GalleyCat - The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry

Awards

Writing In Between Alaska and NYC

Since she spent years living in between New York City and Alaska, Joan Kane's poetry crisscrosses two vastly different worlds. In this video interview, she described how these two places influenced her new book, "The Cormorant Hunter's Wife."

Kane was one of the ten writers honored at the 25th annual Whiting Writers' Awards last week. GalleyCat prowled the aisles of the 2009 Whiting Awards, interviewing a number of the winners about their writing lives, the recession, and the future of literature. The ten recipients each took home a $50,000 award for their literary efforts.

Here's more about the author: "Kane is Irish and Inupiaq Eskimo, with family from King Island and Mary’s Igloo, Alaska. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and her M.F.A. from Columbia University ... In 2009 her play, 'The Gilded Tusk,' won the Anchorage Museum theater contest."

"Wizard of Oz" Wins Book of the Year Award

Wizard-of-Oz-300.gifLast week an edition of L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" re-imagined by artist Graham Rawle won Book of the Year at the 2009 British Book Design and Production Awards.

The UK version of the book was published by Atlantic Books, and Counterpoint/Soft Skull published the American edition. The 352-page book was filled with handcrafted photographs by the artist.

Here's more from former Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press publisher Richard Nash: "Rawle has stripped the epic story of Dorothy's journey to Oz of all remnants of Hollywood iconography. Gone are the Judy Garland braids, the Technicolor ruby slippers, the ethereal Glinda the Good Witch. In their place, Rawle has fashioned characters and scenery that are at once relentlessly modern and also devoutly loyal to Baum's original text." (Via Richard Nash)

Advice for Young Poets

"Think about the whole of things, as opposed to thinking about right now or about how much there is to eat at the moment or what the problem is necessarily today," said poet Jericho Brown when asked to give advice to young poets.

Brown was one of the ten writers honored at the 25th annual Whiting Writers' Awards this week. GalleyCat prowled the aisles of the 2009 Whiting Awards, interviewing a number of the winners about their writing lives, the recession, and the future of literature. The ten recipients each took home a $50,000 award for their literary efforts.

Here's more about the author, from his website: "Brown worked as the speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans before receiving his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. He also holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans and a BA from Dillard University."

Margaret Atwood Advises the 2009 Whiting Writers' Award Recipients

whitingawards.jpg"Congratulations to all ten of you. I'll put you all in my blog." author Margaret Atwood told the 2009 Whiting Writers' Award recipients last night. She delivered some droll advice for the winners: "Write a cookbook or a book about vampires. Or troll through the classics, adding monsters...Or, better yet, write a vampire cookbook."

Last night, ten authors received a $50,000 check from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, part of the 25th annual Whiting Writers' Awards. Since 1985, the philanthropic foundation has given emerging creative writers these grants. Previous winners have included: "Denis Johnson, Michael Cunningham, Alice McDermott, and Colson Whitehead. The complete list of winners follows after the jump.

GalleyCat was there, shooting video interviews with the winners and finding out more about Atwood's recent foray into the world of Twitter. "It's been quite a lot of fun. I can send out desperate tweets and 15 people will answer my question," she explained after the ceremony. Twitter hadn't corrupted her writing style, she concluded: "It's a descendant of the telegram. Telegrams required succinctness because they charged by the word. It's a message."

continued...

David Small's Stitches: YA? Really? OK!

david-small-stitches.gifWhen the National Book Award nominations were announced earlier this afternoon, we were struck by one book in particular: David Small's graphic novel Stitches, one of the five finalists in the Young People's Literature category. What puzzled us was that we remembered all the buzz surrounding Stitches at this year's BookExpo America, and we hadn't gotten any impression that this was YA material—yes, it's an autobiographical comic book about the writer/artist's adolescence, but so is Alison Bechdel's Fun Home.

"There was a question among the judges [in the young people's literature category]," Harold Augenbraum, the executive director of the National Book Foundation, told us when we called asking about the nomination, "but it ultimately depends on where the publisher nominates the book, and this is where [Norton] nominated it."

