Chorlton Book Festival (UK)

"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"
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Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story prize 2010 winner

Stephen Collins is the winner of the Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story prize 2010, for "Room 208"
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2010 Galaxy National Book Awards winners (UK)

The winners of the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards have been announced
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Wellcome Trust Book Prize 2010 winner announced

'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' (Pan Macmillan) has won the second Wellcome Trust Book Prize
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New title from Bodleian Library Publishing. An Englishwoman in California: The Letters of Catherine Hubback 1871-1876

"The Bodleian Library has released a cache of previously unpublished letters by a niece of Jane Austen: An Englishwoman in California: The Letters of Catherine Hubback 1871-1876.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...."

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Roald Dahl Funny Prize winners

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
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Costa Book Awards 2010 shortlists announced

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
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Celia Walden on "Babysitting George "

"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


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Society of Young Publishers Conference 2010 (UK)

Society of Young Publishers Conference 2010 : Publishing on the World's Stage - 13 November 2010 - London, UK
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James Bond novels go digital, cutting out Penguin (UK)

"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

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SAGE wins JISC TechDis Award for library service (UK)

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"
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British Library acquires Harold Pinter's awards

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

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2010 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry shortlist

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

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
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2010 Galaxy National Book Awards shorlists (UK)

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)
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2010 Guardian first book award shortlist (UK)

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
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The Green Carnation Prize Shortlist 2010 (UK)

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)
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The Story of England BBC series - book trailer

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





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British Library acquires archive of Olwyn Hughes

"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"

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Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2010 shortlist

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)
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Stephen Hawking: The Grand Design

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"
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Six Book Challenge 2011 (UK)

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
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Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010 shortlist

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)
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Man Booker Prize 2010 shortlist

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)

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Portsmouth Bookfest (UK)

"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"

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Canongate puts titles on the iBookstore (UK)

"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

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

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)

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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)

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Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year 2010 longlist

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

"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
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James Tait Black Memorial Prizes shortlists

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
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China Miéville wins Arthur C. Clarke Award

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


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Author Alan Sillitoe dies in London aged 82

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
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Bookseller Industry Awards shortlist announced (UK)

"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"
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National Non-Fiction Day 2010 (UK)

National Non-Fiction Day is an annual celebration, initiated by the Federation of Children's Book Groups in partnership with Scholastic Children's Books. It aims to celebrate all that is brilliant about non fiction and show that it's not just fiction that can be read and enjoyed for pleasure. The first National Non-Fiction Day will be celebrated on the 4th November 2010, and annually thereafter on the first Thursday in November. RSS Feed
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Orange Award for New Writers 2010 shortlist

The Orange Award for New Writers 2010 shortlist has been announced:

* The Book of Fires - Jane Borodale, Harper Press
* The Boy Next Door - Irene Sabatini, Sceptre
* After The Fire, A Still Small Voice - Evie Wyld, Jonathan Cape
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Poole Literary Festival 2010 (UK)

The Poole Literary Festival will provide the opportunity to meet some of your favourite authors and discover new ones through a programme of workshops, discussions and events for adults, children and families - 29-31 October, 2010 - Poole, Dorset, UK

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The Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 shortlist

The Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 shortlist has been announced:

* Rosie Alison - The Very Thought of You
* Barbara Kingsolver - The Lacuna
* Attica Locke - Black Water Rising
* Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
* Lorrie Moore - A Gate at the Stairs
* Monique Roffey - The White Woman on the Green Bicycle


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Desmond Elliott Prize 2010 longlist announced

The longlist for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2010, the award for a first novel published in the UK, has been announced:

* The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott (MacLehose Press, Quercus)
* Before the Earthquake by Maria Allen (Tindal Street Press)
* The Hungry Ghostsby Anne Berry (Blue Door)
* Rupture by Simon Lelic (Picador)
* The Shadow of a Smileby Kachi A. Ozumba (Alma Books)
* Talk of the Town by Jacob Polley (Picador)
* The Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
* Designs for a Happy Home by Matthew Reynolds (Bloomsbury)
* Beauty by Raphael Selbourne (Tindal Street Press)
* The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (Atlantic Books)

