As first announced in March, Oprah’s book club returns and promises to be less occasional in her new relationship with Apple TV+. Her first pick under the new banner is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer — though because Apple’s new streaming service does not launch until November, the first video episode featuring Coates will not be available until then. But they promise a new episode every two months (or 6 picks a year). The last Oprah pick was almost a year ago, when she featured Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Most importantly, the new relationship represents at least a partial reduction in Oprah’s […]
Awards
The NBA Fiction Longlist
The National Book Foundation announced its ten title longlist, with finalists to be named on October 8. Nominated authors include previous NBA winner Colson Whitehead (2016) and Booker winner Marlon James (2015), and Pulitzer finalists Susan Choi (2003) and Laila Lailami (2015). Five debuts make the list, and eight of the ten nominated books are published by Penguin Random House. The full list: Fleishman Is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Random House) Trust Exercise, Susan Choi (Henry Holt) Sabrina & Corina, by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (One World) Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James (Riverhead Books) The Other Americans, by Laila Lalami (Pantheon […]
The NBA Nonfiction Longlist
The National Book Foundation announced its ten title nonfiction longlist. The list includes three debuts and only one previous finalist, Greg Grandin (2009). Two of the nominees, Hanif Abdurraqib and Patrick Radden Keefe, also appear on the Kirkus nonfiction longlist. The full list: Go Ahead in the Rain, by Hanif Abdurraqib (University of Texas Press) The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom (Grove Press) Thick, by Tressie McMillan Cottom (The New Press) What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forché (Penguin Press) The End of the Myth, by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan) Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday) Burn […]
Next, the NBA Poetry Longlist
The National Book Foundation announced nominees for its Poetry Award, with the shortlist to be revealed on October 8: Variations on Dawn and Dusk, by Dan Beachy-Quick (Omnidawn Publishing) The Tradition, by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press) “I”: New and Selected Poems, by Toi Derricotte (University of Pittsburgh Press) Build Yourself a Boat, by Camonghne Felix (Haymarket Books) Deaf Republic, by Ilya Kaminsky (Graywolf Press) A Sand Book, by Ariana Reines (Tin House Books) Dunce, by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books) Be Recorder, by Carmen Giménez Smith (Graywolf Press) Sight Lines, by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon Press) Doomstead Days, by Brian […]
People, Etc.
Continuing changes in the management team at Barnes & Noble include the departure of chief merchandising officer Tim Mantel — confirmed by his absence from the bookseller’s management team page. Mantel joined the company in early 2018, and had been part of the “leadership group” trio after Demos Parneros was fired. (In the ongoing legal battle between Parneros and the company, the judge recently reiterated that the parties to “be ready for trial on 48 hours’ notice on or after March 2, 2020,” estimating a 5 to 7-day trial. Ruoxi Chen has been promoted to associate editor at Tor.com. Junessa […]
National Book Award Longlists Continue With Translated Literature
The National Book Foundation announced the nominees for their Translated Literature prize, now in its second year. Finalists will be announced on October 8. When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back, by Naja Marie Aidt, translated by Denise Newman (Coffee House Press) The Collector of Leftover Souls, by Eliane Brum, translated by Diane Grosklaus Whitty (Graywolf) Space Invaders, by Nona Fernández, translated by Natasha Wimmer (Graywolf) Will and Testament, by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund (Verso Fiction) Death is Hard Work, by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price (FSG) Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming, by László Krasznahorkai, translated by […]