Ward, Desser Have New Roles at Random House
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday November 19, 2019
At Penguin Random House's flagship imprint, Andy Ward has been promoted to publisher, while Knopf's Robin Desser has been tapped as senior v-p and editor-in-chief. Ward is replacing Susan Kamil, who died, suddenly, last month.
In an announcement about Ward's promotion, Gina Centrello, president and publisher of Random House, said Ward, who is currently editor-in-chief at RH, has shown "steady, caring stewardship, as well as his own talents as an editor." Centrello said that Ward, in his new role, "will help set the priorities for not just Random House but also the Dial and Hogarth imprints," as well as acquiring and editing.
National Centre for Writing seeks working class writers
thebookseller.com – Saturday November 16, 2019
The National Centre for Writing in Norwich is relaunching its Escalator Talent Development Scheme seeing under-represented voices in fiction from the East of England with a special focus this year on writers from working class backgrounds.
Now entering its 15th year, the writing programme is supported by the Arts Councils and has worked with almost 100 writers, helping launch the careers of Michael Donkor (published by 4th Estate), Megan Bradbury (Picador), Miranda Doyle (Faber), Guinevere Glasfurd-Brown (Hodder) and Kate Worsley (Bloomsbury)
The 2020 scheme is keen to receive applications from early career writers who self-identify as from a working class background, or writers who wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to benefit from this kind of support, the National Centre for Writing (NCW) said. “Working class voices remain critically under-represented in contemporary fiction and NCW seeks to address this through Escalator and its talent development programme more broadly,” the Centre added. The Bookseller’s investigation into class earlier this year revealed that around 80% of people in the publishing industry who identify as working class their career has been adversely affected by their background.
Strong year for Children's publishing as W H Smith unveils Books of the Year
thebookseller.com – Thursday November 14, 2019
W H Smith has unveiled its Books of the Year, with the retailer recognising two children's books for the first time.
In recognition of the "diverse choice across children’s publishing and the importance it plays in supporting literacy and engagement in young readers", W H Smith has chosen both bestselling rhyming read-aloud picture book Oi Puppies! (Hodder Children's Books) by Kes Gray and Jim Field, and the inclusive Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention (Simon & Schuster Children's UK) by Pip Jones and Sara Ogilvie as its Children's Books of the Year.
Beth O'Leary's debut novel The Flatshare (Quercus), which has sold 15,362 copies through TCM, has been named Fiction Book of the Year. W H Smith said the "brilliant rom-com" story of Tiffy and Leon who share a flat but have never met is "one of the most uplifting debuts of 2019".
One long sentence, 1,000 pages: Lucy Ellmann 'masterpiece' wins Goldsmiths prize
theguardian.com – Thursday November 14, 2019
Lucy Ellmann’s 1,000-page novel Ducks, Newburyport has won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for “fiction at its most novel”, praised by judges as a “masterpiece”.
Ducks, Newburyport is the stream-of-consciousness internal monologue of a mother in Ohio as she bakes pies in her kitchen. Made up of one long run-on sentence, with interludes from the perspective of a mountain lion, its ambitious form led to it being turned down by Ellmann’s previous publisher, Bloomsbury. It later found a home at independent press Galley Beggar and was shortlisted for this year’s Booker prize.
Chair of judges, Erica Wagner called the novel “that rare thing: a book which, not long after its publication, one can unhesitatingly call a masterpiece”.
Folio Lit Acquires Emma Sweeney Agency
publishersweekly.com – Thursday November 7, 2019
Folio Literary Management has acquired the Emma Sweeney Literary Agency (ESA), effective January 2, 2020. The latter, founded in 2006, represented such authors as Sara Gruen and Edgar Cantero.
In a release about the deal, Folio said authors at ESA have won a host of major literary awards, including the Nobel and the Pulitzer. And Gruen's 2006 novel, Water for Elephants, has Folio noted, sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
CalArts’ Creative Writing MFA Program Is Seeking Applications for Fall 2020
hyperallergic.com – Thursday November 7, 2019
CalArts’ MFA Creative Writing Program—a two-year master’s degree dedicated to fostering the experimental impulse, is seeking applicants for Fall 2020. A non-tracking program that allows students the freedom to study across genre and form, CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program is designed for writers who want to push beyond traditional boundaries and discover new modes of expression through language. With new faculty members Michael Leong and Anthony McCann, and exciting guests including the 2020 Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence, John Keene, there’s never been a better time to apply.
Centered in the storied creative laboratory that is CalArts—an electric community of boundary-pushing visual and performing artists—the program’s rigorous courses can be supplemented by enriching electives from across the institute. CalArts incredible faculty, stellar reading series, and genre-busting literary magazine, SubLevel, afford our students the opportunity to work and study with some of the most exciting writers publishing today. Postgraduate professional development opportunities such as teaching fellowships, and artist residencies, gird our graduates for the demands of life as a working writer.
BookLife Launches Paid Review Service for Self-Pubbed Books
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday October 30, 2019
BookLife, Publishers Weekly's website and monthly supplement dedicated to self-publishing, has launched BookLife Reviews, a paid reviews service open exclusively to self-published authors.
BookLife Reviews will be written by Publishers Weekly reviewers, but remain distinct from Publishers Weekly reviews. The service is designed to help self-published authors reach readers by providing them with credible and reliable assessments of their work from reviewers with expertise in their genres and styles.
UEA to mark 50 years of creative writing MA with international programme
thebookseller.com – Wednesday October 30, 2019
The University of East Anglia is marking 50 years of its pioneering creative writing MA with a programme of events including a new international chair of creative writing position occupied in turn by five prominent writers from around the world.
Founded by Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson in 1970, the course was the first of its kind in the UK and counted Ian McEwan as its debut student. UEA will now mark the anniversary with a national and international programme of events, activities and initiatives to run across the 2020/2021 academic year.
Literary Magazine 'Bad Nudes' Releases Its First Anthology
thelinknewspaper.ca – Monday October 28, 2019
Bad Books, the sister press of the quarterly literary magazine Bad Nudes, just released the publication’s first anthology.
But no, these are not your typical nudes. Since 2016, Bad Nudes “has been pairing dynamic and innovative writing with boundary-pushing design.”
Avid Bad Nudes readers will be able to revisit writers who particularly made a mark on the magazine. The anthology features new poetry and prose by authors whose contributions made a significant mark at the publication. It was designed and laid out by Sandy Spink.
The anthology, launched on Oct. 20, will be Bad Nudes‘s first print exclusive.
Fawn Parker, co-founder and poetry editor, feels that the anthology gives the magazine a chance to publish its milestones.
Hera Books, Beaumont and O’Donoghue shortlisted for RNA awards
thebookseller.com – Tuesday October 22, 2019
Hera Books founders Keshini Naidoo and Lindsay Mooney, agent Diana Beaumont and Promising Young Women author Caroline O’Donoghue are some of the professionals who have made the shortlists for the Romantic Novelists’ Association's annual Industry Awards for 2019.
The RNA Industry Awards are voted on by its membership to recognise and to celebrate the variety of professionals whose work goes into supporting and promoting the genre of romantic fiction.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
