Exploring some challenges I encountered with the publication of my fiction book How to Conceive of a Girl (Vintage/Random House, 1996) regarding how and when and if to seek permission to use short quotes from a range of pop culture and academic sources. When your use of snippets is creative and critical, actively engaging with the cultural ecosystem inhabited by a book’s characters, do we really need (or is it wise) to seek permission? Or is this exchange of ideas what writing is all about? This version was broadcast on ABC Radio National, Books & Writing.
And here’s the text version of this piece —>
I'd like to have permission to be post-modern, but I'm not sure who to ask...
This essay began as a talk exploring some of the challenges I encountered with the publication of my fiction book How to Conceive of a Girl (Random House, 1996), regarding how and when, and if to seek permission to use short quotes from a range of pop culture and academic sources.
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