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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167 titles have been submitted in for this year’s selection process of the German Book Prize 2015. The jury will announce the shortlist in August 2015. The post German Book Prize 2015: Let The Reading Begin! appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At this point, it's almost illegal if you don't describe Scribd as the Netflix of reading, which has just signed a new audiobook deal with Penguin Random House. The agreement gives the service access to 9,000 of the super publisher's library, includi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I just returned from a great visit to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, where I detailed for a large group of librarians a fascinating development: my current employer, the New York Public Library, is revamping its Summer Reading Program for 2015. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new European Commission-funded project will study whether or not reading digitally changes people’s comprehension of the text they consume. The Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitisation (EREAD) research will launch next week in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and carry on until autumn 2017 at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors including Philip Pullman, Michael Rosen, John Dougherty, and Alan Gibbons have signed a letter saying baseline assessment tests should not be brought in to primary schools. The tests, to be introduced in September 2015, will take place in the first few weeks after a child starts in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I’d written a crime short story under one of my pen names for a collection to be published by Macmillan (Writers tell couple who remove ‘filth’ from books where to stick their app, 28 March). The late Lord (George) Hardinge of Penshurst was in charge of their crime fiction at the time and he... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The newly revealed covers of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird sequel are a graphic illustration of their publishers’ ambition to ensnare her fansCover for Harper Lee’s Mockingbird sequel revealedArguably the most hotly-anticipated novel in the world in 2015, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, had... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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They agree deal to turn an online brand into print format for LondonersJamie Oliver and Time Out have gone into partnership to launch a print version of the chef’s online Food Tube brand.The first issue of the monthly “mini magazine” will be published on 28 April and will be distributed, at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Writing translated from other languages makes you see things differently,' says UK translator Daniel Hahn who will mine the Bologna Book Fair for gems. The post Why Reading Translated Kids’ Books Makes a Difference appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nine out of ten French read books last year and on average people read 16 books a year: 14 in print, 2 digital. Still, the French see room for improvement. The post Study Reveals the Relationship Between the French and Reading appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When it comes to catering to Millennials, Total BooX believes that eliminating the the friction in the traditional ebook purchasing process is key. The post Total BooX: Ebooks for the Way the 21st-Century Reader Reads appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate has created a spin-off company to further develop its Letters Live series of events. Five shows, which will feature actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey, will run at the Freemasons’ Hall from 31st March to 4th April 2015. The live events will celebrate the “enduring power of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Argentinian artist Raul Lemesoff has created a tank of books, which he is driving around Argentina to bring attention to education and reading. Lemesoff says he hopes it encourages youth to choose education over violence. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Andy Robb founded the UKYA Blogger Awards to salute all the teen and YA book bloggers who work so hard, for nothing but free books and the odd signature, to tell the world about the books they love, here’s whyOur guide to becoming a book bloggerTop 10 teen/YA book bloggers by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Puffin) is the book parents most think their children should read before the age of 16, according to a survey from supermarket Sainsbury's. Sainsbury’s asked 2,000 parents which 50 books children should read by the time they are 16 to celebrate... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Poland's OpenBooks.com readers can download and read self-published books for free and decide to pay for them only if they want. The post OpenBooks: A Self-Publishing Bookstore Where You Read First, Pay Later appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading science fiction, chick lit and fantasy novels by people of colour for a year brought home to me just how white my reading world wasIn 2014, I managed to read 25 novels. All of them were written by people of colour. That was the result of a small challenge I set myself: not to read books... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline has signed The Letter, a debut novel by Kathryn Hughes which hit number one on the Amazon Kindle chart as a self-published ebook. The Letter, which tells the story of two women whose lives become entwined when one discovers a letter that was written in 1939 but never sent, was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd's monthly subscription includes unlimited access to its library of audio and ebooks, and as of today, you can add comics to that list. The service announced that it added over 10,000 comic books for leisurely reading, and the more visually st... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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