Bestselling biographer Anne Edwards, 96, died of lung cancer on January 20 in Los Angeles. She wrote biographies of Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Ronald Reagan, and Princess Diana, among others, as well as novels, memoirs, and children’s books, and was president of the Authors Guild in 1981. Science fiction author Christopher Priest, 80, died of cancer on February 2. The was the author of THE PRESTIGE, which was adapted into film by Christopher Nolan. At the time of his death, Priest was writing a biography of novelist J.G. Ballard.
NBF, CLMP Announce New Grant Opportunities
The Hawthornden Foundation is sponsoring two capacity-building grant programs for literary nonprofits in partnership with the National Book Foundation and the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. On Monday, both organizations announced individual one-year programs that will distribute $5,000 and $10,000 grants. The NBF writes in a release that the grants will “support projects that aim to create a sustainable and effective organization in the areas of fundraising, finance, or marketing; skill-building opportunities for staff and/or Board members; strategic planning consultants; diversity and equity initiatives; leadership development and management training; sabbaticals for long-term staff members and leaders; and succession planning.” […]
People 2/2
Vivendi Proposes Splitting Up Its Companies
Vivendi has proposed splitting its divisions into separate companies, each of which will be listed on the stock market, the company announced this week. “Since the distribution and listing of Universal Music Group in 2021, Vivendi has endured a significantly high conglomerate discount, substantially reducing its valuation and thereby limiting its ability to carry out external growth transactions for its subsidiaries,” they said in a release. Publishing and distribution assets will make up one group, including Vivendi’s controlling stake in Lagardere and their ownership of French media company Prisma. “This entity would foster collaboration between the different activities related to […]
Protesters Disrupt PEN America Event Featuring Mayim Bialik
Protesters with the group Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) disrupted a PEN America event in Los Angeles on the evening of January 31, resulting in the writer Randa Jarrar being physically removed. Videos on Twitter show footage of the protest, which involved playing audio recordings of names of Palestinian writers killed in Gaza since October 7, and of Jarrar’s removal. The protest was about the participation of actor and Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik, who was speaking to comedian Moshe Kasher about his new memoir Subculture Vulture as part of the PEN Out Loud series. Bialik has been vocal […]
Print Unit Sales Declined in 2023
Circana Bookscan announced full-year statistics for 2023, reporting print unit sales of 767 million, a decline of 3 percent from 2022. Adult fiction sales grew for the fifth year in a row, up 1.5 million units or 1 percent, driven by fantasy, romance, coming-of-age, and historical fiction. Young adult books grew as well, led by driven by the dystopian books, romances, and thrillers. Children’s books, however, saw a sharp decline–influencing the full year’s drop–with sales down 13.5 million units. Fantasy, magic, and humor books fell from their high sales in 2022. “Despite an overall decline and keeping in mind that […]