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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Akala | 'There is a perception of who reads and who doesn’t that just isn’t accurate'

Award-winning rapper, graphic novelist and entrepreneur Akala has turned his talent to picture books, with new series endorsing a meritocratic message. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barbershop Books Gets NBF's $10K Reading Prize

Expanded into a full day conference, the NBF's Why Reading Matters awarded its $10,000 Innovations in Reading Prize to Alvin Irby of Barbership Books and featured a keynote address by novelist and new bookstore owner, Emma Straub. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Sourcebooks Title Is OverDrive’s New International Big Library Read

A two-week international reading-and-discussion exercise, the Big Library Read is underway with more than 20,000 libraries in various parts of the world. The post A Sourcebooks Title Is OverDrive’s New International Big Library Read appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ReedPOP Letter: Organizers Call BookExpo and BookCon ‘Powerful Platforms’

BookCon reaches its 20,000 person goal on Saturday and Sunday; BookExpo cites 7,425 attendees, "primarily booksellers, librarians, retailers, and media." The post ReedPOP Letter: Organizers Call BookExpo and BookCon ‘Powerful Platforms’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube Kids Launches #ReadAlong Campaign to Encourage Kids to Read

YouTube Kids partnered with global book publishers HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and National Geographic Kids to launch a global initiative called #ReadAlong month. Taking place throughout the month of June, the program is designed to help young viewers learn to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hard work, not ‘talent’ makes good writing | Letters

Professor Selina Todd argues that you can be taught to write well, as demonstrated by American and Australian university students. Plus letters from Christopher Dodd and Anthony OrmsonIan Jack’s wariness towards writing manuals and classes is a peculiarly British response to teaching this craft... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to read like Bill Gates: Billionaire's top book picks for 2017

Bill Gates has each year releases a list of his good summer reads. The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist this year unveiled his reading list in time for a sunny Memorial Day weekend in Seattle. If you're looking for a book to bring to the park, Gates has you covered. Authors who made the... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2017-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Summer Pages: Summer Reading Recommendations, From 6 Novelists Who Own Bookstores

The novelist Emma Straub at her store, Books Are Magic, in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo's Librarians' Lounge 2017: Ice Cream, and Summer Reads, Courtesy of Penguin Random House

On Friday, June 2, from 2:30–4 p.m., stop by the PW BookExpo Librarians’ Lounge (Booth 875) for ice cream, and author talk, courtesy Penguin Random House library marketing team. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 5 Books On Bill Gates’s Summer Reading List–From Jimmy Carter To Trevor Noah

If you are worried your beach reads might be a little too easy this summer, Gates has some more heady suggestions for you. As one of the world’s top philanthropists, perhaps it makes sense that Bill Gates is treating beach reading like an intellectual cause: Each year, he offers up his list of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Journal Profile: Meet Jamie Chandlee, CEO of Rank & Style digital media site

While living and working as an account executive for D Magazine in Dallas in 2009, she was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent chemo treatments for six months, and was then declared cancer free. “It taught me not to take anything for granted. And made me realize that... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts ranks books by what people are actually reading

Bestseller lists like the one at the New York Times measure a book's success by how many copies its sold. What it doesn't do is tell you how many of those books are being read, nor how fast. Amazon Charts aims to fix this problem with a new, weekly b... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kathleen Jamie wins RGS's Ness Award

Scottish poet and essayist Kathleen Jamie is to receive the 2017 Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award for "outstanding creative writing at the confluence of travel, nature and culture". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Commentary on the State of Reading in the Philippines

Calling the Philippines 'a country enmeshed in entertainment and feel-good books,' Tyrone Velez writes that literary intelligence is threatened. The post A Commentary on the State of Reading in the Philippines appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Read the First Six Pages of the New Issue of the Award-Winning Comic Pope Hats

I’ve raved before—to friends, to co-workers, and to Slate readers—about Ethan Rilly’s beautiful and subversive comic book Pope Hats. Issue No. 5, coming soon, is the longest and most fascinating installment yet. Returning to the friendship of neurotic law clerk Frances and actress-on-the-rise... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Your Creative Calendar: 77 Things To See, Hear, And Read This May

There are pretty much only two movie seasons each year, Summer Escape and Oscar Bait. Although the first of the two categories is sometimes indistinguishable from March and April fare (hello, F8 of the Furious) there’s something indelibly summer-y about the cinema of May. This year is no... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Make it your hone: the ebook that you are forced to edit as you read

On each page of A Universe Explodes by Tea Uglow, owners are required to add one word and remove two – which amounts to an odd reading experienceIt opens with a woman reaching up for a cereal bowl and closes with a new beginning – or at least it does for the moment. By the time you get to read... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahmed Al Ameri: ‘Teach Them When They’re Young’ at Sharjah Reading Festival

As suggested by the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival’s slogan, ‘Discover a Lifelong Friend,’ Ahmed Al Ameri sees early-age immersion as crucial. By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2 ‘The Reading Habit Is Increasing’ he United Arab Emirates’ Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri is chairman of Sharjah Book... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH Partners with Save the Children on Reading Campaign

The new initiative. #ProjectReadathon Million Minutes, encourages children to read in communities throughout North America. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Outrage in France over €30 public reading fees

French authors, librarians and volunteers are up in arms over libraries and other non-profit venues having to pay a fee of at least €30 to hold public readings in the country. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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