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 ]
Today sees the launch of South Asian LitFest, a free, live online festival I've created to show celebrate and showcase authors both from the subcontinent and the diasporic South Asian writing community around the world. Why do we need it? Well, even as the publishing industry talks about... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 22:25:54 UTC ]
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Having dropped up to 2.5 million units in its worst 'acute COVID period' week, Kristin McLean says the US publishing industry needs to assess, predict, and harden weak spots for challenges ahead. The post NPD’s Kristen McLean on the US Industry: Weathering the Pandemic appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-05-27 12:33:49 UTC ]
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Recently, a colleague experienced an irksome response from a coworker when she could not meet with him at short notice. She felt frustrated that he seemed to show little compassion or understanding when she’s currently balancing a full-time job and homeschooling two young children. She’s not... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2020-05-27 12:00:06 UTC ]
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All this week WORD Bookstores in Brooklyn and New Jersey will donate 10% of the purchase prices of books by a rotating group of authors to a different charity each day. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Amazon Literary Partnership has announced $1 million in grant funding to 66 organizations across the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Denver's BookBar bookstore is marking its seventh anniversary by changing its business model to provide services beyond retail, such as a literary imprint, BookBar Press, and a writers-in-residence program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Parisian bookstore and lending library Shakespeare and Company is digitizing decades of its records, revealing the reading habits of its famous patrons. The post The Reading Habits of Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-05-22 20:30:26 UTC ]
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Among the big deals this week are Robin Desser’s first acquisition in her new role as editor-in-chief at Random House and Delacorte’s purchase of Kelly Oxford’s YA debut. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Covid-19 pandemic has brought huge swaths of the publishing industry to a halt, but one channel remains open and thriving: mobile webcomics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Quarantine may be a golden opportunity to finally read "War and Peace" — but it's not an easy time for the book industry. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2020-05-21 09:45:35 UTC ]
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Many months ago, when we all sat in our meeting rooms, sipping coffee and bouncing campaign ideas around, I don’t think any one of us marketing folk could have predicted just how much our plans would be forced to change. The effects of the national lockdown on marketing campaigns and the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-20 21:41:29 UTC ]
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On May 21st at 7:30 pm. EST Community Bookstore is hosting a virtual conversation about Curzio Malaparte’s Diary of a Foreigner in Paris between writer Gary Indiana and NYRB Classics editor Edwin Frank. You can register for free and learn more here. * Curzio Malaparte is a phrasemaker before... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-20 08:48:48 UTC ]
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Macmillan Publishers will issue promotional terms intended to help independent bookstores recover from what it calls "the significant and calamitous impacts of Covid-19 on the channel." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Maura Wilding has urged publicists and marketing teams to think about "mirroring the real world" when organising online events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-19 01:03:37 UTC ]
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Emma Straub and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Four years ago, Judy Blume and her husband, George Cooper, longing for a bookstore in Key West where they live, founded the independent, non-profit Books & Books @ The Studios. Tonight, the two... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-18 21:00:58 UTC ]
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Interviews Veronica Esposito Emma Ramadan is a literary translator based in Providence, Rhode Island, where she is the co-owner of Riffraff, a bookstore and bar. She is the recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship, a PEN/Heim grant, and a Fulbright... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-05-18 18:20:27 UTC ]
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Hachette Book Group is launching a new program to assist in the reopening of independent bookstores. The program is intended to help stores recover from the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses, as well as to aid them in reopening. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ryan Chapman hosts Nerd Jeopardy, the online literary game show. Tonight Ryan is joined by Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things, and Katie Whittemore, translator of Sara Mesa’s Four by Four. This week’s indie bookstore spotlight is on Magers & Quinn. Sign up for next week, May 20,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-15 15:43:54 UTC ]
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A survey of indie presses shows that 60% fear they could be out of business by the autumn, writes Galley Beggar Press cofounder Sam JordisonOver the past few years, the success of independent publishers such as Fitzcarraldo, And Other Stories, Bluemooose and Influx Press has been something to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-05-15 06:00:32 UTC ]
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Across the United States, booksellers are wrestling with how to safely open their stores. Some are racing ahead. Others feel it’s too risky. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-05-13 19:46:47 UTC ]
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