Orange Award for New Writers 2010 shortlist

The Orange Award for New Writers 2010 shortlist has been announced:

* The Book of Fires - Jane Borodale, Harper Press
* The Boy Next Door - Irene Sabatini, Sceptre
* After The Fire, A Still Small Voice - Evie Wyld, Jonathan Cape

Holcombe Publishing, new etextbook publisher in the UK

"Holcombe Publishing is a new e-publishing venture committed to the dissemination of high quality eBooks by academic writers at an affordable price. The keywords for Holcombe Publishing are innovation and accessibility. All of the books on its list will introduce new ideas and recent research knowledge across a wide range of subjects but always presented in a form that makes them readily understandable to non-specialists"
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Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century

"Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century reveals a fascinating tale of creative genius, individual endeavour, personal idiosyncrasy, occasional duplicity and bad behaviour and far-sighted vision that over the century made British book publishing the best in the world and still underlies its role today. This book explores how publishing companies and their owners and staffs were organised and how their output responded to the wider social, economic and cultural trends of the period. It concentrates on the key figures like William Heinemann, Allen Lane, Paul Hamlyn and Robert Maxwell but also looks at less well known but often very significant figures whose contributions were also vital. Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century unveils an exciting and dynamic industry that influenced the course of literature, education and general cultural history at home and abroad. It considers fiction and trade publishing as well as scholarly, academic, scientific, children's, technical, medical and professional publishing" - British Library
Technorati Tag: Books

Osprey Publishing move into the Apple Store with Military History Books as 'freemium' Apps

Osprey Publishing the military book publisher, today announced that five of its military history books are now available for the first time as 'freemium' apps via the Apple ecommerce store. The apps were developed by Exact Editions, the London-based digital publishing company, who work with magazine, newspaper and book publishers to market and sell online and app versions of their titles


Technorati Tag: Books

Lost Man Booker Prize shortlist announced

The shortlist for The Lost Man Booker Prize - a one-off prize to honour the books published in 1970 that were not eligible for consideration for the Booker Prize - has been announced. The shortlist was announced at a special event at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. The six books are:

* The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden (Virago)
* Troubles by J G Farrell (Phoenix)
* The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard (Virago)
* Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Arrow)
* The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Penguin)
* The Vivisector by Patrick White (Vintage)

The shortlist was selected by a panel of three judges, all of whom were born in or around 1970. They are journalist and critic, Rachel Cooke, ITN newsreader, Katie Derham and poet and novelist, Tobias Hill. They chose the six books from an original longlist of 21 eligible titles which are still in print and generally available today. The Lost Man Booker is the brainchild of Peter Straus, the honorary archivist to The Booker Prize Foundation. He realised that in 1971, just two years after it began, the Booker Prize ceased to be awarded retrospectively and became - as it is today - a prize for the best novel of the year of publication. At the same time the award moved from April to November and, as a result, a wealth of fiction published for much of 1970 fell through the net and was never considered for the prize
Technorati Tag: Books

Shortlist for UKLA Children's Book Award 2010

The shortlist for UK Literacy Association Children's Book Award 2010 has been announced
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Crocheting Adventures wins Diagram 2009

"Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Dr Daina Taimina (A K Peters) has won the 2009 Diagram Prize, having received the majority of the public vote for the oddest titled book of the year at thebookseller.com. Taking 42% of the votes cast, it beat off competition from What Kind of Bean is this Chihuahua? By Tara Jansen-Meyer (Mirror), which took 30% and Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich by James A Yannes (Trafford), with 11%. Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter by David Crompton (Glenstrae), Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots by Ronald C Arkin (CRC Press) and The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Ellen Scherl and Marla Dubinsky (SLACK Inc) took 17% between them"
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What's in your Surname? (UK)

"Looking into our surnames is a fascinating way to discover something of our country's history and gives us an intriguing glimpse into the working of our ancestors' minds. 'What's in your Surname' by William Lewis tells the story of our surnames and reveals that their meanings are the key features to understanding their origins: is your surname from an ancestor's occupation, a relationship, or perhaps from his nickname...?" - to be published by Brazen Head Publishing, April 2010
Technorati Tag: Books

Tributes paid to thriller writer Dick Francis (UK)

