Andrea Levy Wins 2004 Orange Prize
British fiction writer Andrea Levy recently won the Orange Prize for Fiction for her fourth novel Small Island (Review Books). She received £30,000 (approximately $54,900).
Daily News from Poets & Writers
The Man Group Goes Global: New Booker International Prize
The Man Group, the sponsor of the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction, recently announced it will award the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005.
Dorland Mountain Arts Colony Destroyed by California Wildfire
Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, located at the foothills of Palomar Mountain in Southern California, was destroyed by a wildfire on May 2, 2004. All of the buildings on the 300-acre nature preserve were reduced to ash and rubble. The five artists in residence at the time were evacuated safely, but a large number of antiques were lost.
ABA Releases Best Books List
The American Booksellers Association recently compiled Best Books: The Best of Book Sense From the First Five Years, a list of titles that U.S. independent booksellers most enjoyed selling during the past five years. Booksellers voted from a ballot that included 371 titles culled from Book Sense 76 lists. The final list consists of 25 books in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, and Children's.
Updike Wins PEN/Faulkner Award
John Updike, the author of more than fifty books, including twenty
novels and numerous collections of short stories, poems, and criticism,
won the 2004 PEN/Faulkner Award for The Early Stories (Knopf).
Updike Among PEN/Faulkner Nominees
Judges Ron Carlson, Chitra Divakaruni, and Elizabeth Strout recently
selected five finalists for the 2004 PEN/Faulkner Award, the country's
largest peer-juried fiction prize.
Salman Rushdie Named President of PEN American Center
Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses, Midnight's Children, and The Moor's Last Sigh,
was recently named president of PEN American Center. Rushdie succeeds
Joel Conarroe, a former president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation and the Modern Language Association.
Bush Asks for $18 Million Increase to NEA Budget
President George W. Bush is requesting that Congress increase the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts by $18 million in 2005. The proposal would raise the NEA's budget from $121 million in 2004 to $139 million in 2005. It would be the largest increase since 1984.
Poetry Foundation Gets a Dose of Wall Street
The Chicago-based Poetry Foundation, formerly known as the Modern Poetry Association, the publisher of Poetry
magazine, recently named John Barr as its president. Barr, a founder
and managing director of SG Barr Devlin Associates, an investment
banking firm in New York City, is also a published poet and a president
emeritus of the nonprofit Poetry Society of America.
Barnes & Noble Announces Finalists for Discover Awards
Barnes & Noble, Inc. recently announced the finalists for the 2003 Discover Great New Writers Awards. The winners in each category will receive $10,000. Second-place finalists receive $2,500, and third-place finalists receive $1,000. The winners will be named on March 3.
National Book Critics Circle Announces Award Nominees
The National Book Critics Circle, a professional organization composed of 600 book critics and reviewers from across the country, recently announced the finalists for this year's book awards.
National Book Award Finalists Announced
Stephen King won't be the only writer receiving an award on November 19 at the 54th National Book Awards ceremony in New York City.
D. B. C. Pierre Bags Booker Prize
Australian-born novelist D.B.C. Pierre won the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Vernon God Little, published by Faber & Faber. He received £50,000 (approximately $80,000). Pierre was chosen from a shortlist including Monica Ali, Margaret Atwood, Damon Galgut, Zoë Heller, and Clare Morrall.
Short Story Writer Lydia Davis Among MacArthur "Genius" Fellows
Short story writer Lydia Davis of Albany, New York, is among 24 individuals who will receive a $500,000 fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
National Book Foundation Appoints New Executive Director
Harold Augenbraum was recently named executive director of the National Book Foundation, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the annual National Book Awards.
Baldwin Resigns as Executive Director of National Book Foundation
After 14 years as executive director of the National Book Foundation, Neil Baldwin recently announced his resignation. He will leave his position after this year's National Book Awards ceremony on November 19.
J. M. Coetzee Wins 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature
South African fiction writer J. M. Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Prize in literature, the Swedish Academy announced October 2. He received $1.3 million.
Gimme Some Money: ASU Receives $10 Million Endowment
Arizona State University's creative writing program was the recent recipient of a $10 million endowment from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the largest charitable foundation in Arizona.
Dodge Poetry Festival Gets New Digs
The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, the largest poetry event in North America, is changing venues. The event, previously held at Waterloo Village near Stanhope, New Jersey, is moving to Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey.
And Then There Were Six: Booker Shortlist Announced
Winnowed from a group of 23 semi-finalists, six authors were recently shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. 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.
Louise Glück Named U.S. Poet Laureate
Louise Glück will be the next U.S. poet laureate, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington recently announced. She will succeed Billy Collins, who served two one-year terms.
Joseph Parisi Resigns From Poetry Foundation
Joseph Parisi recently resigned as executive director of publications
and programs of the Poetry Foundation, formerly known as the Modern
Poetry Association, the publisher of Poetry magazine. Parisi,
who was editor of the 91-year-old literary magazine for twenty years,
was named executive director of the foundation in June.
Copper Canyon Press Names New Publisher
Sid Farrar, the former executive director of the Minneapolis nonprofit literary press Milkweed Editions, was recently named publisher of Copper Canyon Press, the nonprofit poetry publisher based in Port Townsend, Washington.
Kenyan Writer Owuor Wins $15,000 Caine Prize
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor of Kenya won the 2003 Caine Prize for African writing for her short story "Weight of Whispers."
New Jersey Votes to Abolish Poet Laureate Position
On July 1, New Jersey lawmakers approved a bill that will abolish the state's poet laureate position, a process that was initiated by the state Senate in January.