The art of editing – books podcast | Books | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2016/aug/19/the-art-...

The art of editing . books podcast

As the digital revolution sweeps through publishing, is editing in decline? We find
out how the 21st-century editor works, with Diana Athill, Matt Weiland, Karolina
Sutton and many more

Photograph: The Estate of JG Ballard/PA

Presented by Richard Lea and produced by Rowan Slaney

Fri 19 Aug 2016 15.00 BST

The upheavals of the information age have transformed traditional publishing, a

revolution that has arrived along with a rumble of complaint from critics over editorial
standards. But is the art of editing in decline? And if editors are under pressure in the
21st century, if the quiet business of improving a manuscript is simply out of tune with

1 de 2 04/09/18 18:50
The art of editing – books podcast | Books | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2016/aug/19/the-art-...

our always-on world, then how does that affect the books on our shelves? What, indeed,
do editors actually do all day?

Diana Athill, Matt Weiland and Francesca Main explore how editing combines talent
spotting, cheerleading, project management and a close engagement with the text, while
the critics Alex Clark and DJ Taylor examine the strains on contemporary publishers.
Literary agent Karolina Sutton describes a profession transformed, while Kathryn
Sutherland offers a historical perspective and translation specialists Stefan and Tara
Tobler consider the wider world.

Reading list
Stet by Diana Athill (Granta)
The Prose Factory by DJ Taylor (Chatto and Windus)

Topics
Publishing
The Guardian Books podcast
Fiction in translation
Fiction
Diana Athill

2 de 2 04/09/18 18:50