There's still a gender divide when it comes to books

Aug 10, 2018

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider.

Award winner Canadian writer Margaret Atwood speaks during the ceremony of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels) at the Church of St. Paul in Frankfurt, Germany, October 15, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Margaret Atwood was the best-selling author of 2017. Image: REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Hillel Italie

National Writer, Associated Press

A new study finds that few of the top literary publications are giving equal time to women authors and reviewers.

The highly anticipated "VIDA Count," released Monday, has The New Yorker, The Nation and The Atlantic among those devoting less than 40 percent of their book coverage to women in 2017. Only two of the 15 publications analyzed gave women 50 percent or more — Poetry magazine and Granta. Those between 40 percent and 49 percent include The New York Times Book Review and the Paris Review.

VIDA, otherwise known as Women in Literary Arts, has been tallying gender disparities in book reviews since 2010.

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