The week in books - 31 January 2008

The week in books - 31 January 2008 - from Times Higher Education

2007 Costa Book of the Year award winner

Scottish author and stand-up comedian A.L. Kennedy has won the 2007 Costa Book of the Year award for her fifth novel, Day - the story of a former RAF prisoner-of-war returning to Germany to confront his demons
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Writers' digital row with library

From The BBC: "Scores of writers are refusing to let their works be scanned for an online archive at the National Library of Wales because they are not being paid. A year after a near-£1m project was awarded to digitise modern Welsh writing, a dispute between authors and the library has not been resolved"

Online shoppers prefer books

From The Guardian: "Booming demand in emerging markets from Vietnam to India has made books the most popular item to buy online, according to research out today. More internet shoppers have bought books than any other product online over the past three months, according to a global survey by Nielsen Online. While two-fifths of e-shoppers bought books, 36% have bought clothing, accessories or shoes, 24% have bought airline tickets and 19% music

Continuum titles at Exact Editions

Continuum are showcasing 6 of their current and forthcoming theology titles on the Exact Editions platform. Each book has a 32pp sample available for searching and browsing

The Clare Maclean Prize for Scottish Fiction

The Clare Maclean Prize for Scottish Fiction is awarded to the Scottish writer who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best novel in the previous year. The prize is open to any full-length novel, written in English or Scots, by a writer born or living in Scotland. To be eligible for the 2008 prize, a book must have been first published in 2007. The judges for the 2008 award are Mike Gonzalez and Rob Maslen, both of the University of Glasgow, and The Herald's Rosemary Goring. From a strong field featuring the best of Scottish literary talent, they have the unenviable task of choosing a shortlist by the end of January. The winner will receive GBP3,000 and a trophy at a special ceremony on 15 March, the final event of Aye Write! Book Festival 2008

Basildon Children's Book Festival

Basildon Children's Book Festival - Current children's laureate Michael Rosen and bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson are already lined up to appear and plans are well underway for events around the town and in a number of schools - February 23 to March 12, 2008 - Basildon, Essex, UK

The Greatest British Writers Since 1945

Erica Wagner prepares for an argument as she introduces the Times list of the best postwar British writers

And the winners are... the authors on screen

"A clutch of acclaimed big-screen adaptations are spawning huge new sales of the novels that inspired them. Forget the award for best actor, best actress and even best film. The real winners of the coming movie awards season are not even involved in the industry. The release of a string of highly acclaimed films based on novels is providing a multi-million-pound bonus for the authors. Films including Atonement, The Kite Runner, The Golden Compass, No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood are generating hundreds of thousands of additional book sales" - Telegraph

The Independent Publishing Awards 2008

The Independent Publishers Guild and its partners The Bookseller and the London Book Fair are proud to reveal the shortlists for the 2008 Independent Publishing Awards. The nine lists showcase the very best of independent publishing in the UK. Six companies - Arcadia Books, Alastair Sawday Publishing, Barrington Stoke, Earthscan, Michael O'Mara Books and Snowbooks - are nominated for two awards each, while 22 different companies are represented in total

Centerprise Literature threatened

Centerprise Literature has been threatened with closure after the Arts Council proposed the total withdrawal of its funding from 1st April 2008. The ACE cuts are part of a range of recommendations that also threaten the futures of small press Dedalus and Arcadia. - The Bookseller

2007 Women of Courage Award shortlist announced

The shortlist for The Lesley Pearce Women of Courage Award for 2007, sponsored by Penguin, have been announced
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Spinebreakers

Spinebreakers.co.uk is Penguin's pioneering online book community for teenagers, run by teenagers themselves. Editorial control of the site is in the hands of a core editorial team of nine teenagers aged between 13 and 18 years, supported by a large network of contributing teen editors from across the UK

Legend Press chosen for Shashoua Fund

Millionaire Roger Shashoua has picked the first publisher to invest in under the umbrella of his new venture capital fund, The Shashoua Fund, which he launched last October to support independent publishers.The fund will invest in the 2008 publishing programme of Legend Press, focusing on the first release, Queer Fish in God's Waiting Room by Lee Henshaw
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Spread the Word from World Book Day

In order to celebrate World Book Day on 6 March 2008, the organisers have launched Spread the Word, where you can encounter 100 recommended books and vote on those that you think would provoke discussion. Plus, there are prizes to be won

The Author Trail

Links between some of the world's greatest writers and Kent, Sussex and France are being promoted. Library services in East Sussex, Medway, and the Somme, have created a website showing links with authors such as Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf. Other writers include Rudyard Kipling, Jules Verne and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. East Sussex Councillor Bob Tidy said: "This initiative allows people to celebrate some of the best writers in the world." The website, The Author Trail, which received EU funding, allows people to find out where writers lived and worked. It is available in English and French and includes maps so people can follow in the footsteps of authors. He said fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be able to click on the places he is associated with including Crowborough, Forest Row, Groombridge, Newhaven, Rotherfield and Winchelsea. The Sherlock Holmes creator also lived in Surrey for 10 years at Undershaw, a Grade II-listed property where repairs were being carried out last year. During his time there at the turn of the 20th Century, he wrote such classics as The Hound of the Baskervilles