"We always intended to submit Stitches in the young people's category," confirmed Erin Sinesky Lovett, Norton's assistant director of publicity. "We knew it would appeal to a YA audience as well as an adult audience." She added that because Small had never written for an adult readership before, the graphic novel could be seen as a "transitional" work, building from his distinguished background as a children's book writer and illustrator, and observed that the story was "age-appropriate" for teen readers who grew up on Small's earlier work.

We took another quick look at the book this afternoon, and though we'll be re-reading it closely just to make sure, we can't argue with that. And thus David Small becomes the second graphic novelist (after Gene Luen Yang to be in the running for a National Book Award—we'll see what happens at the awards ceremony next month!

(And, in a neat twist, it's now the second consecutive year Small's illustrated an NBA nominee—he also did the artwork for Kathi Appelt's The Underneath.)

Bonnie Jo Campbell Rocks the Twittersphere

campbell_cover.gifOut of all the National Book Award fiction finalists announced today, one writer had the Twittersphere buzzing--Bonnie Jo Campbell's nomination for "American Salvage," published by Wayne State University Press.

Washington Post Book World editor Ron Charles summed it up in this tweet: "AMERICAN SALVAGE (Wayne State) is the NBA's version of last year's NBCC-nominated BALLAD OF TRENCHMOUTH TAGGERT (W Va UP). The "Huh?" slot." Journalist (and former GalleyCat editor) Sarah Weinman pointed out that Campbell may have "the greatest bio of a National Book Award finalist ever," and we heartily agree.

Here's an excerpt from Campbell's intriguing backstory: "I'm a writer living in an unfinished house in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with my husband Christopher and other animals. I am six- feet tall and I drive a 1985 Chevy pick-up truck with a rebuilt 350 small-block engine. My first novel QRoad was released September 2002 and Kraftbrau Brewery in Kalamazoo has created a specialty beer, Q Brew, to celebrate the occasion."

2009 National Book Awards Finalists Announced

nba.jpgThis afternoon the National Book Foundation announced the finalists for the 2009 National Book Awards. Find out more on the NBF site, but here are the fiction finalists:
Bonnie Jo Campbell for "American Salvage" from Wayne State University Press
Colum McCann for "Let the Great World Spin from Random House
Daniyal Mueenuddin for "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" from W.W. Norton & Co.
Jayne Anne Phillips for "Lark and Termite" from Alfred A. Knopf
Marcel Theroux for "Far North" from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The nonfiction finalists are:
David M. Carroll for "Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook" from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Sean B. Carroll for "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species" from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Greg Grandin for "Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City" from Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt
Adrienne Mayor for "The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy" from Princeton University Press
T. J. Stiles for "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" from Alfred A. Knopf

The rest of the nominees follow after the jump...

continued...

Journalist, Novelist, and Librarian Will Judge Story Prize

storyprize.jpgA journalist, a novelist, and a librarian will judge the $20,000 Story Prize this year--awarded to a short story collection written in English and published in the U.S. during the calendar year.

Author A.M. Homes, LA Times journalist Carolyn Kellogg, and Ohio's Cuyahoga County Public Library librarian Bill Kelly will judge the 2009 prize. The winner will join a distinguished list that includes Edwidge Danticat, Mary Gordon, Jim Shepard, and Tobias Wolff. The winner takes home $20,000, and finalists each receive $5,000.

Here's more from the release: "The final deadline for submitting books is November 16, 2009. The three finalists will be announced in late January, 2010. The 2009 Story Prize winner will be announced on March 3, 2010 at an event open to the public and featuring conversations and readings with the three finalists at The New School in New York City."

American Author Barack Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

obama_portrait_146px.jpgPresident Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

This well-known author urged children to grow up to be writers in a recent speech: "Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer--maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper--but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class."

In addition to writing his own memoir, Obama has never been shy about sharing his literary recommendations or summer reading list. While Americans missed out on the Nobel Prize for Literature once again this year, at least one American author will bring a Nobel Prize home.

Novelist Herta Müller Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

muller.jpg56-year-old German author Herta Müller has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. She grew up in Romania, struggling with the legacy of World War II, a harsh dictatorship, and the Soviet Union's influence on her country.

In a brief press release, the judges described the novelist: "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed." She beat some tough odds--the betting site Ladbrokes had Israeli author Amos Oz as the 4 to 1 favorite.

