British Books Today Blog

World Book Night titles unveiled (UK)

2011-10-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and The Alchemist are among the 25 titles that will be given away on World Book Night in 2012. One million books will be distributed at venues including hostels, pubs and hospitals in a bid to boost reading. Now in its second year, the event will move from March to 23 April, marking both Unesco's International Day Of The Book and Shakespeare's birthday. Some 20,000 members of the public will be chosen to give away copies of their favourite title from the list

TS Eliot prize 2011 shortlist (UK)

2011-10-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

The shortlist for the TS Eliot prize 2011 has been announced:

* Black Cat Bone by John Burnside
* The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy
* Profit and Loss by Leontia Flynn
* Night by David Harsent
* Armour by John Kinsella
* Grace by Esther Morgan
* Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!! by Daljit Nagra
* November by Sean O'Brien
* Farmer's Cross by Bernard O'Donoghue
* Memorial by Alice Oswald

Bedford Square Books launches with six titles

2011-10-20T08:55:00.001-07:00

Bedford Square Books, the new e-book and Print on Demand venture coming from the Ed Victor Literary Agency, has gone live with all six launch titles now available to the public. In addition, Ed Victor confirmed that the company will publish its first original work, a novel by entrepreneur Louise Fennell, wife of jewellery designer, Theo. Fennell's debut novel, Dead Rich, is a contemporary black comedy. It will be published on February 8 2012 in e-book and POD formats

Writeidea Reading Festival 2011 (UK)

2011-10-20T08:54:00.001-07:00

This is the third year of Writeidea - East London's free reading festival - and it is now established as a highlight in the cultural calendar in the capital. In contrast to many other literary festivals across the country, all our events are free, as we think that everyone should have the opportunity to meet and engage with our best writers and hear them talking about their work - 11 - 19 November - London, UK

Novelist Catherine Fisher named young people's laureate (Wales)

2011-10-20T08:53:00.003-07:00

A writer from Newport is to be named Wales' first Young People's Laureate later. Catherine Fisher, a former primary school teacher and archaeologist, is an award-winning author of fantasy novels for children. She will be asked to inspire young people to read and be involved in creative writing. Her appointment by writers' body Literature Wales will be unveiled by singer Charlotte Church later

Julian Barnes wins Man Booker Prize 2011

2011-10-20T08:52:00.003-07:00

Julian Barnes has been named the winner of this year's £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Sense of an Ending, published by Jonathan Cape. London-based Barnes has been the bookies' favourite to win since the shortlist announcement on 6 September. The source of the description of the prize as 'posh bingo', Barnes has been shortlisted three times in the past for Arthur and George (2005), England, England (1998) and Flaubert's Parrot (1984)

The Fourth Brook Green Book Festival 2011 (UK)

2011-10-20T08:52:00.001-07:00

The Fourth Brook Green Book Festival 2011 sponsored by Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Brook Green. The aim of the Festival is to bring together West London writers and local people - 17-21 October, 2011

Galaxy National Book Awards 2011 shortlist categories

2011-10-20T08:51:00.001-07:00

The shortlist categories for the Galaxy National Book Awards 2011 have been announced

2011 Independent Booksellers Week (UK)

2011-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Independent Booksellers Week is part of the IndieBound campaign for independent bookshops, which promotes independent bookshops, great books, strong reading communities, and the idea of shopping locally and sustainably. An exciting new development for 2011 is the inclusion of National Reading Group Day on the second Saturday of IBW, Saturday 25th June. National Reading Group Day is one of BA President Jane Streeter's key objectives for 2011. It's not necessarily about booksellers starting reading groups, or even running groups in the shop, but about capitalising on the current huge grassroots affection for Reading Groups in the UK - 18 to 25 June 2011. RSS Feed

The British Library and Google to make 250,000 books available to all

2011-06-27T08:56:00.001-07:00

The British Library and Google have announced a partnership to digitise 250,000 out-of-copyright books from the Library's collections. Opening up access to one of the greatest collections of books in the world, this demonstrates the Library's commitment, as stated in its 2020 Vision, to increase access to anyone who wants to do research. Selected by the British Library and digitised by Google, both organisations will work in partnership over the coming years to deliver this content free through Google Books and the British Library's website. Google will cover all digitisation costs. This project will digitise a huge range of printed books, pamphlets and periodicals dated 1700 to 1870, the period that saw the French and Industrial Revolutions, The Battle of Trafalgar and the Crimean War, the invention of rail travel and of the telegraph, the beginning of UK income tax, and the end of slavery. It will include material in a variety of major European languages, and will focus on books that are not yet freely available in digital form online

The Publishers Association Bulletin - 20 June 2011 (UK)

2011-06-27T08:54:00.001-07:00

The Publishers Association Bulletin - 20 June 2011 - is now available online

Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott Prize for The Long Song (Scotland)

2011-06-27T08:53:00.003-07:00

The second Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction has been awarded to Andrea Levy for her slavery novel The Long Song. The £25,000 prize was awarded at one of Scotland's top literary events, the Borders Book Festival in Melrose. The author accepted the award from the Duke of Buccleuch, sponsor of the prize, at a ceremony hosted by festival patron Rory Bremner

Book Grocer: 22-28 June 2011 (UK)

2011-06-27T08:53:00.001-07:00

Book Grocer: 22-28 June 2011 - The week ahead in literary London from the Londonist blog

Germany honours John Le Carré with Goethe Medal

2011-06-27T08:51:00.001-07:00

John Le Carré has been named as one of this year's recipients of Germany's Goethe Medal, which goes to individuals who "have performed outstanding service for the German language and international cultural dialogue". This "master of the political and psychological crime novel", according to the Goethe Institut, "condensed Germany's difficult role during the era of the cold war" in his books, and "vividly brings to life the global fields of conflict"

Palgrave Macmillan announces Palgrave Open

2011-06-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

Palgrave Macmillan has announced the launch of Palgrave Open which offers authors of accepted primary research papers the option to publish their articles with immediate open access upon publication. With Palgrave Open authors can choose to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) in order for their article to be made available to non-subscribers

First Fictions, a festival for readers and writers (UK)

2011-06-27T08:49:00.001-07:00

Myriad Editions are joining forces with the University of Sussex to launch an exciting new event to celebrate and champion first novels, past and present. The First Fictions Festival uniquely fuses an innovative and eclectic programme of literary events featuring an array of new and established authors, with a course of creative writing masterclasses as well as an academic conference on the impact of creative writing on critical thinking. Among those helping to celebrate first works will be Kate Mosse, Jackie Kay, Elleke Boehmer, Steve Bell, Meg Rosoff, Melissa Benn, Michael Prodger and Ian Rankin - treating us to an exclusive reading from his unpublished first novel. To be held January 2012

First winner chosen for Aspire Award (UK)

