Longtime Barnes & Noble employee Brenda Marsh has left her position as vp, author relations, Publishing Trends reports. She can be reached at brendasmarsh@gmail.com.
Founder of Hanser Berlin Elisabeth Ruge will leave the company at the end of 2013 for what she characterized as “personal reasons.” Ruge, who founded the imprint at Carl Hanser Verlag in January 2012, will be replaced by Karsten Kredel, currently head of translated fiction at Suhrkamp Verlag. “Hanser Berlin’s lively and unique profile will no doubt be developed and strengthened by Karsten Kredel – of this I am confident – and I wish him and my colleagues at Hanser and Hanser Berlin all the very best and much success,” Ruge said in a statement.
At Random House Children’s, Melissa Zar has been promoted to marketing coordinator.
At Da Capo Lifelong Books, Christine Dore has been promoted to assistant editor.
Literary agent Jillian Manus is the proud namesake of a Sumatran tiger cub. She pledged $47,000 at a gala event to benefit the San Francisco Zoo, where the cub was born.
Bookmasters will distribute Christian publisher TGS International‘s print and books to major retailers and independent bookstores in the US.
Awards
E.L. Doctorow was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ gold medal for the arts (along with sculptor Mark di Suvero).
Timothy Egan has won the Chautauqua Prize, now in its second year, for Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher.
The Commonwealth Book Prize announced its regional winners, with the overall winner to be named May 31. The press has focused on the self-published book to win in the Caribbean region, by Ezekel Alan. (His ebook sells for $1.99; he also publishes a paperback through CreateSpace.)
Africa: Sterile Sky, E.E. Sule (Nigeria), Pearson Education
Asia: Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera (Sri Lanka), Perera-Hussein Publishing House
Canada & Europe: The Death of Bees, Lisa O’Donnell (United Kingdom), William Heinemann
Caribbean: Disposable People, Ezekel Alan (Jamaica), self-published
Pacific: The Last Thread, Michael Sala (Australia), Affirm Press
Howard Jacobson won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for the second time, this time for his novel Zoo Time.
In the UK, head of marketing at bookseller Foyles Miriam Robinson won the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize 2013, which recognizes the professional achievements of women in publishing, cited for her “spirited innovation and commitment.”