AustLit

'A history of black women in Australian music has been withdrawn from sale, with the publisher promising to pulp any unsold copies and never reprint it, following an angry backlash from several of the artists who feature in it. Deadly Woman Blues, an illustrated "encyclopaedia" from established music writer Clinton Walker, was released by NewSouth Books, a division of academic publisher UNSW Press, last month to favourable reviews. Each of its 99 biographical entries is accompanied by a hand-drawn illustration by Walker, who was an art school student in the 1970s before dropping out to pursue a career as a music journalist. Walker claims he based the illustrations on the style of the collectible bubblegum cards of the '70s. Many of the women in the book contacted Walker directly to let him know their displeasure at being included without being spoken to.' (Introduction)