Here's more about Müller, from her biography: "The Romanian national press was very critical of these works while, outside of Romania, the German press received them very positively. Because Müller had publicly criticized the dictatorship in Romania, she was prohibited from publishing in her own country. In 1987, Müller emigrated together with her husband, author Richard Wagner."

Previously

Hilary Mantel Wins Man Booker Prize

Ian Frazier Wins His Second $5K Thurber Prize

NBF Unveils 2009 "5 Under 35" List

Nobel Prize in Literature to Be Revealed Oct. 8

Elmore Leonard Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

2009 Rona Jaffe Foundation Winners Honored

Annette Gordon-Reed Wins $25,000 History Prize

Bruce Barcott Wins Literary Activism Prize

Betting Site Ranks Amos Oz as 2009 Nobel Prize Favorite

Richard Bausch and Benjamin Skinner Win Dayton Literary Peace Prize

MacArthur Foundation to Announce $500,000 "Genius Grant" Winners

Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist Announced

FT/Goldman Sachs Unveils Biz Book Shortlist

NBF Will Celebrate Gore Vidal and Dave Eggers

Nathan Bransford Gets Book Blogger Appreciation

Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Shortlist Announced

Amazon Awards PEN American Center $25K

Book Blogger Appreciation Voting Has Begun

Alice Munro Withdraws from Running for $50,000 Prize

16 Translators Share $275,000 in NEA Grants

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Win Literary Peace Prize

We're Going to Need a Bigger Ballot

Twilight Sweeps Teen Choice Awards

Neil Gaiman Wins Best Novel Hugo Award

Man Booker Dozen Announced

E-Readers Featured in App Awards

Best Thriller of the Year

Hyperion's Barbara Jones Honored by YWCA

Seymour Hersh Wins Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism

Help NPR Pick the Best Beach Books

Pritzker Military Library Honors WWII Historian

Edward P. Jones Takes Prizewinning Prize

Debut Novelist Michael Thomas Wins 100,000 Euro Prize

Prince of Poets Contest Draws Millions of Viewers

Marilynne Robinson Wins £30,000 Prize

Two Writers Win $60,000 Fellowship

Illinois UP Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

James King Wins Breakthrough Novel Award

Alice Munro Wins £60,000 Man Booker International Prize

Sana Krasikov Receives $100,000 Award

DC Writing Award Organizer Criticizes New York Publisher

20th Annual Independent Press Award Winners Announced

Stephenie Meyer Wins Author of the Year Award

NYPL Honors Jane Mayer's Dark Side

Michael J. Fox's Sixty-Minute Book Trailer

National Book Foundation Awards Innovations in Reading Prizes

Jennifer McLagan Wins Cookbook of the Year

England's First Female Poet Laureate Named

Edgar Award Winners Announced

Arthur C. Clarke Award Winner Announced

Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Awarded

J.G. Ballard Remembered

Drenka Willen Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalists Announced

Tie for Philip K. Dick Award

Poetry Showdown at New York Magazine

O. Henry Prize Stories Partners with PEN American Center

Lukas Prize Project Awards Announced

Guggenheim Fellowship Winners Announced

2009 Eisner Award Nominees Announced

Writers Largely Absent from Universal Record Database

Finalists for £100,000 Award Announced

Toni Morrison and Tom Piazza in Final for Tournament of Books

James Beard Foundation Awards Book Nominees Announced

Sana Krasikov Wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize

Hugo Award Nominees Announced

Youssef Ziedan Wins $50,000 Arabic Fiction Prize

2009 Man Booker International Prize Longlist Announced

Interview with NYPL Young Lions Award Winner Salvatore Scibona

Salvatore Scibona Wins $10,000 Young Lions Fiction Award

Penguin Wins Best in Show at SXSW

Exclusive Interview with NBCC Poetry Winner Juan Felipe Herrera

Exclusive Interview with 2008 NBCC Criticism Winner Seth Lerer

2008 NBCC Winners Announced

Community Writing Site Protagonize Is Finalist at SXSW Web Awards

Michael Dahlie Receives $8,000 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award

Tobias Wolff Wins $20,000 Story Prize

Barnes & Noble Announces Discover Award Winners

"Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill Wins PEN/Faulkner Award

Naomi Klein Wins £50,000 Warwick Prize

Inspirational Power of Last Lecture Recognized

Three Percent Picks Best Translated Books

Five Finalist Named for $10,000 Young Lions Fiction Award

Did Last Year's Amazon Winner Really Breakthrough?

