The National Book Foundation announced their award nominees this morning, with novelist Peter Carey getting another chance at honors after coming up short last night in his quest for a third Booker win. Coffee House Press and McPherson claim two of the fiction nominations, likely to fuel rights and/or paperback interest. (Yamashita’s book is a paperback original; Gordon’s book has not been published yet.) Last year it was the bestselling books that won the two biggest categories, Colum McCann’s LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN for fiction and T. J. Stiles’ THE FIRST TYCOON: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt for […]
Awards
Plus, The Governor General Awards Nominees
Also just announced this morning was the shortlist for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards. Booker-shortlisted Emma Donoghue is a repeat nominee, and Kathleen Winter is also nominated for Canada’s Giller Prize. (Grove/Atlantic has Winter’s Annabel scheduled for a January trade paperback release through Black Cat; the other three novels do not currently has US pub dates or deals listed.) In the biggest categories, the nominees are: FictionSandra Birdsell, Waiting for JoeEmma Donoghue, RoomDrew Hayden Taylor, Motorcycles and SweetgrassDianne Warren, Cool WaterKathleen Winter, Annabel Non-fictionElizabeth Abbot, A History of MarriageIan Brown, The Boy in the MoonAllan Casey, LakelandKaren Connelly, Burmese LessonsJohn […]
Jacobson’s The Finkler Question Wins Booker
The Booker Prize returned to its traditional ways (in which the favorite always loses) as three-time nominee Howard Jacobson finally was a winner for THE FINKLER QUESTION. Bloomsbury publishes the book in both the UK and the US (which picked up rights only after the book was shortlisted for the prize, and officially published it yesterday). In the UK they have announced a new 50,000-copy printing. The Bookseller says that Nielsen BookScan UK had recorded sales of 8,300 copies prior to the award. The US edition ranked No. 72 at Amazon and No. 30 at BN.com when the winner was […]
Awards, People, Etc.
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 […]
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 […]