"Racing figures and authors have paid tribute to thriller writer Dick Francis, who has died aged 89. Writer Frederick Forsyth praised Francis's "immensely prolific" output of "page-turners", and said authors were still "walking in his footsteps". Former BBC commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan said the best-selling writer was one of the "people's champions". As well as being a best-selling author, Francis was also champion jockey in the 1950s and the Queen Mother's jockey. He wrote more than 40 best-selling novels during his career, selling some 60 million books worldwide. He first published his autobiography in 1957, and his first thriller, Dead Cert, followed five years later. The Queen Mother was reputedly one of his most enthusiastic readers, and Buckingham Palace said the Queen would be saddened to learn of his death" - BBC
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YoungMinds calls for submissions for 2010 book award prize (UK)

"YoungMinds are asking publishers, librarians, and young people to put forward submissions for this year's YoungMinds book award. Books must be works of fiction or biography for young people aged 12+ published between 1 June 2009 and 31 May 2010, which encourage self-steem and help them to cope with the stresses and challenges of growing up. Nominations are open until 24 April 2010. 10 books will then be chosen for the longlist. Young people, children's authors and mental health professionals will then take part in the judging between May and October to choose the winner. The GBP2,000 prize, which is sponsored by the national reading charity Booktrust, will be presented at an awards ceremony in November 2010"
Technorati Tag: Books

Haringey hosts literary festival (UK)

"Book lovers both young and old have a treat in store. Haringey Council's libraries service has organised a literary festival in March, with events for both children and young people as well as for adults. From Iran to Hornsey and Xanadu to Dick Turpin, there'll be something for everyone. Award-winning authors will be talking about their work, there will be tutorials for people interested in writing, dynamic performance poetry sessions and readings from books. Film adaptations of books will also be shown during the festival, as well as music events and a book group event for blind and partially sighted people. It's the second year that a literary festival has been held in the borough. Cllr Dhiren Basu, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Lifelong Learning, said: 'This festival is a great way to encourage more people of all ages to read more and to raise interest in literature'"


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Jacqueline Wilson most loaned author of decade (UK)

"Children's author Jacqueline Wilson is a loan star - after being named the most borrowed author of the past decade. Prolific writer Wilson - whose books include The Illustrated Mum and Double Act - saw her titles taken out of public libraries more than 16 million times over the 10-year span. And her best-seller The Story Of Tracy Beaker is the single most borrowed book over the same period, according to new figures from PLR (Public Lending Right). For the most recent year available (July 2008-June 2009), US writer James Patterson was the most borrowed author. It is an accolade he has now held for the third year running after toppling Wilson from the number one spot in 2007. His titles were lent in excess of 1.5 million times over the year and his book Sail was also the most borrowed title overall for the year. However, over the last decade as a whole he is only the fifth most borrowed author, lagging behind Wilson, and romantic novelists Danielle Steel, Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox"
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Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010 winner (UK)

"The winner of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010 is The Great Hamster Massacre by debut author Katie Davies. The Great Hamster Massacre is an endearing tale of a young girl's life and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the untimely death of her beloved pet"
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Waterstone's launches online version of Books Quarterly magazine

"Wbqonline.com is the website for Waterstone's Books Quarterly, the quarterly books magazine that is free to all Waterstone's Cardholders when picked up in store or GBP2.95 when bought in store. You can also subscribe here to have the magazine delivered overseas or within the UK. Wbqonline.com carries all of the current issue's articles and reviews, as well as featuring an extensive archive from previous issues, tagged by subject matter for easy searching or browsing. You'll find extra online-only material from featured authors too, including audio and video. You can also debate the features with other readers in our forums to make sure you get your say and to hear what others have to think about new books

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Christopher Reid wins 2009 Costa Book of the Year award

Poet Christopher Reid has won the 2009 Costa Book of the Year award for his collection, A Scattering, a tribute to his wife Lucinda Gane following her death in 2005
Technorati Tag: Books

