Saturday Morning with Kim Hill: 25 May 2013 - Radio New Zealand National

8:15 Joan Baez: activism and music

9:05 David Skegg: science challenges

9:45 Phoebe Hayman: garden gnomes

10:05 Playing Favourites with Gifford Jackson

11:05 Lauren Beukes: serial killers and time travel

11:45 Children's Books with Kate De Goldi

Producer: Mark Cubey

Wellington engineer: Lianne Smith

Auckland engineer: Ian Gordon

Dunedin engineer: Martin Balch

Email: Saturday@radionz.co.nz

Web page: http://radionz.co.nz/saturday

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RNZ_SatMorning

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8:15 Joan Baez

American musician, songwriter and activist Joan Baez has been performing and recording since the late 1950s. She will visit New Zealand for the first time in more than 20 years for performances in Auckland (29 August) and Wellington (31 August).

http://www.joanbaez.com/

http://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/joan-baez-auckland-new-zealand-29-08-2013/event/24004A84E2702C34

http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=JOANBAEZ13#.UZ6q3mdj7To

9:05 David Skegg

Professor Sir David Skegg is a New Zealand epidemiologist, and the President of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago, and Professor of Preventive and Social Medicine.

http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/

http://www.otago.ac.nz/

9:45 Phoebe Hayman

Phoebe Hayman is the CEO of toy craft-kit design company Seedling NZ. The company's gnomes are being showcased in London this week at the centenary celebrations of the world's most famous gardening event, the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, overturning the Show's long-standing prohibition on gnomes to raise funds for the Show's school gardening campaign.

https://twitter.com/SeedlingNZ

http://www.seedling.co.nz/

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows---events/RHS-Chelsea-Flower-Show/2013

10:05 Playing Favourites with Gifford Jackson 

New Zealand industrial design pioneer Gifford Jackson spent 37 years as a design consultant here after working in New York for 17 years. His life and work is celebrated in the new book, Gifford Jackson: New Zealand Industrial Design Pathfinder by Michael Smyth (Creationz, ISBN: 978-0-473-23882-7).

11:05 Lauren Beukes

Lauren Beukes is a novelist, television scriptwriter, documentary maker, comics writer and occasional journalist. She helped create South Africa's first half-hour animated TV show, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika, and has written animated shows for Disney UK and Millimages in France. Her books include dystopian cyberpunk thriller Moxyland, and Zoo City, which won her the 2011 Arthur C Clarke Award. Her new novel, The Shining Girls (HarperCollins, ISBN: 978-0-7322-9553-0), is about a time-travelling serial killer.

http://laurenbeukes.com/

https://twitter.com/laurenbeukes

11:45 Children's Books with Kate De Goldi 

New Zealand writer Kate De Goldi is the author of many books, including 2013 NZ Post Children's Book Awards finalist, The ACB with Honora Lee. She will discuss three 'animal' books:

Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham; illustrated by Juan Wijngaard (Walker Books; ISBN: 978-1-4063-3386-2); Mysterious Traveller by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham; illustrated by P J Lynch (Walker Books; ISBN: 978-1-4063-3707-5); and Blue Moon Bird by Sabrina Malcom (Scholastic; ISBN: 978-1-77543-112-1).

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On Saturday 25 May 2013 during Great Encounters between 6:06pm and 7:00pm on Radio New Zealand National, you can hear a repeat broadcast of Kim Hill's interview from 18 May with Masha Gessen on Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Next Saturday, 1 June 2013, Kim Hill's guests will include playwright Howard Brenton, webmaster Richard Hulse, and Marlene Zuk on paleofantasy.

From Monday 3 June to Friday 15 June, Kim Hill will co-host Morning Report while Geoff Robinson is on leave.

On Saturday 8 June 2013, Kim Hill's guests will include Bill McKibben and Wallace Chapman.

‘Big Guns’ of New Zealand publishing well represented in the 2013 LIANZA Children’s Book Award Finalists

LIANZA is thrilled to announce this year's shortlist. 

Congratulations to all the finalists. 

Panel Convenor Pene Walsh says "It has been an honour to read the best of the past year’s publishing for children. Librarians, parents and booksellers can confidently give any one of the finalists selection to a child knowing without a doubt it is going to be a terrific read".

http://www.lianza.org.nz/news/2013/may/24/2013-lianza-children%E2%80%99s-book-awards-finalists

Follow the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards:

Website: http://www.lianza.org.nz/awards/lianza-childrens-book-awards
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LianzaChildrensBookAwards
Twitter - #lianzacba

Winners of the 2013 British Sports Book Awards announced

May 22nd, 2013

Sports stars, authors, commentators, journalists and publishers all gathered for the 11th annual British Sports Book Awards last night where the winners were announced at a prestigeous ceremony held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London.

The British Sports Book Awards is a celebration of the very best in sports writing and, following a seminal year for British sport, the 2013 shortlist featured one of the strongest nominee lists in the Awards’ history.
In arguably the most competitive and eagerly anticipated category, David Walsh scooped the best Autobiography / Biography Award for Seven Deadly Sins, pipping the likes of Lord Sebastian Coe (Running My Life), Ian Thorpe (This is Me) and Sir Bradley Wiggins (My Time).

