Jamie Byng: ‘Listening to letters being read out is quite something’

The Canongate Books boss on the success of Letters Live, performances of notable correspondence by leading lights of stage and screenJamie Byng, 46, son of the 8th Earl of Strafford, grew up in Hampshire and studied at the University of Edinburgh. After graduating he joined Canongate Books as an intern and bought out the struggling Edinburgh publishing house two years later, aged just 25. His successes include the UK publication of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, which won the Man Booker prize in 2002 and sold more than 3m copies. In 2013 he set up Letters Live, “a celebration of the enduring power of literary correspondence” based in part on Shaun Usher’s Letters of Note books. Letters Live returns to London’s Freemasons’ Hall on Thursday 10 March.How did Letters Live come about?In 2013 we published two books about letters on the same day. One was Simon Garfield’s To the Letter, which is a history of letter-writing. The other, Letters of Note, grew out of Shaun Usher’s website, which compiles great correspondence throughout history. We decided to promote both books by getting people to read out letters in a live setting. Nick Cave had a letter in Shaun’s book and he’s a good friend, so it was very straightforward to call him up and say “How’s about it?” Gillian Anderson went totally nuts for a Katharine Hepburn letter to Spencer Tracy. Everyone I asked who was around – Benedict Cumberbatch, Matt Berry, Neil Gaiman, Bruce Robinson – said yes. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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LBF: Execs say governments must be ?"made to listen" on copyright defence

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 14:11 The industry must make a stronger case to government for strengthening safeguards on copyright, with the protection of authors at its heart, said senior international publishers speaking at London Book Fair's 40th anniversary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC promotes Jamie Cowen

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 08:14 HarperCollins has appointed Jamie Cowen to its newly created role of commissioning editor for men's thriller and adventure novels for HarperFiction. Cowen, currently a contracts manager at the publisher, will begin his new job... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Galaxy campaign for Quick Reads unveiled

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent Booksellers Week to promote reading groups

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie top, while Faulks boosts fiction

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie scores double non-fiction number ones

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie back on top as Costa winner shows mutability

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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