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 ]
Forty years ago, my not-yet-gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn had one bookstore, Mostly Books. When the owner retired, it became a video store (RIP Cousins). Then it was derelict, then it was councilman’s office, and now it’s (obviously) a real estate office. But in all those years, a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-08 15:00:19 UTC ]
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The owner and operator of the Mysterious Bookshop in Lower Manhattan, the oldest bookstore in the U.S. specializing in mysteries and thrillers, said his duties running Mysterious Press don’t leave him with enough time to interact with customers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Respect and support to Wasilla, Alaska’s Black Birch Books, who’re getting a lot of online flack for announcing a drag story time in June. But despite a slew of negative, and sometimes threatening, comments and reviews, Black Birch owner Taylor Jordan is going on with the show. As she told... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-04 15:21:17 UTC ]
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Not long after its drag queen story hours attracted protests, Riverside's Cellar Door Bookstore got evicted. But at this oasis of inclusion, the show will go on Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-04 13:00:17 UTC ]
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Your library and bookstore hauls will be looking good in these new bookish tote bags. - Kelly Jensen Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-05-01 10:31:00 UTC ]
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As part of a two-day program curated by Association of American Literary Agents, Daunt will discuss how the company’s initiatives and plans for the future will impact the publishing industry during an address on Tuesday, May 23. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Across the country this weekend, independent bookstores once again celebrated Independent Bookstore Day, this year on April 29. Some bookselling scenes began the lead-up to the celebration even earlier, with "passport" promotions that offered customers discounts after visiting a certain number... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Working-class lives are unlikely to be properly represented in fiction if the publishing industry is run by middle-class graduates, says Nick MossKeiran Goddard is right to say that too many novels that claim to portray working-class life just give us “recent arts graduate feels emotionally,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-30 16:40:05 UTC ]
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Now a co-founder of Semafor, formerly of Politico, BuzzFeed and the New York Times, the author expertly pulls readers inBen Smith is a willing passenger on the rollercoaster also known as the internet. He reported for Politico, was founding editor-in-chief at BuzzFeed News and did a stint as a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-29 06:00:28 UTC ]
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Detention of publisher Li Yanhe in China for ‘endangering national security’ has sent chills through island’s literary communityIn a bookstore near one of Taipei’s leading universities, Zeng Da-fu and his wife work quietly into the evening. Zeng has run this store for decades, tucked in a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-29 02:00:23 UTC ]
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Colombian author’s En Agosto Now Vemos (We’ll See Each Other in August) had been just a rumour but now fans will get to read itRumours had long circulated that an entire literary masterpiece, never seen by the public, could still be lying in a dusty safe held by the late author’s family or under... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-28 21:10:15 UTC ]
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This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of Independent Bookstore Day, the one-day book party held all across the country on the last Saturday in April every year to celebrate indie bookstores large and small. There’s no better time to show your local indie a little love—preferably by going to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-28 13:04:40 UTC ]
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To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Independent Bookstore Day, the Lit Hub staff pens odes to ten of the best bookstores in the world. | Lit Hub Michelle Yeoh stars in American Born Chinese, the Gossip Girl creators adapt City on Fire, and two star-studded casts take on an apocalypse and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-28 10:30:36 UTC ]
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“I have only the vaguest understanding of what TikTok is,” Patchett insists. And yet she and her bookstore, Parnassus Books, have become microcelebrities on the app thanks to the shop's savvy marketing manager, Sarah Arnold. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Thousands of audiobooks are on sale at Libro.FM this week in honor of Independent Bookstore Day - stock up! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-25 18:33:57 UTC ]
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Hug an author today! Fifty-four percent of debut authors responding to Bookseller survey said the process had a negative impact on their mental health—equally likely to feel bummed out whether they pubbed with a Big Four or an indie publisher. One, quoted anonymously in The Bookseller’s report,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-24 15:32:12 UTC ]
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Find out what cities across the U.S. are doing to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day 2023 on April 29th and get in on the fun! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-24 10:38:00 UTC ]
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With all the challenges that the book publishing industry currently faces, what will the future bookstore look like? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-04-19 10:35:00 UTC ]
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The publishing party for my first book was held in the bookstore I used to work at. My book was piled on the table. People with flowers, people with cups of wine, people who didn’t understand Icelandic all filled the store. I felt like it was my birthday. Ten days earlier, I’d been awarded the […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-19 08:52:49 UTC ]
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The bookseller announced new benefits and discount perks in an effort to "revitalize" its membership ranks and unveiled an alternative free B&N Rewards loyalty program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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