Crimson buys White Ladder Press

"White Ladder Press has been bought by fellow independent Crimson Publishing for a substantial six-figure sum. Founded by Roni Jay and her late husband Richard Craze in 2003, White Ladder publishes around 15 practical and quirky lifestyle titles a year. Jay, who will continue to work on the White Ladder list as a freelance commissioning editor, said she sold the business to spend more time with her three children following her partner's death in August 2006" - The Bookseller

The 2008 National Year of Reading

"The 2008 National Year of Reading will create a powerful focus of opportunities and activities so that children, families and adult learners understand the benefits that reading for pleasure and purpose can bring to change their lives." Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The NYR will run from January to December 2008
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Not quite so Pink! Meet the Piccadilly Press authors

Meet the Piccadilly Press authors: Meet the mysterious Simon Cheshire, creator of schoolboy detective, Saxby Smart. Be charmed by the divine Amanda Lees, author of Kumari:Goddess of Gotham. Get some top tips on teen life from Helen Salter, author of Does Glitter Count as Camouflage. Tap into your magical powers with Sheridan Winn, author of the brand new series, the Sprote Sisters. Lively discussion - Pink Champagne - cupcakes - book signing. Foyles Bookshop. Charing Cross Road. 31 January 2008
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Catnip Publishing evening

Catnip Publishing in association with YLG London and SLG London and South east invite you for a special preview of publishing highlights 2008 with Catnip authors. Wine and refreshments. Wood Green Gallery. High Road, Wood Green, London. 23 January 2008
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His Own Domain: Harold Pinter, A Life in Theatre

His Own Domain pays tribute to Harold Pinter's life in the theatre as an actor, director, and writer of some of the most significant and celebrated plays of the 20th century. This small display in the British Library's Sir John Ritblat Gallery features a range of unique manuscripts, letters, photographs, and sound recordings. The British Library acquired Harold Pinter's extensive archive in December 2007. 10 January to 13 April 2008
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Peter Pan Week and the Big Time Rhyme

Peter Pan Week - Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity's first ever activity for schools and youth groups, in partnership with Oxford University Press. Peter Pan Week is a fun, creative and educational way for young people (up to age 18) to learn all about literature, whilst helping children with some of the rarest and most complex illnesses, and going down in history by attempting a Guinness World Record
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Continuum aims for 2,000 e-books

Academic and trade publisher Continuum is to make up to 1,000 of its backlist titles available as e-books over the next six months, following an agreement with digital conversion company codeMantra. The number will be doubled by the end of the year, and Continuum sales and marketing director Ken Rhodes hopes to have the entire 6,000-strong backlist available as e-books by the end of the decade. The Bookseller
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2008 Essex Book Festival

Booking for the 2008 Essex Book Festival opens on January 7. You can get a full programme from any library or by downloading it from the website
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Don't Let Dedalus Die petition

Description/History: "The Arts Council is proposing to axe funding to Dedalus Publishers in Cambridgeshire from January 2008, which will almost certainly lead to the company's closure, just as it was about to celebrate 25 years of publishing. Dedalus is one of the most important independent literary publishers and translation houses in the UK, and one of a dying breed. It publishes English language fiction, which has been translated into 23 languages and has commissioned translations from 14 modern European languages, winning many Literary Awards along the way. Dedalus is a cultural asset to this country, and provides a very good return for the small £24,958 annual grant it receives from The Arts Council"

Petition: "We, the undersigned, want The Arts Council to reverse its recommendation not to fund Dedalus after January 2008 and to enter into a new partnership with Dedalus so the company can thrive and not merely survive"

Sign the petition

Eels star announces London book signing

Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett will sign copies of his new book Things The Grandchildren Should Know in London later this month. The book signing will take place at St. James Church on January 17 and each attendee will receive a copy of the new book upon arrival
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Guinness Book of Gaming Records on the way

The Guinness Book Of Records has announced that its new Gamer's Edition annual will offer retailers a spectacular additional source of revenue when it is released on February 8th. The title represents the first time that GBOR has concentrated purely on games for a publication - and the company is planning to bring out an updated edition each year
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George MacDonald Fraser dies

The author of the hugely popular "Flashman" books, George MacDonald Fraser, has died at the age of 82. The former journalist and soldier died after a year-long battle with lung cancer - Reuters

Portico Books launching a new writing competition

Portico Books is launching a new writing competition with Bad Idea magazine, giving the winner a chance to appear in a new anthology. The Bad Idea Anthology, a paperback collection of the best writing from the magazine, will be published by Portico this summer, with the winner of the writing prize included as a featured author. Entrants have to submit a 1,500-word non-fiction story on the topic "the pen is mightier than the keyboard". The competition closes on 31st January, and the winner will be chosen from five finalists

2007 Costa Book Awards category winning authors

Chair of the 2007 final judging panel, author Joanna Trollope, has announced the 2007 Costa Book Awards category winning authors

Luke Bitmead Writer's Bursary announced

A new bursary for aspiring writers has been set up by the family of Luke Bitmead, who died in 2006. The bursary will include a cash award of GBP2,500 for the winner and a publishing contract from Bitmead's publisher Legend Press