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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Joyce Marlow’s was a life to remember | Letters

The historian did important work on the Peterloo massacre and the suffragette movement, says Lindsey German, and deserves greater prominence than the failed memoir forger Clifford IrvingIt shows a somewhat strange priority that your main obituary on 27 December described the life of Clifford... Continue reading at The Guardian

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Five goes chart-topping: Jamie Oliver is number one

Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients (Michael Joseph) has leapfrogged David Walliams’ Bad Dad (HarperCollins) to claim the UK Official Top 50 number one in the latest weekly chart​. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The facts on fiction and Marley’s origins | Letters

Karl Sabbagh says small publishers face with huge obstacles with selling books and even letting anyone know they exist; plus a descendant of Dr Miles Marley sets the record straightWith reference to your leader on literary fiction (28 December), as a small publisher we are faced with huge... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW’s Most-Read Cooking Stories of 2017

This year, we took a look at one cookbook’s journey from Broadway and ate Shake Shack burgers at home. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW’s Most-Read Comics Stories of 2017

The 'New York Times' eliminating its Graphic Novel Bestseller List and the continued growth of manga sales in North America were among PW’s most popular articles about graphic novel publishing in 2017. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Most-Read Book Reviews of 2017

We review more than 8,000 books per year, and these were the 10 most-read reviews of books published in 2017. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter must be made accountable for content they publish | Letters

Ian Bartlett says the ruling that Uber is a transport company not a digital service could also change the way we view other digital giants; and Derek Wyatt suggests a post-Brexit Britain could create a Global Digital Foundation to address these issuesUber is officially a transport company and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bodleian reveals Tolkien's 'Father Christmas' letters

The Bodleian Libraries in Oxford are unveiling a series of previously unseen letters that J R R Tolkien wrote to his children “from Father Christmas” every winter for 23 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Listening, closely...

Print publishers’ assumption that audio rights should be bundled with print is not directly beneficial to authors, argues Alice Lutyens.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Walliams's Bad Dad beats Jamie Oliver to Christmas No 1

Children’s novel about a boy trying to break his father out of prison sells more than 60,000 copies in a week to secure top slot in festive book chartsDavid Walliams’s tale of a boy trying to break his father out of prison, Bad Dad, has beaten Jamie Oliver’s latest recipe collection to the top... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AARP Overtakes People As America’s Most-Read Print Magazine, Per MRI Data

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[ Folio Magazine | 2017-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books: Favorite reads of the year from our Critics at Large and more book news

Greetings and salutations! I’m Carolyn Kellogg, Books editor of the L.A. Times with this week’s books newsletter. CRITICS PICKS This week the entire Sunday Calendar section is taken up with critics picks for the year in film, television, theater, music, art — and books. Seven of our Critics at... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Susan Straight read more than 500 novels this year. But her favorite is a memoir.

You might not believe it. I read or re-read more than 500 novels this year, to make an epic interactive map of our literary nation with regional fiction. There are 737 novels on that map, which I made for Granta. In choosing specific locations for each novel, I often stayed up all night... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Letter from the Editors: Covering Sexual Abuse in the Book Business

As a trade publication for the book business, we are committed to helping make publishing a profession where all members are given the respect they deserve. That means covering sexual abuse in publishing—with rigor. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW’s 10 Most-Read Religion Stories of 2017

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Handmaid's Tale' Was the Year's Most Read Novel On Amazon

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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9 sports books for holiday reading and giving

If you like variety, these 2017 releases offer an abundance of that, from a football book by an NFL commissioner’s son to the story of a small-college, women’s basketball team that achieved championship stature during the Depression.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here’s Bill Gates’s 2017 Holiday Reading List

Five books–from urban poverty to the history of energy–that the philanthropist says you should be reading this winter. Bill Gates just released his 2017 holiday reading list, part of a semi-annual effort to push the public toward five books that might expand how they think or feel. Of course,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Littleford to become Reading Agency chair

Matthew Littleford is to become the chair of The Reading Agency following Liz Cleaver's 10-year stint. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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