Cultural Cross Sections Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has made the plight of independent publishers and bookstores in Mexico in light of Covid-19 even more acute. To be an editor is to answer the call of the gods. It’s a vocation, a ministry, an immense privilege, to enter the Olympus of literature. To be an editor is to pick those who have talent and launch them. To be a publisher is to foretell: this one will make it. It’s also to disappoint and reject. I recall the Dutch printer Alexander Stolz in Mexico holding out to me his exquisite edition of Benjamin Constant’s Adolphe, as if it were a diamond, at the Fondo de Cultura Económica, and the paternal care that Arnaldo Orfila Reynal took with the anguished palavering of Fernando del Paso. To be an editor is to be a psychologist and to be bewildered as to how to treat each creature-author. Vicente Rojo was my editor, and we have loved each other deeply since, but I never gave him trouble. What must that genius from Pachuca named Yuri Herrera be like? What’s his soft spot? I have to handle Carlos Montemayor with kid gloves because he’s unpredictable. Federico Alvarez, director of the FCE in Spain, told me that seeing Elena Garro and Helena Paz enter the FCE in Madrid was like falling into... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
Vintage/Anchor publisher Suzanne Herz will leave Penguin Random House in December. Anchor Books will gradually be phased out, starting with its hardcover program next January, with its 16,000-strong paperback backlist slated to move over to Vintage over time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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For more than 50 years a bookseller at City Lights, San Francisco's Paul Yamazaki is the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award winner. The post US National Book Foundation: Paul Yamazaki Wins the Literarian Award appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-09-06 22:16:49 UTC ]
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Van Nuys native Paul Yamazaki, a longtime veteran of San Francisco landmark City Lights, will receive a lifetime honor at the National Book Awards next month. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-09-06 14:00:49 UTC ]
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Between January 1 and June 30, Penguin Random House saw its international revenues rise by 9 percent year over year, to €2.1 billion. The post PRH: 9-Percent International Revenue Gains, January-June appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-08-30 13:08:32 UTC ]
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Despite a tumultuous first half of 2023 that included major buyouts and some layoffs, sales at Penguin Random House rose 9.5% in the first six months of 2023 over the comparable period in 2022. Operating earnings increased slightly, by €1 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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“Whatever has been invented, Le Guin teaches us, can be reinvented.” John Plotz revisits Earthsea. | Lit Hub Criticism Moeen Farrokhi on writing and humiliation under Iranian censorship: “I began to question the very act of writing itself.” | Lit Hub Memoir “No one needs my opinion about books.”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-26 10:30:54 UTC ]
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In-person bookstore author events have returned as the pandemic has eased, but publishers have still scaled back tours and are requiring longer lead times for booking, resulting in a different kind of thinking about bookstore programming. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Every fall season, bookseller enthusiasm builds for certain subjects, and novels—notably high-stakes historical fiction and immersive work in translation—are extra hot for 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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DeBin previously served as deputy director of Portland's Literary Arts, as well as a national account manager at Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Young Readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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“No one needs my opinion about books.” Longtime indie bookseller Josh Cook against the cultural authoritarianism of “good taste.” | Lit Hub Criticism When folk went mainstream: On Harry Everett Smith and the cultural paradigm shift that his Anthology of American Folk Music. | Lit Hub Music... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-23 10:30:23 UTC ]
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With the upcoming retirement of senior v-p and deputy publisher of Random House Tom Perry, Greenberg has been promoted to editor-in-chief and Hilary Redmon will succeed Greenberg as editorial director of nonfiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacqueline Wilson is latest writer to wade into debate over changing dated and offensive languageThe publishing industry has been mired in debate in recent years about editing older books to remove content that could be deemed offensive.Even the prime minister became involved in February after... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-14 13:30:39 UTC ]
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Consolidation was supposed to be books’ biggest threat. Is private equity worse? Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2023-08-11 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Former Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle and Ethan Mollick, associate professor at the Wharton School and author of the newsletter 'One Useful Thing,' will present keynote addresses at PW’s Artificial Intelligence: Revolution and Opportunity in Trade Publishing webinar on September 27. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Among the week's headlines: librarians, educators, and publishers grapple with new state book banning laws; bestselling author John Green responds to having his books pulled from library shelves; a proposed judgment has been filed in the Internet Archive copyright case; and PEN America publishes... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter to Salma, by Yousef Khanfar Literary Tributes [email protected] Wed, 08/09/2023 - 15:14 In the following tribute, Yousef Khanfar pens a letter to the eminent scholar Salma Khadra Jayyusi, laureate of the 2021 Palestine Prize for Literature,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-09 20:14:32 UTC ]
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Jane Friedman claims she had to fight against Amazon’s refusal to remove the misattributed titles because she had not trademarked her nameFive books for sale on Amazon were removed after author Jane Friedman complained that the titles were falsely listed as being written by her. The books, which... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-09 14:28:36 UTC ]
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With lists on cute cryptids, decolonial SFF, trans comics, and more, these indie bookstore websites are as fun to browse as their shelves! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-08 10:32:00 UTC ]
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Paramount announced Monday that it's selling the storied publisher for $1.62 billion, months after a sale to Penguin Random House was blocked by a federal judge. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-07 21:27:31 UTC ]
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Paramount Global has sold the publisher after a federal judge blocked rival Penguin Random House from buying itSimon & Schuster has been sold to the private equity firm KKR, months after a federal judge blocked its purchase by rival publisher Penguin Random House because of concerns that... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-07 21:05:30 UTC ]
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