2011-06-27T08:48:00.003-07:00

Carly Miller, a student at the University of Sheffield, has won the first CILIP/IFLA Aspire Award. She will receive a free residential place at CILIP's flagship conference, Umbrella 2011. The conference will take place at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield on 12-13 July. The Aspire Award was created in memory of CILIP's Chief Executive Bob McKee, who died in August 2010. The Award will support Bob's passionate interests - developing new professionals and strengthening international relationships. It will help new professionals develop through networking at UK and international events

J.K. Rowling announces Pottermore

2011-06-27T08:48:00.001-07:00

Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books. Come back on 31st July to find out how you can get the chance to enter Pottermore early

OxfordWords blog

2011-06-27T08:47:00.001-07:00

OxfordWords blog - Here you'll find articles about words, language, and dictionaries, plus English grammar and usage tips, interactive features, games, competitions, and more. From Oxford Dictionaries Online

2011 CILIP Carnegie Medal and CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winners

2011-06-27T08:46:00.001-07:00

The winners of the 2011 CILIP Carnegie Medal and CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal have been announced:

CILIP Carnegie Medal winner: Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner: FArTHER illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith

Carnegie winner Patrick Ness attacks library cuts (UK)

2011-06-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

Author Patrick Ness has criticised Education Secretary Michael Gove over library closures as he accepted a prestigious children's fiction prize. Ness was awarded the Cilip Carnegie Medal for his novel Monsters of Men at a ceremony in London. "We must accept that it is not only libraries that are under threat, but librarians as well," Ness said. The prize is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for young people. Ness's winning novel is the third and final book of the Chaos Walking trilogy about the power struggles on a planet where private thoughts are audible. The US-born author described decisions to partially staff libraries with volunteers as "a one-sentence, Big Society idea whose consequences and ramifications they haven't even remotely considered". Talking about Mr Gove, Ness said: "Here is a man who races to the latest news about what a tragedy it is that three out of every 10 children don't own a book - The BBC

Desmond Elliot Prize 2011 winner announced

2011-06-27T08:44:00.001-07:00

Anjali Joseph has been named as the winner of the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize 2011 for Saraswati Park, published by Fourth Estate. The Prize is awarded annually to the best first novel and Anjali Joseph's portrayal of modern-day India was selected for its enchanting narrative and assured style

We Love This Book - from The Bookseller (UK)

2011-06-27T08:43:00.001-07:00

We Love This Book is the new consumer book magazine and website from The Bookseller Group, launched on 25 June 2011. We Love This Book will celebrate the most exciting books in the world today, with independent reviews, features with big-name and emerging authors, events, book video trailers and much, much more

London Literature Festival 2011 (UK)

2011-06-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

London Literature Festival 2011 – an exciting mix of talks and events from brilliant writers, thinkers and artists. This year, with our riverside site transformed in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, we explore the past, present and future of Britain and its capital. We investigate the complexities of modern Britain in our State of the Nation series, and articulate our dreams and nightmares of the future in our Futurology events. With writers from over 30 countries joining us, we invite you to immerse yourself in a momentous London Literature Festival this summer. 30 June to 14 July, 2011

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 (Scotland)

2011-06-26T04:29:00.001-07:00

The Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 takes place 13-29 August, 2011 in Scotland

Guardian Books podcast: Do books have a future?

2011-06-19T04:02:00.001-07:00

Publishers, academics, digital pioneers and writers assembled in Milan at the Book Tomorrow conference. Claire Armitstead, the Guardian's literary editor, went along to find out what the future holds for the printed word
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The Penguin Podcast - Blogger's Night

2011-06-18T05:01:00.001-07:00

The Penguin Podcast - Blogger's Night - "Back in April we held the inaugural Penguin Bloggers' Night. Think of it like an evening of speed dating, where the internet had a gaggle of new books and authors vie for its affections. And here's your chance to listen to that gaggle"
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Women dominate first Rising Stars list - The Bookseller

2011-06-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

Women dominate the first-ever The Bookseller Rising Stars, an annual listing which highlights the people who will shape the British book trade. Two-thirds - 26 of 39 entries - of Rising Stars 2011 are women. The list is divided into six categories: publicity, sales and marketing; design, production and supply chain; digital; bookseller; editorial; and agents and rights. Digital was the only category which had a majority of men, with five out of seven entries. All six agents and rights professionals on the list are women, as are six of eight booksellers.

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The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2011 winner (UK)

2011-06-17T16:01:00.001-07:00

Edmund de Waal has been awarded the GBP10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize for The Hare with Amber Eyes (Chatto). This is an annual award for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place
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Téa Obreht wins the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction (UK)

2011-06-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

Serbian/American author Téa Obreht has won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction with her debut novel The Tiger's Wife (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). At 25, Obreht is the youngest-ever author to take the Prize. Celebrating its sixteenth anniversary this year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world. At an awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, hosted by Orange Prize for Fiction Co-Founder and Honorary Director, Kate Mosse, the 2011 Chair of Judges, Bettany Hughes, presented the author with the £30,000 prize and the ‘Bessie', a limited edition bronze figurine. Both are anonymously endowed

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Foyles branches out to east London (UK)

2011-06-17T15:57:00.001-07:00

Foyles bookshop is to open its seventh branch near the site of the 2012 Olympics in the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. The family-owned bookseller, which has its flagship store on Charing Cross Road, central London, will launch its latest shop in the Westfield Stratford City, dubbed "Europe's largest urban shopping centre" and due to open later this year. The seventh Foyles will trade from over 5,000 square feet and be situated on the ground floor - The Bookseller

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National Crime Writing Week - June 2011 (UK)

2011-06-17T15:56:00.002-07:00

National Crime Writing Week takes place at various venues in the UK, 13-19 June, 2011

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Red House Children's Book Award 2011 winners

2011-06-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

The winners of the Red House Children's Book Award 2011 have been announced. Michael Morpurgo's novel Shadow has won this year's Red House children's book award, which is voted for by young readers. Other winners were Angela McAllister and Alison Edgson's Yuck! That's not a Monster in the category for younger children, and Alex Scarrow's TimeRiders in the older readers' category
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James McGonigal wins the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets with Cloud Pibroch

2011-06-17T15:54:00.001-07:00

Poet James McGonigal has won the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets with Cloud Pibroch (Mariscat Press), for the publishing year 2010. Judge Lavinia Greenlaw presented the poet with the prize at an award ceremony at the British Library in London on 13 June 2011
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The Worlds of Mervyn Peake (British Library)

