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 ]
News tagged with: #nick cave #good friend #gillian anderson #spencer tracy #benedict cumberbatch #neil gaiman

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookTrust chooses The Cave for Time to Read campaign

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Young people who engage less with reading prefer screens, says NLT report

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A First: APA Research Sees 50 Percent of Americans Listening to an Audiobook

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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White Supremacists Take Over D.C. Bookstore Reading

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zayed Award Winner Hussain Al Mutawaa on Children and the Habit of Reading

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Feeling anxious about that stack of books you haven’t read? This video wants to help you

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[ Fast Company | 2019-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IPA Leaders Tour Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival Ahead of World Book Day

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Fast Company | 2019-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What We're Reading – April 2019

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[ British Council global | 2019-04-11 08:49:28 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Wired | 2019-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Washington Post | 2019-04-05 15:00:29 UTC ]
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[ The Huffington Post | 2019-04-04 09:49:21 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ BBC News | 2019-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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