The CWA Dagger in the Library, 2010

"Authors like Val McDermid and Ian Rankin are well-known amongst the readers of crime fiction but, beneath the top rank of bestsellers are a host of writers, some new and some who have built loyal followings over the years but who have never quite broken through. It is to give a boost to these authors that the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library Award exists. Again sponsored by the publishers, Random House, the Dagger is awarded to a writer nominated by library users and chosen by a panel of librarians, all of whom work with the public. This year's panel is chaired by Mark Benjamin, formerly Team Librarian at Hexham Library, and includes librarians from throughout the UK. 2009 saw a record 70 authors nominated, perhaps spurred on by the chance for groups nominating the winning author to be entered in a draw for £300 to be spent on books. As before, all groups whose nominated authors are shortlisted are entered into a draw for 2 tickets to the prestigious Dagger Awards ceremony, to be held this year at the Harrogate Festival. The closing date for entries is 9th April 2010"

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Frances Lincoln acquires Barn Owl

Independent publisher Frances Lincoln has acquired children's specialist Barn Owl Books, in a deal for an unspecified amount
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Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010 shortlist announced (UK)

The shortlist for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2010 has been announced:

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

Desperate Measures by Laura Summers

The Seven Sorcerers by Caro King

The Toymaker by Jeremy De Quidt, et al.

Superhumans: Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor

The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies, et al.
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Waterstone's chief pays the price for poor Christmas sales

The boss of Waterstone's has left with immediate effect after the book chain suffered a plunge in sales over the Christmas period. Parent company HMV reported that like-for-like sales at Waterstone's tumbled by 8.5% in the five weeks to 2 January. The poor results took the shine off a record performance at HMV's entertainment stores. Waterstone's managing director, Gerry Johnson, has paid the price for the poor sales. He left with immediate effect today, to be replaced by HMV group development director Dominic Myers
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New Gormenghast novel found in attic

A new Gormenghast novel, which was written by Mervyn Peake's wife based on notes left by the author, is to be published by their son after being discovered in an attic. Titus Awakes was written by Maeve Gilmore shortly after her husband's death from Parkinson's Disease in 1968. She decided to write the book, which runs to 210 pages, after he left her a page and a half of fragmented notes about how he might have continued the story
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Woodhead Publishing acquires Horwood Publishing

"Woodhead Publishing Limited in Cambridge UK has acquired the list of Horwood Publishing in Chichester. The deal was done just before Christmas, the second year running that Woodhead has completed an acquisition on Christmas Eve. The Horwood list comprises about 90 books in the fields of mathematics, engineering, biochemistry, chemistry and the environment. Commenting on the acquisition, Martin Woodhead of Woodhead Publishing said, 'The Horwood list fits very neatly with our existing strengths in engineering, materials science, food science and environmental technology but also brings with it a superb mathematics list of 30 titles including bestsellers such as Fundamentals of University Mathematics. We are delighted to add such a high quality list to our business.'"
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Book business faces 'tectonic' shift: 2010 and beyond, part one

The book trade will weather the recession, with digital and a resurgent independent sector providing the best opportunities for incremental sales in 2010, according to leading industry figures polled by The Bookseller this week
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I-Spy children's books make a comeback

"Back by popular demand, Michelin is introducing 12 exciting new titles to the iconic I-Spy collection including I-Spy Cars, Train Journeys, Birds and Creepy Crawlies. I-Spy books take you on a voyage of discovery and are a fun and exciting way for families to take a closer look at the world around them. What better way to keep the kids entertained on long journeys. Each pocket-sized book contains up to 200 themed colour photographs, which you have to 'I-Spy'. The aim is to tick them off as you go and collect points"

The Guardian: A look ahead to what's new in 2010

"From cosmology to children's picture-books, our reviewers give a guide to the best of the publishers' lists for the first six months of the new year"

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Costa Book Awards 2009 category winners announced

One winner is selected in each of the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. Each category-winning author receives £5,000.

This year's Costa Book Awards 2009 category award winners are:

2009 Costa Novel Award Winner
Colm Toibin - Brooklyn

2009 Costa First Novel Award Winner
Raphael Selbourne - Beauty

2009 Costa Biography Award Winner
Graham Farmelo - The Strangest Man

2009 Costa Poetry Award Winner
Christopher Reid- A Scattering

2009 Costa Children's Book Award Winner
Patrick Ness - The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking, Book Two)