Banned Books Week Celebrates Freedom of Expression
Banned Books Week 2002, a "celebration of your freedom to read," is September 21 to September 28.
Daily News from Poets & Writers
U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins Reads 9/11 Poem to Congress
Billy Collins, who is serving his second one-year term as U.S. poet laureate, read a poem during a special session of Congress held in New York City on Friday, September 6.
The BBC's Really Big Book Club
The BBC World Service recently launched what could be the world's largest book club. Each month a new book of fiction will be selected, and a live discussion, led by Harriett Gilbert, will be broadcast to the BBC's radio audience of 150 million listeners on six continents.
Zadie Smith, Will Self, Yann Martel Among Booker Prize Nominees
The nominees for the 2002 Man Booker Prize were recently announced. The annual prize is given for the best novel published in the current year and is open to writers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the British Commonwealth.
Amazon Draws Protest With Used Books Sales
When Amazon began selling used books alongside new titles in November 2000, top executives at the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers protested the practice, arguing that it pays nothing to writers and publishers. Nearly two years later, the online retail giant's successful marketing of used books has renewed the dispute.
The Firecracker Book Awards: They Ain't the Pulitzers
The seventh annual Firecracker Alternative Book Awards, celebrating "insurrectionary culture that lights a fire under the complacent mainstream booty," were announced on May 3 at a ceremony in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Billy Collins to Serve Second Term as Poet Laureate
The Library of Congress announced on April 25 that Billy Collins will serve a second term as U.S. poet laureate.
Ann Patchett Wins PEN/Faulkner
Ann Patchett won the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award, the country's largest peer-juried fiction prize, for her novel Bel Canto (HarperCollins).
O Canada: Citywide Reading Trend Reaches the Great White North
It all started in Seattle: Starbucks, grunge, and ... the "one book, one city" program. In the four years since Nancy Pearl organized a Seattle-based reading of Russell Banks's The Sweet Hereafter, the idea has spread across the country.
Familiar Finalist: Franzen Among PEN/Faulkner Award Hopefuls
The other finalists for the PEN/Faulkner
Award, the country's largest peer-juried prize for fiction, are Karen
Jay Fowler for Sister Noon (Marion Wood/G.P. Putnam's Sons), Claire Messud for The Hunters (Harcourt), Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (HarperCollins), and Manil Suri for The Death of Vishnu (Norton).
Sixth Annual Small Press Month Honors Indie Publishers
While Small Press Month may not yet attract
the kind of commercial recognition that the Academy's National Poetry
Month garners, the reason for the hoopla is just as significant.
Consider this: According to a survey published in 1999 by the Book
Industry Study Group and PMA, fifty thousand independent publishers
accounted for $14.3 billion in book sales during that year. Karin
Taylor, the executive director of the Small Press Center, says she
wouldn't be surprised if those numbers had risen.
New York Times Begins Publishing Original Poetry
The New York Times began publishing original poetry in the Book Review on February 17. New York City poet Nathanial Bellows's "Harm's Woods" was the first entry in what will be a regular feature of the Sunday edition of the newspaper.
Finalists Chosen for National Book Critics Circle Awards
Nominees for the annual National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced on January 28.
Seven Days After Assuming Duties, NEA Chairman Dies
Michael P. Hammond, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, died on January 29 of what appeared to be natural causes. He was 69. Hammond had officially assumed his duties as chairman on January 22.
Two West Coast Distributors Form Bookselling Behemoth
The big just got bigger in the book distribution industry.
Amid Controversy, Ambrose Proves History Repeats Itself
Historian Stephen Ambrose has had a lot of explaining to do lately. The bestselling author is accused of copying passages from a source without attribution in four of his more than 20 published books.
Lammon Announces New MFA Program In Georgia
Beginning next fall, creative writers will be able to workshop their way to graduate degrees at Georgia College & State University, the liberal arts college in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Oh Maya: Popular Poet Pens Pithy Verse For Hallmark
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Hallmark bought
Maya Angelou.
Bilingual Literary Journal Uses Web to Bridge the Atlantic
There is a new literary magazine on the Web that will have readers thinking twice.
Faux Press Expands, Publishes "Real" Books
With the publication of four new titles, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Web publisher Faux Press has expanded its operations to include traditional book publishing.
Carole Baron Named New President of G.P. Putnam
Carole Baron was named president of the G.P. Putnam & Sons division of the nation's second largest book publisher, Penguin Putnam, on November 6. Baron fills the position previously held by Phyllis Grann, who resigned in September.
New Lit Mag Inspires Dialogue Between Writers, Artists
According to Kelley, a parallel goal of the biannual journal is to examine the influence of urban environments on the creative process.
Ithaca Named Second U.S. City of Asylum
In October, Ithaca, New York, was officially designated a city of asylum for exiled writers, only the second of its kind in the U.S.
Michael Hammond to be Nominated Next NEA Chairman
President George W. Bush recently announced his intention to nominate Michael P. Hammond as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.