This has to be the most artful press release I’ve ever seen about a newspaper eliminating their stand-alone book section. Toronto’s Globe and Mail says at the very end of this exuberant announcement that “the Books section will physically join The Globe’s award-winning Focus section on Saturdays, starting January 10.” Editor-in-chief Ed Greenspon gushes, “The […]
Canada
Ricci Takes GG as Hage Is Shut Out; Costa Gives Barry Second Chance
Nino Ricci won Canada’s Governor General’s award for fiction for his just-published novel ORIGIN OF SPECIES, and journalist Christie Blatchford won the non-fiction award for her book FIFTEEN DAYS: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army. (Both titles were edited by Doubleday Canada Editorial Director Martha Kanya-Forstner.) Rawi Hage’s […]
Toews Wins Writers' Trust Prize
Miriam Toews has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust prize–one of Canada’s big three awards for fiction–for her fifth novel, THE FLYING TROUTMANS. CBC
Indigo Has An e-Content Play
Canada’s dominant retailer Indigo has plans for a electronic text offering focused on free and paid downloads for mobile devices, Quill and Quire reports. The enterprise will be established as a separately-branded subsidiary of Indigo, serving customers throughout North America (with intentions of going global), and set to launch in early 2009. “The final details […]
Woe Canada; Currency Plunge Squeezes Publishers
This time last year Canadian publishers and retailers were grappling with consumer anger over higher Canadian prices for books after the US dollar hit historic lows against the country’s currency. Discounts were applied at all levels (in part to keep sales from crossing the border to US retailers and suppliers) and for 2009 most major […]
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 […]