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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Back from Behind Like Patrick Mahomes: A Reading List of Comeback Stories

At halftime of this year’s Super Bowl, the marquee game of the NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs trailed the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 in Glendale, Arizona. What transpired next was the latest remarkable comeback in the career of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, one of the most compelling... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-24 09:55:25 UTC ]
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Study Up on Campus Novels: A Back-to-School-Inspired Reading List for Grown-Ups

These campus novels for adults raise questions around race, class, or gender or are simply set in or around campuses, including Real Life by Brandon Taylor. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-21 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Read the very first reviews of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk’s era-defining debut novel about a load of disaffected men beating the bejesus out of each other in order to feel alive, was first published twenty-seven years ago today. The book rapidly gained a cult following, was adapted into one of the most iconic movies of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-17 15:30:58 UTC ]
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Six books to read this Women In Translation month – recommended by our experts

Mysteries from China, short stories from the Balkans, a French-Morrocan autobiography and more. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-08-17 13:31:43 UTC ]
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Reading Robert McCloskey’s Maine Trilogy as an Antidote to Climate Change Despair

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-16 09:30:52 UTC ]
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Book festivals deserve sponsors, not boycotts | Letters

Readers respond to Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship of the Edinburgh book festival and threats by authors to boycott itRegarding your article (Authors threaten boycott of Edinburgh book festival over sponsors’ fossil fuel links, 11 August), collaboration and creativity are key to addressing the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-15 15:13:57 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2023-08-11 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Letter to Salma, by Yousef Khanfar

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[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-09 20:14:32 UTC ]
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Catherine Taylor Reads From The Stirrings: A Memoir in Northern Time

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-09 08:58:06 UTC ]
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Share This Link 9 Times or Never Read a Good Book Again!

Share that link right now or ruin your reading life! Do it, do it now! Or, a brief history of chain letters. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:36:00 UTC ]
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10 Bookish Jigsaw Puzzles For All Your Audiobook Reading Time

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[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:31:00 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2023-08-03 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Perusing Pets: A Reading List of Books Where Animal Companions Steal the Show

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-03 09:30:07 UTC ]
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[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-31 13:00:44 UTC ]
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Read W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 16:55:39 UTC ]
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[ The New York Times | 2023-07-27 09:00:37 UTC ]
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Riot Roundup: The Best Books We Read April-June 2023

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Read an 1890 review of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

These days, if you use your book review to call an author a pervert and instruct him to abandon writing for the sake of public morality, most reputable editors will palm you a paltry kill fee and mothball your screed. Not so, it would seem, in 1890. Here’s how an outraged book critic for The […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-24 18:10:37 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2023-07-20 17:47:33 UTC ]
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[ PC World | 2023-07-13 08:00:00 UTC ]
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