The Boston Globe’s redesigned books section will make its debut on Sunday, March 20, with several additions and changes to its columns, editor Nicole Lamy tells us. Amanda Heller and Barbara Fisher will no longer co-write the “Short Takes” capsule review column; Heller’s last piece appeared on March 6 and Fisher’s on March 13. Replacing them is Kate Tuttle, a freelancer who has
contributed to The Washington Post, The Boston Phoenix, Babble and Salon. The Shelf Life column, previously written by Katherine Powers, is now called Word on the Street with a new writer in place. Two new columns – “By the Book” by author Brock Clarke and “Please Discuss: Books in the News” written by Katherine Whittemore – will also debut on Sunday.
At HarperCollins, Michael Signorelli has been promoted to editor.
Faber announced some changes in editorial assignments, The Bookseller reports. Hannah Griffiths has been named publishing director, crime, alongside her existing roles. Senior commissioning editor Angus Cargill will run the crime editorial team, with assistance from project editor Katherine Armstrong. Senior editor for non-fiction Neil Belton has been named editorial director for non-fiction and will also take over development of the non-fiction list for Faber in Ireland.
Hearst Magazines is creating a new department of “content extensions,” hiring David Kang as creative director. Hearst Books will become part of this department, with publisher Jacqueline Deval reporting to Kang.
Deborah Eisenberg has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for “The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg” (Picador).
Moroccan author Mohammed Achaari‘s The Arch and the Butterfly and Saudi Arabian author Raja Alem‘s The Doves’ Necklace have shared the Arab fiction prize. Alem is the first woman to win the award since it began in 2007; Achaari is the first honoree from Morocco.
Former agent Edward Knappman, 67, died last week of an infection of unknown origin that proved resistant to antibiotics. He was president of New England Publishing Associates, a literary agency specializing in nonfiction, where he worked from for over twenty years with his wife, Elizabeth Frost-Knappman. They retired in 2010 after selling the business to Roger Williams at the Publish or Perish Agency.
Prior to 1990, Knappman was publisher and executive vice president of Facts On File. There he initiated, planned and executed that company’s move from subscription services into reference book publishing, personally acquiring some 400 reference titles. He also launched Facts On File’s British operation, conceived and developed two of its periodical services, and supervised Facts on File’s editorial, marketing, production, electronic publishing and computer services department. Contributions in his memory can be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.