PEN America Awards Invite Criticism for a Second Year
PEN America released longlists for its annual awards on Friday, and at least two authors report that they have withdrawn their books from consideration. Kaveh Akbar and Brandon Shimoda, whose books were longlisted for the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, announced on social media that they were declining the nominations and referred readers to Writers Against the War on Gaza for more information. According to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Shimoda’s book The Afterlife Is Letting Go did not appear when PEN posted the longlists, and as of press time Akbar’s Martyr! is still listed. WAWOG has criticized PEN America […]
French Bookstores Protest Hachette Livre
Independent bookstores in France are protesting the influence of Hachette Livre’s conservative owner Vincent Bolloré. Bolloré’s Vivendi bought control of Hachette parent company Lagardère in 2023. Bookstore owners say it’s impossible to boycott the publisher completely, since they are largest publisher and book distributor in the country. But the protest campaign has included cutting back on Hachette Livre titles, stocking them on lower shelves, and a “bookmark rebellion” in which people “hide bookmarks inside paperbacks in large commercial stores with messages such as ‘boycott Hachette.'” Le Pied à Terre, an independent bookshop in Paris, has started limiting orders of books from […]
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Distribution: Archipelago Books
Archipelago Books is now distributed by New York Review Books. Archipelago titles will appear in the NYRB catalog and are distributed through NYRB’s distributor, Penguin Random House.
Mallory Loehr to Lead Random House Children’s; Barbara Marcus Steps Down
Mallory Loehr will become president of Random House Children’s Books on May 1, reporting to ceo Nihar Malaviya. Loehr will also join the PRH US Leadership Team. “In her thirty plus years of enthusiastic dedication to Random House Children’s Books, Mallory has played a seminal role in the development of this business,” Malaviya said in a release. “…She’s a homegrown talent who truly believes in constantly evolving our approach to work in a way that can change cultures and thinking. I’m thrilled that she will not only lead RHCB but also help to shape our company overall as a member […]