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 ]
Indigo Books & Music, Canada's dominant bookstore chain, announced founder Heather Reisman will retire in August; simultaneously, four board members resigned with one citing a loss of confidence in the board and mistreatment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The third Barnes & Noble store to unionize, the bookstore workers voted 97% in favor of joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, citing safety issues, substandard pay and lack of workplace structure. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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For a third year, publishers, publishing houses, and booksellers will enjoy no-fee participation in all Abu Dhabi book fairs. The post Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Waives Exhibitor Book Fair Fees appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-06-05 15:40:07 UTC ]
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A coalition of 18 plaintiffs—including a powerful alliance of library, publishing, author, and bookseller groups—are suing to strike down a controversial new law that would expose librarians and booksellers to criminal liability for making allegedly inappropriate books accessible to minors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The nonprofit of an independent bookstore in California is making book fairs accessible to underserved students. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-06-01 18:58:52 UTC ]
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Books Inc., the Bay Area's oldest independent bookstore sporting 11 locations, will operate two book fair models—one traditional, one designed for underserved schools—through its new literary nonprofit, the Reading Bridge. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A new book skewers the publishing industry's race issues, the author of 'Eragon' returns to science fiction, and two new nonfiction titles take an alternate view of history on this week's bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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At a lunch-hour keynote on May 24, National Book Award winner and former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jacqueline Woodson sat down with bookseller Miwa Messer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Today in good news, the American Booksellers Association announced that membership is at its highest level in 20 years. Per reporting by Hillel Italie at the Associated Press: The ABA added 173 members last year, and now has 2,185 bookstore businesses and 2,599 locations. Three years after the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-22 15:55:36 UTC ]
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In a virtual awards show, 'PW' editorial director Jim Milliot named Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg, Pa., the Bookstore of the Year and PRH's Emily Bates the Sales Rep of the Year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House filed a law suit today against a school district for book bans. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-05-17 16:28:56 UTC ]
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PEN officials called the suit a "first-of-its-kind challenge to unlawful censorship," bringing together concerned parents, authors, and a major publisher. "Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, are a direct threat to democracy and our Constitutional rights,"... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In “Yellowface,” R.F. Kuang satirizes the publishing industry with a tale of a struggling writer who passes off her recently deceased friend’s book as her own. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-05-16 09:00:23 UTC ]
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Emily Bates, senior manager for in-house sales of Penguin Random House adult titles, calls herself a “jack-of-all-trades” rep. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Throughout 2023, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore is celebrating 20 years as a bricks-and-mortar destination in Harrisburg, Pa. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sara Hoerdeman, the American Academy of Pediatrics marketing manager for consumer products, didn’t just nominate Harvey’s Tales in Geneva, Ill., to be PW’s 2023 Bookstore of the Year: she wrote a 500-word love letter extolling the virtues of the five-year-old indie, located in an upscale suburb... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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“Even though every atom in my body told me opening a shop would be an economic failure, I’d hoped it would save us.” Kelly McMasters on starting a bookstore to save her marriage. | Lit Hub Memoir 21 new books out today: Shakespeare! Eurovision! Revenge! | The Hub This month’s Lit Hub Asks: 5... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 10:30:21 UTC ]
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The first time I sliced open a box of books in my new bookshop, I breathed in deeply. The pulpy starch of the paper caught in the back of my throat, while the faint chemical sting of the new ink burned high in my nostrils. I imagined a world where this smell was a constant […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-09 08:53:39 UTC ]
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The Internet is abuzz over a forthcoming nonfiction book, a 544-page memoir (including 40 full-color photographs) slated to be published by Flatiron on July 9th. Why? Because The Internet thinks it was probably written by Taylor Swift. It all started when the owner of indie bookshop Good... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-08 16:47:07 UTC ]
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A 57-year-old “self-styled poet” (aren’t they all?) has spent $116,000 of his own money to build a bookstore in a mountaintop village. Oh, and it’s shaped like the number 7 and contains 7,000 books. No, this is not a parable. As Jiang Libo told the South China Morning Post: Before my bookshop... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-08 15:04:22 UTC ]
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