WEATHER ALERT
Philip Pullman is honored in Oxford, and tells fans when to expect his long-awaited next book
Read full article: Philip Pullman is honored in Oxford, and tells fans when to expect his long-awaited next bookFans of Philip Pullman have been waiting almost five years for the final instalment in the author’s sextet of books about his intrepid heroine Lyra and her adventures in multiple worlds.
Stephen Rubin, publisher of 'The Da Vinci Code' and other blockbusters, dies at 81
Read full article: Stephen Rubin, publisher of 'The Da Vinci Code' and other blockbusters, dies at 81Stephen Rubin, a longtime publishing executive with an eye for bestsellers and a passion for music and public life, has died.
Booker winner Damon Galgut laments South Africa's gloom
Read full article: Booker winner Damon Galgut laments South Africa's gloomSouth African author Damon Galgut won the Booker Prize for fiction on Nov. 3 for his novel “The Promise,” the story of a white South African family in decline in the years before and after the end of the racist apartheid system.
Douglas Stuart hopes Booker win helps working-class writers
Read full article: Douglas Stuart hopes Booker win helps working-class writersFILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 file photo, Douglas Stuart speaks at The 2020 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony, at the Roundhouse in London. The Scottish writer was at home on Manhattans Lower East Side when he was announced as the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize last week. The Scottish writer was at home in Manhattan when he was announced as the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize last week. Glasgow-born Stuart is only the second Scottish Booker winner in the 51-year history of the prize, open to English-language novels from around the world. Stuart thinks it’s important — and overdue — that a working-class writer has won the Booker Prize.
'Shuggie Bain' writer Douglas Stuart wins Booker Prize
Read full article: 'Shuggie Bain' writer Douglas Stuart wins Booker PrizeLONDON – Scottish writer Douglas Stuart won the Booker Prize for fiction Thursday for “Shuggie Bain,” a novel about a boy’s turbulent coming of age in hardscrabble 1980s Glasgow that was turned down by 32 publishers before being picked up. Stuart, 44, won the prestigious 50,000 pound ($66,000) award for his first published novel, the product of a decade of work. Stuart dedicated the book to own mother, who died when he was 16. Though there have been many British winners of the Booker Prize, most of them English, Stuart is the first Scottish victor since James Kelman took the 1994 prize with “How Late it Was, How Late” — a book Stuart has called an inspiration. Mantel won the Booker for both its predecessors, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring up the Bodies,” and had been widely tipped for the hat trick.
Zimbabwean writer, Americans on diverse Booker Prize list
Read full article: Zimbabwean writer, Americans on diverse Booker Prize listFILE - In this July 22, 2020, file photo, Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga demonstrates for the release of Zimbabwe Journalist Hopewell Chin'ono in Harare. Dangarembga who was arrested during anti-government protests is among six finalists announced Tuesday, Sept, 15, 2020 for the Booker Prize for fiction. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)LONDON – A Zimbabwean writer who was arrested during anti-government protests is among six finalists announced Tuesday on a diverse list of contenders for the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction. Founded in 1969, the prize is open to English-language authors from around the world, but until 2014 only British, Irish and Commonwealth writers were eligible. Mantel won the Booker for both its predecessors, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring up the Bodies” and had been widely tipped for a third victory.
Maggie O'Farrell's Shakespearean 'Hamnet' wins Women's Prize
Read full article: Maggie O'Farrell's Shakespearean 'Hamnet' wins Women's PrizeLONDON Maggie OFarrell won the Womens Prize for Fiction on Wednesday for Hamnet, a novel that explores the lives of William Shakespeares often-maligned wife and lost son. OFarrells novel beat finalists including Hilary Mantels Tudor saga The Mirror and the Light and Bernardine Evaristos Booker Prize winner Girl, Woman, Other to the 30,000-pound ($39,000) award. The Northern Ireland-born O'Farrell said she had long been fascinated by Hamnet Shakespeare, who died aged 11 in 1596 likely from the plague. Shakespeare himself is never mentioned by name in Hamnet, which centers on his children and wife Anne Hathaway, called Agnes in the book. OFarrell said Hathaway has been portrayed as an illiterate strumpet because she was uneducated and eight years older than Shakespeare.