“A surprising number of bettors correctly chose French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio to win the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature — leading the Nobel prize jury to suspect a leak,” the AP reports. Swedish Academy permanent secretary (and anti-American) Horace Engdahl has a “strong suspicion that there has been a leak in the system.” British bookmaker Ladbrooke’s saw the odds on Le Clezio fall from 14-to-1 down to a 1-to-2 favorite right before the announcement. But Engdahl does not fault himself, though he admits reading a book by Le Clezio while flying back to Sweden last week, saying he […]
Awards
Nobel for France's Le Clezio
As promised, the Nobel judges continue to think most highly of European writers, naming Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, 68, the winner of the 2008 prize for literature. Le Clezio is “regarded by some French readers as one of the country’s greatest living writers,” the NYT notes, and his work ranges from novels to children’s books and essays. The Nobel judges called him an ”author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.” They also like he has ”stood out as an ecologically engaged” writer, an “orientation that is accentuated with […]
Surprise Giller Nominees
“Gasps of surprise” greeted yesterday’s announcement of the nominees for Canada’s Giller Prize, since many of the nominees are little-known. They are: Anthony De Sa’s debut story collection, Barnacle LoveMary Swan’s first novel, The Boys in the TreesMarina Endicott’s debut Good to a Fault (from new publisher Freehand Books)Joseph Boyden’s Through Black SpruceRawi Hage’s Cockroach National Post
Awards: Hempel Wins Rea
Amy Hempel has won the $30,000 Rea Award for the Short Story. The judges said: “Amy Hempel is one of our masters of the dire emotional state rendered with an offhandedness that, combined with tenderness, results in fiction that’s at once dispassionate and compassionate.”
People
Matthew Lore has resigned as vp, executive editor at Da Capo Press/Da Capo Lifelong Books, in order to explore and pursue new publishing opportunities. Da Capo publisher John Radziewicz noted in a staff memo that Lore “joined the Avalon Publishing Group in 1998 and built Marlowe & Company into a major player in the wellness category…. When the Avalon Publishing Group joined the Perseus Books Group last year, Matthew was instrumental in the transition that made Marlowe a vital part of Lifelong.” Steve Troha has joined Vigliano Associates as an agent, “selectively signing” new clients and working with existing clients. […]
Nobel Date Announced
The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature will be named on Thursday, October 9AP