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from Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath along with literary papers including early poetry and prose drafts and some previously unpublished material.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 The unpublished material by Hughes includes a partial handwritten draft of an untitled play and unpublished poems that are believed to date from the late 1950s and early 1960s.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"

Technorati Tag: Books

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)
Technorati Tag: Books

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"
Technorati Tag: Books

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
Technorati Tag: Books

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)
Technorati Tag: Books

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)

Technorati Tag: Books

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"

Technorati Tag: Books