2011-06-17T15:53:00.001-07:00

Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was a prolific and astonishingly original writer and artist, who touched at one time or another on almost every literary form. To celebrate the centenary of Peake's birth, the British Library's exhibition The Worlds of Mervyn Peake (5 July to 18 September 2011) examines Peake's output as novelist, poet, playwright and illustrator through the worlds he inhabited, both real and imagined. The exhibition brings together a wealth of material from the British Library's collections, including the recently acquired Mervyn Peake archive. Previously unknown works discovered amongst Peake's papers include: the manuscript of the soon-to-be published fourth Titus book, Titus Awakes, completed by Peake's wife Maeve Gilmore after his death; and the complete first scene of his sci-fi play 'Isle Escape', in which a couple escape to a tropical island to wait out a world war that they later discover failed to take place
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2011 Dolman Travel Book Of The Year shortlist announced

2011-06-17T15:52:00.001-07:00

2011 Dolman Travel Book of the Year shortlist announced:

* Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich (Portobello Books)
* Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard by Nicolas Jubber (Da Capo Press)
* Germania by Simon Winder (Picador)
* Molotov's Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonsky (Faber)
* Parisians by Graham Robb (Picador)
* The Last Resort by Douglas Rogers (Shortbooks)

The winner will be announced 6 July, 2011
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Belfast Book Festival 2011 (Northern Ireland)

2011-06-17T15:51:00.001-07:00

In a Festival that now offers some 40 events, the organisers have tried as much as possible to appeal to a wide range of readers and writers across Belfast. There are established authors such as John Banville, Maurice Leitch, and David Peace; local authors with new works, Jo Baker and Lucy Caldwell; performers such as Larry Lamb and Owen O'Neill; poets like Martin Mooney, Leontia Flynn and Ben Maeir. There'll also be events based on The Belfast Blitz: The People's Story with readings from a new book of eye-witness accounts, the first live performance of W.R. Rodger's The Return Room, as well as an exhibition of photography books based on the Belfast Exposed archive - Until June 19, 2011
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Robert Burns book project awarded £1m grant (UK)

2011-03-19T03:20:00.001-07:00

A Scottish university has been given £1m to produce the first complete scholarly edition of the works of Robert Burns. Glasgow University's Centre for Robert Burns Studies will publish six volumes over the next eight years, with another six to follow in the next decade. They will include The Oxford Handbook to Robert Burns and The Collected Prose of Robert Burns. The work will be funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The £1m award follows an Oxford University Press (OUP) contract which the university secured two years ago to produce the work. The project - Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century - will involve a team of five literary scholars at Glasgow led by Dr Gerry Carruthers, a leading international Burns expert. Dr Carruthers said the project marked "a seismic shift" in Burns studies. He said: "We now have the platform to assert Burns's status as a major Romantic-period artist alongside the likes of William Wordsworth and John Keats." - BBC

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Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of 2010 shortlist (UK)

2011-03-19T03:19:00.001-07:00

The shortlist for the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of 2010 has been announced. The winner will be announced 25 March 2011:

* 8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings - Various authors (TWI)

* The Generosity of the Dead - Graciela Nowenstein (Ashgate)

* The Italian's One-night Love Child - Cathy Williams (Mills & Boon)

* Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way - Michael R Young (Radcliffe)

* Myth of the Social Volcano - Martin King Whyte (Stanford University Press)

* What Color Is Your Dog? - Joel Silverman (Kennel Club)
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'Lost' Enid Blyton book unearthed (UK)

2011-03-19T03:17:00.002-07:00

"An unpublished and previously unknown Enid Blyton novel is believed to have turned up in an archive of the late children's author's work. Mr Tumpy's Caravan is a 180-page fantasy story about a magical caravan. It was in a collection of manuscripts that was auctioned by the family of Blyton's eldest daughter in September. "I think it's unique," said Tony Summerfield, head of the Enid Blyton Society. "I don't know of any full-length unpublished Blyton work." The collection was bought by the Seven Stories children's book centre in Newcastle" - BBC

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John le Carré to gift his entire literary archive to the Bodleian Library

2011-03-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

"John le Carré, one of the world's most celebrated authors, has offered his literary archive to Oxford's Bodleian Library with the intention that it should become its permanent home. Le Carré said, 'I am delighted to be able to do this. Oxford was Smiley's spiritual home, as it is mine. And while I have the greatest respect for American universities, the Bodleian is where I shall most happily rest.' Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Special Collections and Associate Director of the Bodleian Libraries said 'We are enormously grateful that John le Carré has made his archive available to the Bodleian. It is compelling primary evidence of a major cultural contribution to a literary genre and will offer scholars important insights into his work. We hope the collection will also be appreciated more widely, through exhibitions, seminars and conferences as well as through digitization initiatives.'"

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Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography winner

2011-03-19T03:16:00.001-07:00

"Actor Simon Callow's memoir My Life in Pieces (Nick Hern Books) has won the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography. The "Four Weddings and a Funeral" actor combined "zest, originality and passion" in the memoir to win the £2,000 prize, according to the judges. He beat a shortlist comprising Reluctant Escapologist by stablemate Mike Bradwell, Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim (Ebury), Putting it On by Michael Codron and Alan Strachan (Duckworth) and Born Brilliant –The Life of Kenneth Williams by Christopher Stevens (John Murray). The Sheridan Morley Prize is awarded annually for the best biography, autobiography or diary of a theatrical or show‐business subject published in the English language" - The Bookseller

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Historical Writers' Association (UK)

2011-03-19T03:14:00.001-07:00

The Historical Writers' Association grew from the belief that we as historical writers need to have the same kind of professional body run by professional writers for professional writers (and their agents and publishers and booksellers) to sustain, promote and support each other and our work in the way that the Crime Writers' Association supports writers of crime. Our initial plans involve a Festival of Historical Literature to be held in conjunction with English Heritage's Festival of History at Kelmarsh, near Northampton on 16th - 17th July 2011

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The 2011 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award shortlist announced

2011-03-19T03:13:00.001-07:00

The shortlist for the The 2011 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award has been announced:

* Will Cohu – 'East Coast – West Coast'
* Anthony Doerr – 'The Deep'
* Roshi Fernando – 'The Fluorescent Jacket'
* Yiyun Li – 'The Science of Flight'
* Hilary Mantel – 'Comma'
* Gerard Woodward – 'The Family Whistle'
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2011 Orange Prize for Fiction (UK) longlist

2011-03-19T03:10:00.001-07:00

The Orange Prize for Fiction, the UK's only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, has announced the 2011 longlist. Celebrating its sixteenth anniversary this year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing throughout the world:

* Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - Sudanese; 3rd Novel
* Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Canongate) - British; 10th Novel
* Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador) - Irish; 7th Novel
* The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi (Bloomsbury) - Indian; 1st Novel
* Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty (Faber and Faber) - British; 6th Novel
* A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Corsair) - American; 4th Novel
* The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury) - British/Sierra Leonean; 2nd Novel
* The London Train by Tessa Hadley (Jonathan Cape) - British; 4th Novel
* Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson (Sceptre) - British; 1st Novel
* The Seas by Samantha Hunt (Corsair) - American; 1st Novel
* The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna (Faber and Faber) - British; 2nd Novel
* Great House by Nicole Krauss (Viking) - American; 3rd Novel
* The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone (Chatto & Windus) - American; 3rd Novel
* The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - Serbian/American; 1st Novel
* The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Viking) - American; 1st Novel
* Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile (Serpent's Tail) - British; 1st Novel
* Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Chatto & Windus) - American; 1st Novel
* The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin (Serpent's Tail) - British/Nigerian; 1st Novel
* The Swimmer by Roma Tearne (Harper Press) - British; 4th Novel
* Annabel by Kathleen Winter (Jonathan Cape) - Canadian; 1st Novel
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UK's most borrowed ebooks announced

2011-03-19T03:08:00.001-07:00

Ebook retail and library service provider OverDrive has released a list of the most borrowed ebooks from UK libraries for February 2011. The list covers books checked out and on a waiting lists at libraries using OverDrive's fulfilment service. Books loaned by libraries can be read on any ePub/Adobe DRM compatible device any on a number of apps for tablets and smartphones. They cannot be read on Amazon's Kindle or Apple's iBooks which use their own proprietary DRM
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Julian Barnes wins David Cohen Prize for Literature

2011-03-19T03:07:00.001-07:00

Author Julian Barnes, whose novels include Flaubert's Parrot and England, England, has been presented with the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Past recipients of the £40,000 prize, described by judges as the UK's Nobel Prize for Literature, include Harold Pinter and Doris Lessing. The biennial lifetime achievement award went to Seamus Heaney in 2009. BBC

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"More Dickens" competition (UK)

2011-02-13T03:47:00.001-08:00

"To celebrate the bi-centenary of Charles Dickens' birth in 1812, the Dickens Fellowship and the English Association announce the More Dickens competition, to be first awarded in 2012. First prize of £500 will be awarded for an extended class project based on one of Dickens' works. The runner up will receive £250. The competition is open to classes of all ages in primary schools in the UK and can be completed at any time during 2011. Projects may link with regular literacy and numeracy work and include other areas of the curriculum, for example, art, geography, history, music, science. The judges will be looking for originality and lively outcomes, but are also very much interested in hearing about the teaching and learning processes that are part of everyday good practice"

2011 Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival (UK)

2011-02-13T03:46:00.001-08:00

"The 2011 Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival runs from Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 April, and offers a wonderful range of talks, discussions, debates, readings, Literary Lunches and Dinners in the exceptional and beautiful surroundings of Christ Church and Corpus Christi and Merton Colleges - with many major events staged in The Sheldonian Theatre, The Bodleian Library and other prestigious venues.

The Festival reflects the great literary traditions of The University of Oxford, and its historic Colleges, as well as the contemporary reputation of its Departments and Institutes in every field of scholarship, research and enquiry.

Novelists, biographers, historians, poets, critics, politicians, soldiers, public servants, scientists, and medics will be joined by artists, philosophers, theologians, architects, engineers, botanists, environmentalists and children's writers.

The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival is widely acclaimed for its stimulating and provocative programme and the quality and fearlessness of its debates. This year we extend our series of major lectures and presentations at The Sheldonian Theatre, with World-class speakers, and have developed the Children's Festival under the direction of Nicolette Jones, Children's Editor of The Sunday Times.

But above all the unique feature of The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival is the warmth of the welcome for all who attend, and the opportunity for the general public to meet and mix with authors, writers and public figures, from breakfast in hallowed halls through lunch, tea or drinks in the Festival Marquee to nightcaps in bars, inns and hotels throughout the city"

Booker Prize Foundation to honour Beryl Bainbridge (UK)

2011-02-13T03:45:00.001-08:00

"The late, much-loved novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge was shortlisted five times for the Booker Prize, but never actually won. Despite many other literary accolades, the press's phrase - the 'Booker bridesmaid' - stuck. In her honour, the Booker Prize Foundation has created a special prize, The Man Booker Best of Beryl, and asks the public to consider which of her five shortlisted novels deserves the accolade. No author has ever been shortlisted as many times for the prize. Her shortlisted books were The Dressmaker (1973); The Bottle Factory Outing (1974); An Awfully Big Adventure (1990); Every Man for Himself (1996) and Master Georgie (1998) all of which are now published in paperback by Abacus"

Redwall author Brian Jacques dies aged 71 (UK)

2011-02-13T03:44:00.001-08:00

"A former merchant sailor whose children's books sold millions worldwide has died aged 71. Brian Jacques' Redwall series of books were translated into 29 languages and sold 20m globally. He first wrote the series, set in an abbey populated by animals, for children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool. The Liverpool-born writer's weekly show, Jakestown, ran on BBC Radio Merseyside for more than 20 years. He died after a heart attack at the weekend and leaves a wife and two grown up sons"

Lightship Literary Competitions (UK)

2011-02-13T03:43:00.002-08:00

"Lightship Publishing will publish literary fiction and poetry. To help fund our lists and discover new voices, we will run annual international writing contests: the Lightship International Short Story Prize, the Lightship International Poetry Prize, the Lightship International Flash Fiction Prize, and First Chapter. This is our inaugural year and we are absolutely thrilled to have writers, agents and editors of the highest calibre, Toby Litt, Kachi A. Ozumba, Jackie Kay, Tibor Fischer, Simon Trewin and Alessandro Gallenzi, as our respective judges in the 2010-2011 competitions. Experienced readers will assist the named judges in selecting the shortlists. Our named judges will select the winners"

Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2011 winner (UK)

2011-02-13T03:43:00.000-08:00

"The winner of this year's Waterstone's Children's Book Prize is Artichoke Hearts by Sita Brahmachari. It is an insightful, honest novel exploring the delicate balance, and often injustice, of life and death - but at its heart is a celebration of friendship, culture - and life"

Derek Walcott wins TS Eliot poetry prize

2011-02-03T11:11:00.001-08:00

Caribbean poet Derek Walcott has won this year's prestigious TS Eliot Prize for Poetry for his latest collection, White Egrets. Walcott, 81, was up against several other well-known poets including Simon Armitage and Seamus Heaney. Judges' chair Anne Stevenson said the judges had found it difficult to choose a winner. But they concluded White Egrets "was a moving, risk-taking and technically flawless book by a great poet." The collection includes two poems written to Barack Obama. Walcott wins £15,000, while his fellow nominees pick up cheques for £1,000 each

BBC Year of Books 2011 (UK)

2011-02-03T11:10:00.001-08:00

"The BBC has announced its Year of Books 2011 which will celebrate books and matters related by inviting audiences to free their imagination with a broad range of quality programmes. From established literary strands to new documentaries, readings, debates and dramas, the year will champion the power of books with a host of new programmes, as well as drawing upon the BBC's extensive literary archive and regular programming strands"

