The new Barnes & Noble Recommends trade paperback selections are Lisa Genova’s Still Alice and Mary Karr’s Lit: A Memoir. The Booker Prize will be awarded this evening in London. Ladbrokes had suspended betting last week after 50 percent more money was wagered on a single title–Tom McCarthy’s C–on Wednesday than had been bet in total since the longlist was announced in July. Most illuminating, though, was the revelation that for all the attention the Booker betting draws, Ladbrokes took just 10,000 pounds of wagers up until Wednesday, when another 15,000 pounds was bet on McCarthy alone. Traditionally the favorite […]
Awards
People, Etc.
Karen Thompson has been promoted to editor at the Simon & Schuster adult trade imprint, both acquiring her own list as well as looking to “maximize and revitalize parts of the backlist.” Erica Gelbard has been promoted to publicity manager at Grand Central. The UK Crime Writers Association gave its awards to Belinda Bauer‘s author BLACKLANDS for best crime novel; Simon Conway‘s A LOYAL SPY for best thriller, and Ryan David Jahn‘s ACTS OF VIOLENCE for a previously-unpublished author. Bauer is the only of three who is currently in print in the US. But like some of the Booker-shortlisted books, […]
Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Literary critic, writer, and political activist Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese prison, has won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. The Chinese government condemned the award, and state media immediately blacked out the news and Chinese government censors blocked Nobel prize reports from Internet websites. “We hope the Chinese authorities receive this wise decision by the Nobel Committee as the rest of the world will receive it–as recognition of the power of its citizens to guide and shape […]
Mario Vargas Llosa Wins Nobel for Literature
The winner of this year’s prize is Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, “for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.” He is published in the US by Farrar, Straus and Picador, which published his novel The Bad Girl in hardcover in 2006 and in paperback in 2008, and Harvard University Press, which released the essay collection Wellsprings in 2008. Picador Publisher Frances Coady said in a statement that as of this morning, all 10 of the author’s books they publish are being reprinted: “we already have in place major bookseller […]
People and Announcements
Europa Editions has launched Tonga Books, a new imprint focusing on dark, literary titles that will be acquired and curated by Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold. Its first title, scheduled for a Fall 2011 release, is You Deserve Nothing by Iowa Writers Workshop student Alexander Miksik. Seamus Heaney has won the Forward Prize for his poetry collection Human Chain.Guardian Nicole Rudick has been named managing editor of The Paris Review. Previously she was managing editor for Bookforum. Alyson Sinclair has joined City Lights Books as publicity and marketing associate. Previously she worked for FSG. Crown has announced a November 16 […]
Awards and Announcements: More Nobel Speculation; 5 Under 35; Giller Prize Shortlist; And More
With two more days until the Nobel Prize for Literature’s announcement, Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o has emerged as the front-runner, with Ladbrokes noting odds have been slashed from 75-1 to 11/4. Cormac McCarthy is the 2nd favorite at 3-1.Guardian The National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” list for this year includes: Sarah Braunstein, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children (W.W. Norton & Co., 2011)Grace Krilanovich, The Orange Eats Creeps (Two Dollar Radio, 2010) Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife (Random House, 2011) Tiphanie Yanique, How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf, 2010) Paul Yoon, Once the Shore (Sarabande, 2009) […]