Daily News from Poets & Writers
Founder of Bookstore Tourism Plans a National Tour of Indie Bookstores
Larry Portzline, the founder of the grassroots movement Bookstore Tourism, announced yesterday that he plans to embark on a ten-week trip to visit independent bookstores across the country.
More Than a Hundred Authors Join Reading to Protest Mugabe
Poets John Ashbery, Jorie Graham, Michael Palmer, and Adrienne Rich are among more than a hundred authors who have signed an appeal for a "worldwide reading" on September 9 to protest the actions of Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe.
Hemingway House Preservationists See the Writing on the Wall—Literally
Preservationists in Havana, Cuba, recently announced that they have discovered unpublished notes by Ernest Hemingway on the wall of a bathroom in the house where he lived for more than twenty years. Hemingway fans and scholars probably shouldn't get too excited, however. They didn't uncover Papa's character sketch for an unfinished nov
Lost for More Than Fifty Years, Pearl S. Buck Manuscript Found
The Philadelphia office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced yesterday that it had found the original manuscript of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (John Day, 1931), which had been considered missing since the mid-1960s.
Another Newspaper Cuts Back Coverage Of Books
It is, by now, a familiar story, but one worth repeating: Another newspaper has decided to cut back its book review coverage. The Sunday book review section of the San Diego Union-Tribune has folded—the June 24 stand-alone section was the newspaper's last. Beginning July 1, the Union-Tribune's coverage of books will
Jury Finds Laura Albert Guilty of Fraud, Breach of Contract
On Friday, a jury in Manhattan Federal District Court found Laura
Albert guilty of fraud and breach of contract for her pseudonymous
invention of JT Leroy, the character whose name she used to sign an
option contract for the film rights to Sarah (Bloomsbury,
2000). The jury ordered Albert to pay $116,500 to Antidote
International Films, Inc., the production company that planned to make
a feature film of her novel before the story broke about JT Leroy's
true identity in 2005.
Ptown's Fine Arts Work Center Appoints New Executive Director
It took more than six months, but the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) in Provincetown, Massachusetts, has finally found a new executive director: Margaret Murphy.
Salman Rushdie Knighted by Queen
On June 16, fiction writer Salman Rushdie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to literature, British media reported. Sir Salman Rushdie, as the author is now known, was among nineteen nonresident Indians who were recognized by the queen for their contribution to various fields.
Two Nigerian Authors, Achebe and Adichie, Win Major Awards
As Newspapers Cut Back Review Space, Big Mags Roll Out Their Fiction Issues
Tomorrow night, the New York Center for Independent Publishing (previously the Small Press Center) will host a panel discussion titled "Save Our Book Reviews!" as part of the National Book Critics Circle's ongoing "Campaign to Save Book Reviews."
Daniel Menaker Steps Down as Random House Top Editor
Random House Publishing Group announced today that Daniel Menaker will
step down as executive editor in chief at the end of this month. Hired
four years ago—after a sixteen-month stint as an executive editor at
HarperCollins—for his literary sensibilities and publishing acumen,
Menaker says the decision to leave was mutual.
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Two New Studies Show U.S. Book Production, Sales Rise—a Smidge
Last year's book sales rose slightly over 2005, the New York Times reports today. According to a study by the Book Industry Study Group, publishers sold 3.1 billion books in 2006, up just 0.5 percent from 2005, when 3.09 billion were published.
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Brad Vice Finds a New Publisher for His Controversial Story Collection
Brad Vice’s short story collection, The Bear Bryant Funeral Train, was recently published—again.
Kansas City Bookseller Burns His Books in Protest
A used bookstore owner in Kansas City, Missouri, began burning his collection of books yesterday, the Associated Press reported.
NJIT Grads Launch Bookswim: Think Netflix Without the Flix
George Burke and Shamoon Siddiqui recently launched Bookswim, an online operation that allows readers to rent books much the same way Netflix allows people to rent movies. The two graduates of the New Jersey Institute of Technology posted a beta version of the Web site at www.bookswim.com.
Bertelsmann Makes Changes to Newly Acquired Bookspan
German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG recently initiated major changes to Bookspan, the company responsible for Book-of-the-Month Club, that it acquired from Time, Inc., last month.
Small Press Center Changes Name, Logo, Web Site, and More
The Small Press Center, the nonprofit organization in New York City that has sponsored Small Press Month in March for the past eleven years, recently announced that it will change its name to the New York Center for Independent Publishing (NYCIP).
Lethem Chooses Filmmaker for You Don't Love Me Yet
Jonathan Lethem, author of the recently published novel You Don't Love Me Yet (Doubleday), yesterday chose to give away the novel's film adaptation rights to Greg Marcks.
Soft Skull Joins Counterpoint in Latest Round of Acquisitions
Richard Nash announced yesterday that Soft Skull Press, the independent publisher based in Brooklyn, plans to be aquired by Winton, Shoemaker & Co, the same company that last week acquired Counterpoint Press from Perseus Book Group. Nash, the publisher of Soft Skull, will become editorial director of Perseus's new Soft Skull imprint as well as executive editor of the Counterpoint imprint.
Buzzell's Iraq Memoir Wins $10,000 Lulu Blooker Prize
The digital print-on-demand service Lulu.com announced yesterday that Colby Buzzell, a former U.S. machine-gunner in post-invasion Iraq, has won the Lulu Blooker Prize for his memoir My War: Killing Time in Iraq (Putnam, 2005).
Perseus Phases Out Two Imprints, Lays Off 24, Sells Counterpoint
As part of Perseus Books Group's integration of Avalon—a merger that was announced earlier this year—Perseus has formed six publishing divisions and in the process eliminated at least twenty-four positions.
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Lucille Clifton Wins $100,000 Ruth Lilly Prize
The Poetry Foundation recently announced that Lucille Clifton will receive this year's Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. The annual award honors a U.S. poet "whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition."
Indie Record Label Set To Release A Musical Tribute To Larry Brown
On May 22, Bloodshot Records, an independent record label in Chicago, will release a tribute CD in honor of late author Larry Brown, whose last, unfinished novel, A Miracle of Fish, was recently published by Algonquin Books.