2010 Costa Book of the Year award winner

2011-02-03T11:09:00.001-08:00

"Poet Jo Shapcott has won the 2010 Costa Book of the Year for her collection Of Mutability, her first new work in over a decade and in part influenced by her experience of breast cancer. In Of Mutability, Shapcott is found writing at her most memorable and bold. In a series of fresh, unflinching poems, she movingly explores mortality and the nature of change: in the body and the natural world, and in shifting relationships between people. By turns grave and playful, arresting and witty, the poems in Of Mutability celebrate each waking moment as though it might be the last and, in so doing, restore wonder to the smallest of encounters"

Royal Society of Literature announces masterclasses (UK)

2011-02-03T11:08:00.001-08:00

"The Royal Society of Literature, in collaboration with the Booker Prize Foundation, has announced a series of masterclasses for 2011. The masterclasses will be given by four exceptional writers, two of whom - Ali Smith and William Boyd - have been previously shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and a third, Candia McWilliam, is a former judge. Also included in the programme is the award-winning British travel writer, novelist and President of the RSL, Colin Thubron. The masterclasses are open to members of the RSL and non-members. They offer a unique opportunity for both established writers and newcomers to writing to learn what it takes to become a successful writer and to have their work professionally critiqued"

Authors to lobby Scottish parliament on Save Our Libraries Day (UK)

2011-02-03T11:06:00.001-08:00

"Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson and fellow children's writer Julie Bertagna will be among a group of authors and illustrators protesting to the Scottish parliament about library closures north of the border this Saturday, the national Save Our Libraries Day. The cutbacks will hit the most vulnerable the hardest, warn the authors in a formal statement to be handed to the Edinburgh parliament. "The cuts to book budgets, library opening hours, mobile services, branches, and the drastic and unnecessary deletion of professional posts strike at those most in need of a library service and those least able to protest against the cuts in that service – the less affluent, the elderly, the frail, people who are challenged mentally and physically and their carers, those who look after babies and toddlers and, crucially, our children – who are our future," they say. Authors Theresa Breslin, Nicola Morgan, Gill Arbuthnott , Vivian French and Alan Temperley will also be among the protesters"

Galaxy Book of the Year winner announced (UK)

2011-01-01T04:50:00.001-08:00

"The winner of the Galaxy Book of the Year has been announced as One Day by David Nicholls. The prestigious accolade was voted for by the public on www.channel4.com from a shortlist of the eight category winners from the Galaxy National Book Awards 2010: an impressive literary set including Stephen Fry, Hilary Mantel, Jonathan Franzen and Andrew Marr"
Technorati Tag: Books

100% cut to English book gifting programmes announced

2011-01-01T04:48:00.001-08:00

The U.K. Department for Education has announced that funding for all the Booktrust's English book gifting programmes will be cut by 100% from 1 April 2011. Programmes include Bookstart, Booktime and Booked Up
Technorati Tag: Books

Chorlton Book Festival (UK)

2010-11-19T04:36:00.002-08:00

"Poet Laureate Carol Anne Duffy, playwright Charlotte Keatley and poet and novelist Jackie Kay are some of the top literary names who will be making an appearance at this year's Chorlton Book Festival in Manchester, UK. The Festival runs from 8-21 November 2010 when Chorlton will be awash with writing workshops, story times, competitions and talks at venues as diverse as a local bar, the local library and a toy shop. Now in its sixth year, the Chorlton Book Festival celebrates local talent and makes the world of books and words accessible to everyone"
Technorati Tag: Books

Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story prize 2010 winner

2010-11-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

Stephen Collins is the winner of the Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story prize 2010, for "Room 208"
Technorati Tag: Books

2010 Galaxy National Book Awards winners (UK)

2010-11-19T04:35:00.001-08:00

The winners of the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards have been announced
Technorati Tag: Books

Wellcome Trust Book Prize 2010 winner announced

2010-11-19T04:34:00.001-08:00

'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' (Pan Macmillan) has won the second Wellcome Trust Book Prize
Technorati Tag: Books

New title from Bodleian Library Publishing. An Englishwoman in California: The Letters of Catherine Hubback 1871-1876

2010-11-19T04:33:00.001-08:00

"The Bodleian Library has released a cache of previously unpublished letters by a niece of Jane Austen: An Englishwoman in California: The Letters of Catherine Hubback 1871-1876. Catherine Hubback, herself a novelist, was fifty-two years old when she left England for America. Travelling on the Transcontinental Railroad in 1871, she settled in Oakland, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. There, where she lived with her son Edward, who commuted by ferryboat to a wheat brokerage in the city, she began a faithful correspondence with her eldest son John and his wife Mary in Liverpool. Her extraordinary letters offer an intimate and unguarded view of an eventful life in the 1870s and give an intelligent and coherent account of the San Francisco area at a time of rapid growth and financial unrest...."

Technorati Tag: Books

Roald Dahl Funny Prize winners

2010-11-19T04:32:00.000-08:00

Louise Rennison and Louise Yates have won this year's Roald Dahl Funny Prizes with 'Withering Tights' (7-14 year-olds) and 'Dog Loves Books (0-6) respectively
Technorati Tag: Books

Costa Book Awards 2010 shortlists announced

2010-11-19T04:31:00.001-08:00

Costa Coffee has announced the shortlists for the 2010 Costa Book Awards. The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books in five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book - published in the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland:

Costa First Novel Award

* Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
* Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla
* The Temple-Goers by Aatish Taseer
* Not Quite White by Simon Thirsk

Costa Novel Award

* Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
* The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale
* The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
* Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Costa Biography Award

* How to Live A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell
* My Father's Fortune by Michael Frayn
* The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Costa Poetry Award

* Standard Midland by Roy Fisher
* The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson
* Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott
* New Light for the Old Dark by Sam Willetts

Costa Children's Book Award

* Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
* Annexed by Sharon Dogar
* Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
* Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Technorati Tag: Books

Celia Walden on "Babysitting George "

2010-11-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

"Babysitting George" is a unique and moving memoir of a young journalist's summer in the company of George Best, in the year before he died. Here, Celia Walden gives an insight into this book and why she decided to write it

Technorati Tag: Books

Society of Young Publishers Conference 2010 (UK)

2010-11-04T05:19:00.001-07:00

Society of Young Publishers Conference 2010 : Publishing on the World's Stage - 13 November 2010 - London, UK
Technorati Tag: Books

James Bond novels go digital, cutting out Penguin (UK)

2010-11-04T05:18:00.001-07:00

"The books industry could lose out on millions of pounds because publishers have failed to sign up the digital rights to authors, who are expected to bypass traditional publishing houses in favour of Amazon or Google. The fears were raised after the estate of Ian Fleming announced that all the Bond novels are to be made available as e-books in the UK for the first time this week. But they are not being released by the author's print publisher Penguin. Industry insiders suggested that blockbusting authors including JK Rowling, Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie would be looking at the deal closely" - The Telegraph

