A Decades Long Break From Writing, And Then The Booker Shortlist

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s first book, Nervous Conditions, published in 1988, “was hailed as one of the 20th century’s most significant works of African literature.” Then she went to film school. “What saved me was a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in 2016. My husband took care of the children in Zimbabwe, and I spent four weeks in a place where I was intellectually stimulated, talking about writing with writers.” – The New York Times

As A New Potential Lockdown Looms, Canada’s Indie Bookstores Are Doing Surprisingly Well

Personalized book and wine deliveries, a mix of weekly children’s online reading clubs, subscriptions services, and a heavy uptick in the use of the internet – all are helping Canadian independent bookstores survive. But another lockdown may be coming before buyers can get their holiday shopping finished, a make or break proposal for small indies. – CBC

A Shortage Of Printed Books This Winter?

Large printing companies in the U.S. are under financial strain, made worse by shutdowns due to the pandemic and subsequent reopenings with fewer employees. Fewer books printed means fewer books going to distributors — who themselves have had pandemic-related issues with staffing their warehouses. Add in a paper shortage, and a publishing schedule in flux because many spring/summer books were pushed to fall, and you have a perfect storm of supply-chain gridlock. – Seattle Times

Isaac Newton’s ‘Principia’ Wasn’t Just A Scientific Landmark, It Was Surprisingly Widely Read When It Was New

“Historians have discovered that the first, limited edition of the seemingly incomprehensible book in fact achieved a surprisingly wide distribution throughout the educated world. An earlier census of the [1687] book, published in 1953, identified 189 copies worldwide. But a new survey by two scholars has found nearly 200 more — 386 copies in all, including ones far beyond England.” – The New York Times

UK Declines To Prosecute Royal Accused Of Sexual Assault By Curator Of Hay Festival Abu Dhabi

The Crown Prosecution Service won’t pursue the case of Caitlin McNamara, a Briton who was organizing the inaugural version of the Hay book festival’s satellite event in the UAE when, she says, she was summoned to a meeting at the villa of the Emirati official overseeing the festival (the country’s Minister of Tolerance) and he assaulted her. – The Guardian