalism, Class, Inequality Feminism On Books and Publishing Politics Race, Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Bourgeois Feminist Bullshit: The Rebecca Traister View of Gender and the World

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date February 21, 2017

Single status is now no longer a blight upon the land but a set of Very Useful Functions that keep the economy running smoothly.

On Books and Publishing Queer Politics, Culture, and History

Lambda Literary Stops Being Literary

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date January 5, 2017

Lambda, you have no damned right to call yourself “literary” by any measure.

Capitalism, Class, Inequality On Books and Publishing

Killing You Softly with Her Dreams: Arianna Huffington’s War on Sleep

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date January 5, 2017

“I cried to dream again.”

—Caliban, The Tempest

Film, Art, Television, and Media On Books and Publishing Politics

The New York Times Is The Daily Prophet

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date December 16, 2016

On Books and Publishing Updates

Weekly Roundup: October 24, 2016

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date October 25, 2016

In too many cases, we have relatively young editors or desperate adjuncts eagerly hoping to have graduate careers in academia or find adjunct gigs, assigned to “edit” famous or powerful academics who might have the influence to advance (or end) their careers.

On Books and Publishing Updates

Weekly Roundup: October 20, 2016

Post author By Yasmin Nair
Post date October 20, 2016

I’m fully aware that my requirement for an advance is not likely to be taken seriously by a number of publishers, and that’s fine with me because, well, the current system is doing me no favours.