Technorati Tag: Books

SAGE wins JISC TechDis Award for library service (UK)

2010-11-04T05:17:00.001-07:00

SAGE has won the inaugural JISC TechDis Publisher Lookup Award for library service, which recognises publishers who have been nominated by library staff for their excellent service in supplying books in alternative formats. SAGE received the award at the CILIP Digital Information Conference in London on 28 October 2010. The JISC TechDis Publisher Lookup Awards are the brainchild of Alistair McNaught, senior advisor at JISC TechDis. Alistair said: "There was a really strong field of candidates. Judges were impressed by the sheer number of nominations for SAGE by library staff and the glowing feedback that highlighted their responsiveness, exemplary standards of service and commitment to end users"
Technorati Tag: Books

British Library acquires Harold Pinter's awards

2010-11-01T04:51:00.001-07:00

The British Library has acquired the collection of awards and honours presented to writer and Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter during the course of his long career. The UK national library - which acquired Pinter's archive in December 2007 - received the awards through the Acceptance In Lieu (AIL) scheme. Highlights of the collection include:

* Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize medal and diploma
* 1960 Evening Standard award for the best play of 1960 (for The Caretaker)
* The iconic bronze mask of the BAFTA fellowship, presented in 1996

HM Government's Acceptance in Lieu scheme, managed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is one of the primary ways of ensuring that important cultural treasures pass into the UK's public collections. In June the British Library acquired the archive of J G Ballard through the scheme. The awards include more than 50 medals, medallions, plaques and original artworks, of all shapes and sizes and testifying to the range and international profile of Harold Pinter's achievements. The Herman Kesten Medal - presented by German PEN in 1985 - recognises Pinter's work on behalf of persecuted and imprisoned writers, while the 2004 Wilfred Owen Prize was awarded in response to the controversial poems that expressed his opposition to the Iraq War

Technorati Tag: Books

2010 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry shortlist

2010-11-01T04:50:00.001-07:00

The shortlist for the 2010 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry has been announced:

* Seeing Stars - Simon Armitage (Faber)
* The Mirabelles - Annie Freud (Picador)
* You - John Haynes (Seren)
* Human Chain - Seamus Heaney (Faber)
* What the Water Gave Me - Pascale Petit (Seren)
* The Wrecking Light - Robin Robertson (Picador)
* Rough Music - Fiona Sampson (Carcanet)
* Phantom Noise - Brian Turner (Bloodaxe)
* White Egrets - Derek Walcott (Faber)
* New Light for the Old Dark - Sam Willetts (Jonathan Cape)
Technorati Tag: Books

Ten new Quick Reads will be published on World Book Day, 3 March 2011

2010-11-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

Ten new Quick Reads will be published on World Book Day, 3 March 2011 (UK)

* Bloody Valentine by James Patterson
* Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay
* Follow Me by Sheila O'Flanagan
* Men at Work by Mike Gayle
* Trouble on the Heath by Terry Jones
* Jack and Jill by Lucy Cavendish
* Strangers on the 16:02 by Priya Basil
* My Dad's a Policeman by Cathy Glass
* Kung Fu Trip by Benjamin Zephaniah
* Tackling Life by Charlie Oatway
Technorati Tag: Books

2010 Galaxy National Book Awards shorlists (UK)

2010-11-01T04:47:00.001-07:00

The shortlists for the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards have been announced:

Sainsbury's Popular Fiction Book of the Year
* Dead Like You Peter James (Macmillan)
* The Ice Cream Girls Dorothy Koomson (Sphere)
* Jump! Jilly Cooper (Bantam Press)
* One Day David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)
* The Red Queen Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster)
* Worth Dying For Lee Child (Bantam Press)

Non-Fiction Book of the Year
* Alex's Adventures in Numberland Alex Bellos (Bloomsbury)
* At Home Bill Bryson (Doubleday)
* D-Day Antony Beevor (Viking)
* The Making Of Modern Britain Andrew Marr (Pan)
* Must You Go? Antonia Fraser (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
* Operation Mincemeat Ben MacIntyre (Bloomsbury)

National Book Tokens New Writer of the Year
* Patrick Barkham The Butterfly Isles (Granta Books)
* Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes (Chatto & Windus)
* Katherine Webb The Legacy (Orion)
* Rebecca Hunt Mr Chartwell (Fig Tree)
* Natasha Solomons Mr Rosenblum's List (Sceptre)
* Simon Lelic Rupture (Picador)

WH Smith Children's Book of the Year
* The Great Hamster Massacre Katie Davies, illus Hannah Shaw (Simon and Schuster)
* Monsters of Men Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
* Mr Stink David Walliams (HarperCollins Childrens Books)
* Shadow Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Childrens Books)
* TimeRiders Alex Scarrow (Puffin)
* Zog Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)

Tesco Food & Drink Book of the Year
* The Flavour Thesaurus Niki Segnit (Bloomsbury)
* Jamie's 30 Minute Meals Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph)
* Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus)
* Kitchenella Rose Prince (Fourth Estate)
* Plenty Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press)
* Tender II Nigel Slater (Fourth Estate)

Tesco Biography of the Year
* Coco Chanel, The Legend And The Life Justine Picardie (Harper NonFiction)
* Decline and Fall: Diaries 2005-2010 Chris Mullin (Profile Books)
* The Fry Chronicles Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph)
* A Journey Tony Blair (Hutchinson)
* Wait For Me Duchess of Devonshire (John Murray)
* What You See Is What You Get Alan Sugar (Macmillan)

International Author of the Year
* Colm Toibin Brooklyn (Penguin)
* Jonathan Franzen Freedom (Fourth Estate)
* Stieg Larsson The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Quercus/MacLehose Press)
* Kathryn Stockett The Help (Fig Tree)
* Emma Donoghue Room (Picador)
* Christos Tsiolkas The Slap (Tuskar Rock Press)

Waterstone's UK Author of the Year
* Tom McCarthy C (Jonathan Cape)
* Maggie O'Farrell The Hand That First Held Mine (Headline Review)
* Kate Atkinson Started Early, Took My Dog (Doubleday)
* David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Sceptre)
* Rose Tremain Trespass (Chatto & Windus)
* Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate)
Technorati Tag: Books

2010 Guardian first book award shortlist (UK)

2010-11-01T04:46:00.002-07:00

The shortlist for the 2010 Guardian first book award has been announced:

Novels

* Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed
* Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman
* Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman

Nonfiction

* In Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by journalist Kathryn Schulz
* Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper by Alexandra Harris

The winner will be announced on December 1, 2010
Technorati Tag: Books

The Green Carnation Prize Shortlist 2010 (UK)

2010-11-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

The shortlist for The Green Carnation Prize 2010 has been announced:

* Paperboy – Christopher Fowler (Bantam Books)
* God Says No – James Hannaham (McSweeneys)
* London Triptych – Jonathan Kemp (Myriad Editions)
* Children of the Sun – Max Schaefer (Granta)
* Man's World – Rupert Smith (Arcadia Books)
Technorati Tag: Books

