Novelist Arundhati Roy leads chorus of protest after publisher settles lawsuit brought by militant groupConservative activists in India have pledged to continue their campaign to purge bookshelves and schools of works they say are abusive to Hinduism, as a fierce row over a 700-page academic work on the faith intensified on Thursday.Penguin Books India agreed this week to withdraw from sale and pulp all copies of The Hindus: An Alternative History, by the US-based academic Wendy Doniger, as part of a settlement after a group of Hindu conservative nationalists filed a case against the publisher."We are going to fight each and every example of this. We will leave nothing unchallenged that is against our customs, our religion, our nation," said Prakash Sharma, spokesman for the hardline Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) organisation, one of a series of conservative religious groups in India that aggressively campaign against artists and authors who they believe malign or misrepresent Hinduism.Penguin's decision not to fight the case has worried many authors, and revealed deep cultural divisions. Arundhati Roy, who won the Booker prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things, said she was shocked by Penguin's decision and uncertain whether to stay with the publisher. "So far I have had been more than happy to be published by Penguin. But now? What you have done affects us all," Roy wrote.An editorial in the Times of India condemned "the growing power of bullying... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 29/07/2011 - 09:30 Penguin reported lower sales and profits in the first half of 2011 as it adjusted to the "unprecedented challenges" afflicting the publishing sector including the loss of high street booksellers in the US and Australia... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/07/2011 - 11:15 Hamish Hamilton has acquired award-winning Spanish author Javier Marías' new novel, The Infatuations with a five-figure advance, with Penguin Modern Classics scooping seven titles from his backlist in a simultaneous deal... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 09:44 Penguin and Sainsbury's are to jointly launch a new website to support the Sainsbury's Book Club, launching on 21st July. The Book Club will run from 7th July 2011 to July 2012. As reported in January, the book club this... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 20/06/2011 - 14:00 Penguin has released an iPad version of Jack Kerouac's legendary beat novel On the Road, which includes side by side comparisons of Kerouac's scroll draft and the final version. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 14/06/2011 - 15:10 Lonely Planet has appointed Sheema Mookherjee as publisher for its Indian publishing arm. Mookerherjee's most recent role was looking after HarperCollins India's non-fiction and reference lists, and she started work at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 03/06/2011 - 08:55 Penguin has signed one of its big non-fiction titles for Christmas 2012, winning a hotly contested auction for a memoir by "Little Britain" star David Walliams. Katy Follain, Michael Joseph non-fiction publisher, and Louise... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 12:39 Ottakar's founder James Heneage has launched the inaugural Chalke Valley History Festival, with the likes of Michelle Paver, Patrick Bishop and Peter Snow due to make appearances. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 16:21 An Edinburgh independent has proposed an alternative to World Book Night next year, where readers buy tickets to attend book swap events across the country. Vanessa Robertson, co-owner of the Edinburgh Bookshop, said she has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 09:55 A new Jamie Oliver title, Jamie's Great Britain, will be coming from Michael Joseph this September, containing more than 100 new recipes from around the country. The title, to be released on 30th September, will tie into... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 11:09 Simon & Schuster is expanding into India with the publishing company being run by its UK m.d. Ian Chapman. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 10:30 Headline has signed a book by its author Lyn Andrews, marking the saga writer's historical fiction début. Director of publishing Marion Donaldson bought British Commonwealth rights (including Canada) to The Border Lord... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:39 Penguin Children's Division has appointed HMV group marketing director Graham Sim to the role of creative director. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/04/2011 - 08:00 Viking has been scanning the local papers and choosing the most eyebrow-raising headlinesoften for all the wrong reasonsin a tribute to the quirky world of slow news days. Whitstable Mum in Custard Shortage . . And... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/04/2011 - 15:24 Penguin's ebook sales have doubled in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, its parent company Pearson revealed in a statement today (28th April). In its interim management statement covering the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 08:40 Penguin USA is to launch a community website for genre writers called Book Country (bookcountry.com). The site began a public beta test this week and describes itself as "a place where readers and writers of genre fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:30 Penguin is topping the table with an industry-leading six nominations in the 2011 Bookseller Industry Awards. Following closely behind in the nomination league tables are HarperCollins and Hodder & Stoughton, both listed... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 08:33 Penguin has bought what promises to be a "riveting" account of one of the biggest murder cases in Northern Ireland, featuring infidelity, laughing gas and a confession 20 years after the event. Penguin Ireland m.d.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 08:34 Bloomsbury's The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: the History of a Civilisation from 3,000 BC to Cleopatra has won this year's £3,000 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History. Written by Toby Wilkinson, the book was commended by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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