Neil Gaiman Wins Newbery Medal

NBCC Announces Book Award Finalists

Six Finalists for £50,000 Warwick Prize Announced

Edgar Allan Poe Awards Nominees Announced

Paul Beatty, 5 Other Writers Receive "Creative Capital" Grants

Writers Lead List of Thinking Man's Sex Symbols

Booker Prize Backer Had $360 Million Invested with Bernard L. Madoff

Lawrence Weschler's Strange MacArthur Awards Secret

Breaking: Poet Elizabeth Alexander To Read At Barack Obama's Inauguration

Does Children's Literature Need the Newbery Medal?

Best American Short Stories To Include Online Entries

Biz Book Hub Taps Seth Godin as 2008's Best

Online Eligibilty for the Pulitzer Prize Remains Unclear

Ploughshares Named Top-Ranked Literary Magazine

Pulitzer Prize Eligibilty Now Includes Online Journalism

Read more on GalleyCat >

The First Word On the Book Publishing Industry
GalleyCat in Your Inbox
Mobile Version
RSS Feed
Our Blog Network

BayNewser

WebNewser

TVNewser

PRNewser

MediaJobsDaily

FishbowlNY

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

MobileContentToday

AgencySpy

UnBeige

GalleyCat

GalleyCat Staff

Editor:

Jason Boog

Senior Editor:

Ron Hogan

Correspondent:

Jeff Rivera

Follow GalleyCat

Email GalleyCat

Anonymous Tips
Favorite Posts

heather-thomas-sidebar.jpg Our Chat With Heather Thomas
jack-oconnell-sidebar.jpg The (Long-Awaited) Return of Jack O'Connell
marya-hornbacher-sidebar.jpg Marya Hornbacher: "No Tortured Artists Here"
stean-sagmeister-sidebar.jpg Stefan Sagmeister: "Design for Non-Designers"
 Why Does Maureen Dowd Hate Popular Women?
Topics

About the 'Cat

About Us - Modules

Adaptation

Agents

Authors

Awards

Behind the Deal

Book Fairs

Book Jackets

Book Trailer

Bookselling

Buzz/PR

Celebrities

Comicbookland

Contests

Deals

eBooks

Editors

Feuds

Food & Drink

GC's Hitlist

Lecture Circuit

Libraries

Lit Crit

Litterbox

LOLgalleycats

Mailbag

Monday Morning

New & Upcoming

Paper Cuts

Party Hopping

People of Color

Polls

Publishing

Q&A

Readers

Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll

The Revolving Door

Trends

Undiscovered Writers

Web & Tech


Links

Book Beast@The Daily Beast

Bookseller.com

Books@Wowowow

Buzz, Balls & Hype

Danuta Kean

E-Reads

Eco-Libris

MarianLibrarian

Publishers Marketplace

Publishers Weekly

Publishing Contrarian

Publishing For Profit

Publishing Insider

Publishing News

Publishing Perspectives

The Publishing Spot

Publishing Trends

PubRants

Rick Frishman

Shelf Awareness

TeleRead

Weekly Publishing Moves

The Write Report

...more...

Archives

November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

August 2009

more...


Job Listings

Featured Listings

Supervisor Transactions & Journals Production
IEEE
Piscataway, NJ

Administrative Assistant to Photo Director
Book/Calendar Publisher
New York, NY

Account Executive - Denver
The Bump
Denver, CO

Senior Producer
Scholastic
Watertown, MA

ADVERTISEMENT


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l PRNewser l AgencySpy
MobileContentToday l WebNewser l BayNewser l MediaJobsDaily l mbToolbox
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

internet.commediabistro.comJusttechjobs.comGraphics.com

Search:

WebMediaBrands Corporate Info

Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
Advertise | Newsletters | Shopping | E-mail Offers