The Story of England BBC series - book trailer

2010-10-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

Michael Wood tells the extraordinary story of Kibworth, a village in Leicestershire. He traces one community over fifteen centuries, from the moment that the Roman Emperor Honorius sent his famous letter in 410 advising the English to look to their own defences to the village as it is today

Technorati Tag: Books

British Library acquires archive of Olwyn Hughes

2010-09-18T05:33:00.001-07:00

"The British Library has acquired a significant collection of letters sent by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath to Olwyn Hughes, Ted Hughes' sister. Envelope from the Olwyn Hughes archive (reproduced with the kind permission of the Ted Hughes Estate)Announced at the sixth International Ted Hughes Conference at Pembroke College, Cambridge, the archive contains 41 letters from Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath along with literary papers including early poetry and prose drafts and some previously unpublished material. The total cost to purchase the archive of Olwyn Hughes was £29,500. The archive will be catalogued and made accessible to researchers at the British Library by early 2011. The unpublished material by Hughes includes a partial handwritten draft of an untitled play and unpublished poems that are believed to date from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The literary drafts in the archive highlight the creative development of both poets and many of the drafts were later published in Lupercal and The Colossus in 1960 by Hughes and Plath respectively"

Technorati Tag: Books

Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2010 shortlist

2010-09-18T05:32:00.001-07:00

The shortlist for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2010 has been announced:

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under

* Angelica Sprocket's Pockets by Quentin Blake (Jonathan Cape)

* Dogs Don't Do Ballet by Anna Kemp, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie (Simon & Schuster)

* Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates (Jonathan Cape)

* The Nanny Goat's Kid by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross (Andersen Press)

* One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell (Jonathan Cape)

* The Scariest Monster in the World by Lee Weatherly, illustrated by Algy Craig Hall (Boxer Books)

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen

* The Clumsies Make a Mess by Sorrel Anderson, illustrated by Nicola Slater (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

* Einstein's Underpants and How They Saved the World by Anthony McGowan (Yearling)

* The Incredible Luck of Alfie Pluck by Jamie Rix, illustrated by Craig Shuttlewood (Orion Children's Books)

* Mr Stink by David Walliams, illustrated by Quentin Blake (HarperCollins Children's Books)

* The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson (Macmillan Children's Books)

* Withering Tights by Louise Rennison (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Technorati Tag: Books

Stephen Hawking: The Grand Design

2010-09-08T03:36:00.000-07:00

Stephen Hawking writes: "How can we understand the world in which we find ourselves? Over twenty years ago I wrote A Brief History of Time, to try to explain where the universe came from, and where it is going. But that book left some important questions unanswered. Why is there a universe--why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why are the laws of nature what they are? Did the universe need a designer and creator? It was Einstein's dream to discover the grand design of the universe, a single theory that explains everything. However, physicists in Einstein's day hadn't made enough progress in understanding the forces of nature for that to be a realistic goal. And by the time I had begun writing A Brief History of Time, there were still several key advances that had not yet been made that would prevent us from fulfilling Einstein's dream. But in recent years the development of M-theory, the top-down approach to cosmology, and new observations such as those made by satellites like NASA's COBE and WMAP, have brought us closer than ever to that single theory, and to being able to answer those deepest of questions. And so Leonard Mlodinow and I set out to write a sequel to A Brief History of Time to attempt to answer the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. The result is The Grand Design, the product of our four-year effort"
Technorati Tag: Books

Six Book Challenge 2011 (UK)

2010-09-08T03:32:00.001-07:00

The Six Book Challenge invites adult literacy learners and less confident readers to read six books and record their reading in a diary in order to receive a certificate
Technorati Tag: Books

Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010 shortlist

2010-09-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

The shortlist of six books for the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010 has been announced and the winner will receive a cheque for GBP2,500, which will be presented at the awards ceremony in London on 1 November:

# The Enemy by Charlie Higson (Puffin)
# Halo by Zizou Corder (Puffin)
# Nobody's Girl by Sarra Manning (Hodder Children's Books)
# Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (Andersen Press)
# Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion)
# Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes (Quercus)
Technorati Tag: Books

Man Booker Prize 2010 shortlist

2010-09-08T03:22:00.001-07:00

Man Booker Prize 2010 shortlist has been announced:

* Peter Carey: Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)

* Emma Donoghue: Room (Picador - Pan Macmillan)

* Damon Galgut: In a Strange Room (Atlantic Books - Grove Atlantic)

* Howard Jacobson: The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

* Andrea Levy: The Long Song (Headline Review - Headline Publishing Group)

* Tom McCarthy: C (Jonathan Cape - Random House)

Technorati Tag: Books

Portsmouth Bookfest (UK)

2010-09-08T03:21:00.001-07:00

"Portsmouth Bookfest has been announced and will run from October 25 to November 13. It's being organised by The Hayling Island Bookshop in partnership with Portsmouth City Council Libraries and Cultural Services. The Festival will be headlined by Jacqueline Wilson, Josephine Cox, Louise Rennison and Chris Ryan and will also feature a special Crime and the City event which teams up crime writers Simon Brett, Peter Lovesey, Graham Hurley, June Hampson and Pauline Rowson with Police and University forensic specialists and Crime Scene Advisors in a panel discussion. This is very much CSI Portsmouth territory and audience members will be able to have their fingerprints taken by the police specialist unit - on a strictly voluntary basis. Other authors appearing will include Carole Matthews, Isabel Ashdown, Paul Stickland, Ian Whybrow, Tom Palmer, Guy Bass, Emily Gravett as well as the touring version of Scott Pack and Marie Phillip's Firestation BookSwop with guests Mick Jackson and Charlotte Moore. Telephone Box Office opens September 13 on 02392 688 037. Book in person from September 11 at Portsmouth City Libraries, Tourist Information Centre at The Hard and The Hayling Island Bookshop"

Technorati Tag: Books

Canongate puts titles on the iBookstore (UK)

2010-08-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

"Canongate has become the first publisher after the launch of the iBookstore in the UK to make its books available on the Apple iPad, with titles such as Yann Martel's Life of Pi and Barack Obama's Dreams of my Father going on sale. The independent publisher joins Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin and Macmillan all of which had their titles available at launch on 28th May. Pricing is largely in line with paperback r.r.p. with Life of Pi priced at £7.99 and Dreams of my Father priced £8.99. Dreams of my Father is already available on the Kindle priced at £2.99, whlle Life of Pi is available on Kindle for £3.80" - The Bookseller

Ken Follett: Fall Of Giants

2010-08-29T07:12:00.001-07:00

Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep, beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits...Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House...two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution...Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London...

Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010 shortlist

2010-08-29T07:07:00.001-07:00

Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010 shortlist:

* A World Without Ice by Henry Pollack (Avery Books, Penguin Group)
* Everyday Practice of Science: Where Intuition and Passion Meet Objectivity and Logic by Frederick Grinnell (Oxford University Press)
* God's Philosophers: How the medieval world laid the foundations of modern science by James Hannam (Icon Books)
* Life Ascending by Nick Lane (Profile Books)
* We Need To Talk About Kelvin by Marcus Chown (Faber and Faber)
* Why Does E=mc2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw (Da Capo Press, Perseus Books Group)

The winner will be announced on 21 October 2010 and the winning book will receive £10,000. £1000 per book is awarded to the author(s) of the shortlisted books

5th Manchester Literature Festival 2010 (UK)

2010-08-29T07:06:00.001-07:00

5th Manchester Literature Festival 2010 - 14-25 October 2010 - Manchester, UK - "Writers will be travelling to Manchester from as far afield as North Africa, China, Scandinavia and the United States to take part in this year's festival. Our distinguished line up of guests includes UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, beloved novelists Bernard Cornwell, Caryl Phillips, Lionel Shriver and Barbara Trapido, and award-winning screenwriter Heidi Thomas. The programme features a Historical Readers' Day and a series of events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of pioneering Manchester writer, Elizabeth Gaskell. Looking to the future, we present some unique MLF commissions, including the inaugural Manchester Sermon to be delivered by Jeanette Winterson, and the translation of a short story by acclaimed Chinese writer Ding Liying. We will also be showcasing some of the UK's hottest new talent, and inspiring the next generation of readers and writers with a tempting selection of family-friendly activities. With everything from a Moomin storytelling event to a debate on horror fiction, there's something to suit all literary tastes and ages"

2010 Guardian first book award longlist

2010-08-29T07:05:00.002-07:00

The longlist for the 2010 Guardian first book award has been announced:

Fiction:

* Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt (Fig Tree)
* Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman (Sceptre)
* Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam (Harvill)
* Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman (Cape)
* Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed (HarperCollins)

Non-fiction

* Bomber County: The Lost Airmen of World War Two by Daniel Swift (Hamish Hamilton)
* Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz (Portobello)
* Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper by Alexandra Harris (Thames & Hudson)
* Curfewed Night: A Frontline Memoir of Life, Love and War in Kashmir by Basharat Peer (HarperCollins)

Poetry

* The Floating Man by Katharine Towers (Picador)

Man Booker Prize app launched

2010-08-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Man Booker Prize has unveiled exciting new digital plans for the 2010 prize. These include the launch of the first literary prize app and an exclusive partnership with T-Mobile and GoSpoken

Ian McEwan wins Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction

2010-05-27T05:43:00.001-07:00

Ian McEwan, renowned for serious literary prose, won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction for his novel "Solar." The prize, Britain's only award for comic fiction, celebrates the novel of the last 12 months that has best captured the comic spirit of P.G. Wodehouse.

Technorati Tag: Books

Video - From Allen Lane to Amazon: the story of publishing in the 20th century

2010-05-26T13:27:00.001-07:00

Publishers such as Allen Lane and Paul Hamlyn revolutionised British publishing in the 20th century, turning it from a cosy club serving the elite into an industrial powerhouse. Iain Stevenson charts a century of triumph for the printed word
Technorati Tag: Books

The BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2010 shortlist announced

2010-05-26T04:18:00.000-07:00

The BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2010 shortlist has been announced

* Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos (Bloomsbury)
* Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (Granta)
* Blood Knots by Luke Jennings (Atlantic Books)
* Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Penguin, Allen Lane)
* A Gambling Man by Jenny Uglow (Faber and Faber)
* Catching Fire: How Cooking made us Human by Richard Wrangham (Profile Books)

Technorati Tag: Books

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2010 longlist

2010-05-24T05:11:00.001-07:00

The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2010 has been announced:

* In the Dark by Mark Billingham
* If It Bleeds by Duncan Campbell
* The Surrogate by Tania Carver
* The Business by Martina Cole
* A Simple Act of Violence by R.J. Ellory
* Until It's Over by Nicci French
* The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
* Cold in Hand by John Harvey
* Skin by Mo Hayder
* Vows of Silence by Susan Hill
* The Dying Breed by Declan Hughes
* Dead Tomorrow by Peter James
* Target by Simon Kernick
* A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
* Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway
* Geezer Girls by Dreda Say Mitchell
* Singing to the Dead by Caro Ramsay
* Doors Open by Ian Rankin
* All The Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
* Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Technorati Tag: Books

The Telegraph Ways With Words Festival at Dartington Hall (UK)

2010-05-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

"The Telegraph Ways With Words festival of words and ideas is a vibrant and joyful 10-day event, a chance for those who read books to meet those who write them. The setting is glorious, the atmosphere is invigorating. People come together in spectacular surroundings to share the pleasure and power of language and ideas. The warmth and energy of this lively gathering make it a memorable occasion" - 9-19 July 2010
Technorati Tag: Books

James Tait Black Memorial Prizes shortlists

2010-05-18T05:06:00.001-07:00

The shortlists for the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes have been announced:

The five shortlisted works for the fiction prize are:

* Strangers by Anita Brookner
* The Children's Book by A.S Byatt
* Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
* The Selected Works of T.S Spivet by Reif Larsen
* Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The five books competing for the £10,000 biography prize are:

* Cheever: A life by Blake Bailey
* William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies by John Carey
* Muriel Spark: The Biography by Martin Stannard
* A Different Drummer: The Life of Kenneth MacMillan by Jann Parry
* The English Opium Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey by Robert Morrison

The winners will be announced at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2010
Technorati Tag: Books

China Miéville wins Arthur C. Clarke Award

2010-05-09T03:46:00.001-07:00

China Miéville has become the first author to win the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award on three separate occasions. His novel The City & The City (Macmillan) was one of six novels shortlisted for the Award, the UK's premier prize for science fiction literature

Technorati Tag: Books

Author Alan Sillitoe dies in London aged 82

2010-04-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

The author Alan Sillitoe has died aged 82 at Charing Cross Hospital in London, his family has said. The Nottingham-born novelist emerged in the 1950s as one of the "Angry Young Men" of British fiction. His son David said he hoped his father would be remembered for his contribution to literature. His novels included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, both of which were made into films. The two books are regarded as classic examples of kitchen sink dramas reflecting life in the mid 20th century Britain. He was born on 4 March 1928 - the second son of an illiterate tannery labourer who was often out of work
Technorati Tag: Books

Bookseller Industry Awards shortlist announced (UK)

2010-04-23T02:31:00.001-07:00

"The first Bookseller Industry Awards shortlist has been announced with 16 categories covering the publishing and retail industry. The awards combine the British Book Industry Awards, also known as the trade Nibbies, and The Bookseller's own Retail Awards. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 17th May at the Royal Courts of Justice"
Technorati Tag: Books