Danuta Kean: Former children’s laureate Malorie Blackman and The Humans author Matt Haig have vowed not to return to the US while a travel ban signed by president Donald Trump remains in place. The news came as Manchester-based Comma Press announced that during 2018 it would only translate books by authors from the seven countries named in the executive order.
Blackman led authors’ furious response to the travel ban with a tweet on Saturday night. “Thank you to all those who have invited me to various US lit fests/events, but I won’t be visiting the US any time soon,” she wrote.
Fellow author Philip Pullman, chair of the Society of Authors, expressed solidarity with the Noughts and Crosses author. “I’m fully in sympathy with Malorie’s decision, and I might well decide the same way myself if I had a journey forthcoming,” he said. More here.