Robert Goolrick, memoirist and novelist dies aged 73
Robert Goolrick died April 29 aged 73 of Covid-related pneumonia. After being fired as an advertising executive in his early 50s, he wrote a blistering memoir of his Southern family, The End of the...
View ArticleBook banning in the US: These are the authors of color who censors are...
Young adult authors of color are fed up with being targeted. They're sick of seeing their books bogusly labeled "critical race theory" or "anti-police." They're incredulous at claims their words make...
View ArticleUnburnable copy of The Handmaid's Tale fetches $130,000
A specially commissioned, unburnable edition of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has been auctioned for $130,000. Proceeds will be donated to PEN America, which advocates for free expression...
View ArticleChristian book publisher faces criticism for endorsing Pride Month with LGBT...
Pride month has generated a giant controversy in the Christian literature world after Christian publisher Eerdmans posted a "Books to Read for Pride Month" guide. Initially, the publisher responded to...
View ArticleAudiobook growth continues
For a 10th straight year, the Audio Publishers Association's annual sales survey has revealed a double-digit increase in audiobook sales. The 28 member companies reporting to the APA had revenue gains...
View ArticleCosta book awards scrapped suddenly after 50 years
The Costa book awards, after running for half a century, have been abruptly scrapped. The coffee shop chain has said the 2021 awards, which were announced in February this year, were the last. In a...
View ArticleA.B. Yehoshua, Israeli literary giant and ardent humanist, dies aged 85
A.B. Yehoshua, a fiery humanist, towering author, and staunch advocate of Zionism as the sole answer for the Jewish condition, died Tuesday. He was 85 years old. A writer, essayist, and playwright,...
View ArticleFuture Library opens secret archive of unseen texts in Oslo
Last Sunday the Future Library, a project dreamed up by the Scottish artist Katie Paterson, was opened to the public in Oslo. After eight years, manuscripts penned by some of the world's most famous...
View ArticleGeorge Lamming obituary
The six novels and the collections of essays by George Lamming, who has died aged 94, did much to shape Caribbean literary culture. He also contributed to it as an educator and activist intellectual,...
View ArticleLGBTQ Fiction Sales Surge in the U.S.
According to a new report from NPD BookScan, print book sales of LGBTQ fiction are surging in the U.S. across the adult, children's, and YA categories. In 2021, sales of LGBTQ fiction reached 5...
View ArticleRuth Ozeki wins Women's Prize for Fiction
Ruth Ozeki's fourth novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, has won the Women's prize for fiction. The novelist, film-maker and Zen Buddhist priest takes the £30,000 award for a book that "stood out...
View ArticleThe daughters of Paul Rusesabagina (whose story was told in "Hotel Rwanda")...
Paul Rusesabagina's story was brought to the world through the book and movie, Hotel Rwanda. Despite being a Belgian citizen and a US permanent resident, he was kidnapped two years ago and is...
View ArticleLawyers say 'defective' Virginia obscenity claims should be tossed
A pair of closely watched lawsuits in Virginia are now in the hands of a state judge after lawyers for two authors and publishers accused of violating an obscure state obscenity law asked the court to...
View ArticleKalani Pickhart's debut set in Ukraine wins Young Lions Fiction Award
Kalani Pickhart's debut novel about Ukraine, I Will Die in a Foreign Land, won the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library. This $10,000 prize is conferred on the best novel or...
View ArticleCyber attack on Macmillan, site down since Saturday
A cyber attack that has forced the U.S. division of Macmillan to take its computer systems offline since Saturday, leaving it unable to take orders, is now in its fourth day and has spread to the U.K....
View ArticleJesmyn Ward becomes youngest person to win Library of Congress lifetime...
The 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction will be awarded to Jesmyn Ward. Ward, aged 45, is the youngest person to receive the lifetime achievement award, which honors "an American...
View ArticleWith rising book bans, librarians have come under attack
As highly visible and politicized book bans have exploded across the country, librarians — accustomed to being seen as dedicated public servants in their communities — have found themselves on the...
View ArticleGroundbreaking study explores trauma, stress in frontline library workers
The 2022 Urban Libraries Unite Trauma Study draws upon a wide-ranging literature review, survey responses from more than 435 urban library workers, focus groups, and a two-day forum... The report...
View ArticleIs the book sales boom finally over?
After soaring 18.9% in the first half of 2021 over the comparable period in 2020, unit sales of print books retreated in the first half of 2022, dropping 6.6% from 2021 levels. According to NPD...
View ArticleAda Limón named 24th U.S. Poet Laureate
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced the appointment of Ada Limón as the nation's 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2022-2023. Limón will take up her duties in the fall,...
View Article