Category: publishing

The apparent theft of 30,000 volumes from the Paris Libary is making waves in France, and has sparked discussion of the proper way to balance security and accessibility in the nation’s most important archival institution. “‘To turn the library into a locked safe would be easy, but it is not our vocation,’ [the French daily Le Figaro] quoted Agnès Saal, the library’s director-general, as saying. ‘Unlike museums, our documents are there to be consulted.'”

A biographer of Carl Jung says that a new German edition of her work has been marred. “This is a chilling moment in the annals of Jungian scholarship. The heirs of C.G. Jung, led by their spokesperson Ulrich Hoerni, have raised objections concerning the alleged invasion of their privacy that, due to German law, has forced Knaus Verlag [the publishers of the German edition of Jung: A Biography] to include their opinions of Jung’s life and work within the pages of my book. These will appear as annotations to my extensive notes that follow the text. This unprecedented invasion of my book by the Jung heirs is an appalling act and is happening against my will.”

The chairman of the International Man Booker Prize jury John Carey says that “foreign literature was “neglected” in the UK, and to an outsider the British publishing industry could “seem like a conspiracy intent on depriving … readers of the majority of the good books written in languages other than their own”.

About 30,000 books (including about 2000 classified as rare) are missing from France’s Biblioteque national, and the library’s chief curator is being questioned. “The curator, who has denied the allegations, is the subject of one of half a dozen police inquiries into suspected thefts at the institution, which was founded in the 16th century and, as France’s principal copyright and legal deposit library, holds some 35m books, documents, manuscripts, maps, plans and photos.”

The integrity of France’s major literary awards were called into question this week by a government anti-corruption probe. “There is an evident risk of a conflict of interest. Moreover, the conditions in which the jury members are recruited or co-opted, often for life, are not exactly transparent, which makes them suspect as a matter of principle. France’s major literary awards such as the Prix Femina, the Prix Médicis and – most prestigious of all – the Prix Goncourt have long been accused of rigging their votes, taking it in turns to reward big publishers.”

With three weeks to go before its release, advance orders for the new Harry Potter book have topped one million. “At this rate, pre-orders should top the 1.3 million pre-orders received for the previous Harry Potter book in 2003.”

Are writing MFA programs a waste of time, as Elizabeth Clementson recently asserted? Not exactlywrites Steve Almond: “MFA programs are like any other educational opportunity: what you put in is what you get out. The reason they exist is to help young writers develop the humility and gumption necessary to keep writing in a culture that largely ignores literature. They are welfare states for artists, basically.”

The country of Jordan has banned sales of Saddam Hussein’s latest book. “The former Iraqi dictator is behind bars and stripped of power but Jordan was anxious enough to ban his tale yesterday, claiming it could damage regional relations. Some 10,000 copies had been printed for this week’s launch, a literary and political event authorised by Saddam’s daughter, Raghad, who is based in Jordan.”

Britain’s poet laureate Andrew Motion says he’s “bitterly disappointed” that poetry and creative writing are largely missing from English secondary schools curriculum. “He said the government had missed a “magical opportunity” to rescue poetry from oblivion when it rejected recommendations from the former chief inspector of schools.”

Hitler’s Mein Kampf still sells. A few weeks ago a signed copy sold at auction for £23,800. In Turkey, the book hit the bestseller list this year. It was the bestselling book of the 20th Century. “Mein Kampf is still available in the UK and the US, and sells enough to keep itself comfortably in print. Germany, by contrast, has – since 1945 – rigorously banned it. Israel, unsurprisingly, also favours suppression. In 1999 the Simon Wiesenthal Centre prevailed on Amazon not to dispatch copies of Mein Kampf to Germany or anywhere else it is proscribed.”