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 ]
On Saturday, Denver’s beloved independent bookstore Tattered Cover released a statement “about recent events,” asserting their support for Black Lives Matter, but also defending their silence and explaining that to align the bookstore with any “public debate” is a “slippery slope.” Bookstore... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-08 13:56:08 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has joined the other big trade publishers in pulling out of the Frankfurt Book Fair's physical event this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-08 07:32:23 UTC ]
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Nancy Bass Wyden, owner of New York City’s Strand Bookstore—one of the largest independent bookstores in the country—purchased stock in Amazon three times between April 6 and May 1, totaling somewhere between $115,000 and $250,000, according to Barron’s. If you’ll recall this was a time period... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-05 16:29:38 UTC ]
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An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-05 10:30:41 UTC ]
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Frontline booksellers are the first people customers see when they set foot in bookstores across America, and are among the most vulnerable workers in the publishing industry. This is what their world looks like now. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Cultural Cross Sections Taylor Hickney In this profile, one of Marie-Helene Bertino’s students at the New School provides a personal glimpse of the author, whose new novel, Parakeet, was published June 2. On the evening of the National Book Awards,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-04 19:40:55 UTC ]
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If your local bookstore is all sold out of its books on anti-racism, good. Finally. Backorder them for yourself. But in the meantime, the audiobook version of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the 2016 National Book Award... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-04 14:34:08 UTC ]
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Asking consumers to remember what booksellers mean to them, Spain's publishing industry associations roll out a campaign to reopen book retailers. The post Coronavirus Response: Spain’s Publishing Industry Mobilizes Bookstore Support appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-06-04 13:07:04 UTC ]
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It’s never too early to learn that racism is wrong and we should be doing something about it. These books will help show our kids how, writes publisher and bookseller Aimée FeloneDo the work: Layla F Saad’s anti-racist reading list The weight of the world seems heavier than ever right now. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-04 07:00:00 UTC ]
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On the 1st of June, the day thousands of pupils returned to school as part of the government’s plan to end lockdown, I received a call from my manager. As a bookseller with Blackwell’s, I had been glad when we shut our doors in March to protect the health of our staff and customers. I imagined... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-04 02:42:56 UTC ]
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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... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Pandemic Dispatches 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... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Running an independent bookstore in a conservative city is a unique challenge and an opportunity. Jenny Kinne runs Books and Mortar in West Michigan. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-03 10:40:37 UTC ]
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Kaouther Adimi’s newly translated novel weaves together fact and fiction in a story about a famous Algerian bookstore and its fiercely loyal patrons. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-02 10:00:04 UTC ]
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Kaouther Adimi’s newly translated novel weaves together fact and fiction in a story about a famous Algerian bookstore and its fiercely loyal patrons. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-02 10:00:04 UTC ]
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Kaouther Adimi’s newly translated novel weaves together fact and fiction in a story about a famous Algerian bookstore and its fiercely loyal patrons. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-02 10:00:04 UTC ]
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The Once Over Ivar Ivask John Ciardi, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Luciano Rebay, and Ivar Ivask after presentation of the award certificate, Norman, Oklahoma, March 14, 1970 / Photo by Jim Lucas Today (June 1) marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-01 15:51:20 UTC ]
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The enormous independent bookstore in Portland, Ore., became an unlikely tourist attraction. Now that it’s shut, Emily Powell, the chief executive, is having to rethink the books business. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-05-29 17:31:21 UTC ]
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Last August, I wrote about the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or “Binc,” a Michigan-based non-profit created to support booksellers who have fallen on hard times. If a bookseller winds up in the hospital or a bookstore has a flood, Binc can step in and pay their bills, no questions asked... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-29 08:48:18 UTC ]
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Cultural Cross Sections Yousef Khanfar Photo by James L.W / Unsplash In January, Full Circle Bookstore was named one of five finalists for Publishers Weekly’s Bookstore of the Year. Palestinian photographer Yousef Khanfar offers the following... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-05-28 13:17:54 UTC ]
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