Archives for October 2024
Paul Coates’s NBF Literarian Award Is Questioned
This year’s National Book Foundation Literarian Award recipient Paul Coates has been accused of publishing “racist, antisemitic, and homophobic books and authors” in an “enthusiastic and uncritical” manner, in an article by Mark Oppenheimer in Arc Magazine. That article expands considerably on questions first raised in a piece in The Jewish Insider by Matthew Kassel, which focused on one book in particular. Additionally, Oppenheimer suggests the selection “was a surprising choice” because Coates previously served as a National Book Foundation board member. The Literarian Award is given for “outstanding service to the literary community.” Coates, who is the father of […]
PRH Launches Christian Publishing Group
Penguin Random House has launched the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group, through which it “aims to significantly expand readership, strengthen connections with audiences, and deepen its range of books and content offerings for the Christian readership.” The new standalone entity comprises Waterbrook, Multnomah, Image, and Forum, the imprints that were housed in the Crown Publishing Group until it was disbanded in 2018, when they were moved over to the Random House Publishing Group. Campbell Wharton, who has been deputy publisher for the lines, takes over as svp, publisher of the new group. He will report to cfo Manuel Sansigre. Longtime […]
PRH US Shows Little Growth in Staff Diversity
Penguin Random House US released its workforce demographics report for 2024, noting divides in gender and little progress in the racial diversity of employees. “As our demographics show, while we continue to improve in some areas, we have a long way to go to make our workforce representative of U.S. society—and we are committed to staying the course,” the company says. Among non-warehouse staff, 74.66 percent identify as women and 24.09 are men, with .85 percent reporting as nonbinary. Looking at racial makeup, 68.91 percent of non-warehouse employees are white, 10.64 percent are Asian, 10.02 percent are Hispanic, 6.18 percent […]