Category: words

With hedge fund the Man Group having announced that it will end its sponsorship of the English-speaking world’s leading literary award after this year, the literati are all wondering what changes might come to the Man Booker Prize — with some observers in Britain who are too chicken to compete worry about over-dominance by writers from the United States wondering if the 2014 decision to include them can be overturned. — The Guardian

This is the second Caldecott win in the span of four years for Blackall, whose Finding Winnie took the prize in 2016. Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X was given the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature. — The New York Times

“For years I have not participated in collective activities, especially if they force me to move from one continent to another. … The round table was a disaster, since the other two participants, very young, started a binge yesterday evening that has lasted throughout the day, and presented themselves in a deplorable state. As they are mystery authors, they feel obliged to show a degree of alcoholism that they may not have.” – El País (Spain)

The brothers’ adventures appealed to many young readers, as the boys filled their lives with adventures that always ended safely. But it’s also true that there were no gay characters and a paucity of characters of color – and racism throughout, despite decades of revisions. Still, there was Chet. “There was always something delightfully transgressive about the fact that Chet’s car, depicted in the books as the ‘pride’ of his life, is named The Queen.” – The Atlantic

There’s been a dramatic shift in the demographics of who’s buying poetry, and giving poets including Rupi Kaur, Carol Ann Duffy, Helen Dunmore and other women six-figure incomes in the UK alone. And the topics have changed as well. – The Observer (UK)

Can we stop calling it the “Man Booker” after the Man Group pulls out? Yes, but, well, we may be part of the problem: “Relations between Man Group and Booker organisers had been strained for some time, with a company source suggesting they felt underappreciated.” – BBC

The imprint, founded by Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau, had one of its most successful years in 2018, but even if it hadn’t, the imprint had a prestigious run of best-selling nonfiction. What gives? “Penguin Random House, which houses around 275 imprints worldwide and generates some $4 billion annually, has begun to look for ways to streamline its publishing lines.” – The New York Times

Young Virginia Stephen’s quick and fierce tongue, her nickname of Goat, and her ability to pierce her siblings’ consciousness with deeper thoughts and questions than they had – all seem to presage Virginia Woolf the Writer. And then there was the depression. – LitHub