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 ]
Penguin Random House anticipates a full transition to green energy by 2022, writes Markus Dohle, well ahead of some of the new Bertelsmann guidelines. The post Bertelsmann and Penguin Random House: Climate Neutrality by 2030 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-18 18:34:48 UTC ]
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Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House c.e.o., has said Penguin Random House is "well on its way" to reducing its carbon emissions by 20% by 2025, after parent company Bertelsmann declared its goal to be "climate neutral" by 2030. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 12:34:10 UTC ]
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Following the February 17 announcement by Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann that the conglomerate will be carbon neutral by 2030, PRH global CEO Markus Dohle sent a letter to employees outlining the publisher’s role in helping Bertelsmann achieve that target. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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“Apeirogon,” the latest novel from the National Book Award winner, will be released next week by Random House. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-17 11:01:40 UTC ]
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Scholastic and Penguin Random House retained their #1 spots in our rankings of children’s frontlist fiction and picture book bestsellers by corporation, respectively, though each company’s share of positions on its list diminished slightly from 2018. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Below is a collection of articles that respond to American Dirt, consider the injustices of the publishing industry’s Big Five, and highlight books by Chicanx and Latinx writers. ¤ A reading list assembled from these articles: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-14 19:23:11 UTC ]
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Boris Johnson | Marmalade years | US publishing industry | Quick crossword | Roysters crispsIt’s all very well Labour demanding an inquiry into who paid for Boris Johnson’s Caribbean holiday (Report, 14 February), but what I should really like to know is when will the Independent Office for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-14 17:21:53 UTC ]
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Bookstore sales, which struggled for most of the year, ended 2019 with a weak December and finished the year with a 5.7% sales drop compared to 2018, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookshop Santa Cruz in California and Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona, have partnered in a drive to register Arizona voters and persuade them to vote Democrat in this year's presidential election. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Critics of "American Dirt" invited Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday to discuss "#DignidadLiteraria and other Latinx groups and the publishing industry that has systematically erased us." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-13 04:43:13 UTC ]
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The "American Dirt" uproar is prompting the book industry to review, reenforce, and revamp plans to become more diverse and inclusive. The publishing industry is predominantly run by white women, according to a new study. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-02-12 17:29:22 UTC ]
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The "American Dirt" uproar is prompting the book industry to review, reenforce, and revamp plans to become more diverse and inclusive. The publishing industry is predominantly run by white women, according to a new study. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-02-12 17:29:22 UTC ]
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Publishers will continue to look beyond their legacy business models in the coming years, and lean on technologies to not only improve their operations, but also their products. This idea was the thesis of a recent survey we conducted with a representative sample of leaders from across our... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-02-06 15:59:25 UTC ]
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The bookseller planned to promote classic novels with covers featuring people of color for Black History Month. Critics accused it of “literary blackface.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-05 23:31:49 UTC ]
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THE CONTRETEMPS OVER Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt revolves around a narrative of a publishing industry eager for blockbusters, white authors who inhabit the stories of marginalized people, and embarrassment when the multiple flaws and tone-deaf passages of the hyped-up book are exposed.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-05 18:00:58 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House teams with TBWA and Barnes & Noble to launch #DiversityEditions for Black History Month. During the Pequod‘s last voyage in Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is 58 years old. Physically, he has a prosthetic leg made of whale bone, and a pale white mark or... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-02-05 09:00:42 UTC ]
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Children’s book publisher Lee & Low Books, a minority-owned company that focuses on multicultural literature, recently released the results of a survey geared towards finding out one thing: What do the numbers say about the widely perceived lack of diversity in the publishing world? The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 21:40:46 UTC ]
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Walk into a contemporary bookstore and self-help manuals are likely to be among the first books you’ll see. In my local Barnes & Noble, a “self-improvement” section is featured in the vestibule, luring customers before they even open the store’s main doors. Inside the store, the boundary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-29 09:49:07 UTC ]
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The smoke has been spotted at the corner of Broadway and 56th Street, and Reagan Arthur has been announced as the new publisher of Knopf. Amazingly, Arthur is only the fourth person to helm one of the most important publishing houses in America in its 105-year history, following an impressive... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-23 16:20:54 UTC ]
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Today, Jeanine Cummins appeared at Winter Institute in Baltimore, and as Michael Calder reports for PubishersLunch, commented on the ongoing controversy over her new novel, American Dirt. Bookseller Javier Ramirez, who introduced Cummins, brought up the topic at the end of the formal interview:... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-22 18:16:31 UTC ]
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