A fitting posthumous tribute was made to Christopher Martin-Jenkins (‘CMJ’), the legendary journalist, sports writer and commentator whose wife, Judy Martin-Jenkins, was there to receive his Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing award.

Other winners included: Gideon Haigh (On Warne) for Best Cricket Book of the Year; Graham Hunter (Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World) for Best Football Book of the Year; Rick Broadbent (That Near-Death Thing) for Best Motorsports Book of the Year; and Julian Muscat (Her Majesty’s Pleasure) for Best Horseracing Book of the Year.
The full list of winners  below.

All winning books will now be entered into a public online vote to find The Times Sports Book of the Year. The vote opens on 22 May 2013 and closes at midnight 7 June 2013. The winner will be announced on 10 June, 2013. To vote go to: www.britishsportsbookawards.co.uk. Full list of winners below.

Presented by Rishi Persad and Sarah-Jane Mee, guests at the Awards included: Lewis Moody, Clare Tomlinson, Clare Balding, Steve Backley, Darren Clarke, Peter Shilton, Terry Venables and Alison Mitchell.

2013 British Sports Book Awards Winners

Best New Writer– Running with the Kenyans: Discovering the secrets of the fastest people on earth by Adharanand Finn (Faber and Faber)

Best Autobiography / Biography in association with The Times – Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh (Simon & Schuster)

Best Cricket Book in association with Littlehampton Book Services– On Warne by Gideon Haigh (Simon & Schuster)

Best Football Book in association with Lycamobile – Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter (BackPage Press)

Best Golf Book in association with St Andrews – Old Course Hotel Golf Resort & Spa and Hamilton Grand – Bobby’s Open: Mr Jones and the Golf Shot that Defined a Legend by Steven Reid (Icon Books)

Best Horseracing Book in association with Ladbrokes – Her Majesty’s Pleasure by Julian Muscat (Racing Post Books)
Best Rugby Book in association with BT Sport – The Final Whistle: The Great War in Fifteen Players by Stephen Cooper (The History Press)
Best Motorsports Book in association with Arbuthnot Latham – That Near-Death Thing by Rick Broadbent (Orion)
Best Illustrated Book in association with Getty Images – 21 Days to Glory by Team Sky and Dave Brailsford (HarperCollins)
Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing – Christopher Martin -Jenkins
Best Publicity Award in association with PPC – Be Careful What You Wish For by Simon Jordan – Bethan Jones (Yellow Jersey Press)
Sports Book Retailer of the Year Award in association with Simon & Schuster – Foyles

Month-Long Crime Wave Predicted To Hit UK in June National Crime Writing Month is Back!

Lucy Santos credit Southern Retro ,jpg

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Director, Lucy Santos, (Left-credit Southern Retro) explains why it would be criminal to miss the UK’s fourth annual celebration of crime writing old and new.

‘ From Bristol CrimeFest at the end of May to the annual CWA Dagger Awards Dinner and the presentation of the Diamond Dagger to LEE CHILD, we will be working in partnership with many organisations, volunteers and our own Crime Readers’ Association to bring a wide range of killer events to crime fiction fans.

‘From Aberdeen to the Isle of Wight (plus Le Havre’s 11^th Ancres Noir Festival) libraries, bookstores and literary venues will be putting on talks, signings, displays and events exploring the latest and best crime-writing, as well as giving readers the chance to discover (or rediscover) many classic writers.’

You can find details of all the events around the country on the CWA microsite: www.crimewritingmonth.co.uk.

‘There is a wonderful range of over one hundred events,’ Lucy says.  ‘For instance, Killers, Glenn Chandler’s new play about Britain’s worst serial killers is on in Brighton.  Ann ‘Vera’ Cleeves will be Inside the criminal mind at Cheltenham Science Festival (just one of her many events) and self-styled ‘pathology poet’ Valerie Laws will perhaps be rhyming ‘autopsy’ with who-know-what in Hartlepool!

‘Then there’s retired detective Inspector R C Bridgestock turning Crime Fact into Crime Fiction on the Isle of Wight; a plethora of crime writers at Felixstowe Festival; Kate Charles describing A Year In The Life of A Crimewriter at the Ludlow Fringe Festival; and Pauline Rowson and Peter Lovesey putting the CSI into Basingstoke Festival.

‘Perhaps Southwold Library’s Slaughter in the Scout Hut has the most intriguing title, although Nottingham Library’s Crimewriters And Other Liars might tell it like it is.’

But that isn’t all.  The CWA is proud to announce that the National Crime Writing Month has a major virtual presence thanks to the Crime Readers’ Association.  CWA members and readers will be blogging three times a week and there will be at least six giveaways.   Also, on our Facebook page each week, we’ll be asking for your views on the crime writing genre.

‘2013 is also the CWA 60^th anniversary so during National Crime Writing Month we will be launching other events and initiatives to celebrate this Jubilee and look back over the history of the CWA.

‘And, finally, crime writers from around the country will gather for the CWA Dagger Awards dinner to see the presentation of dagger awards including the Debut, Non-Fiction, Dagger in the Library, International, Short Story, Ellis Peters Historical Dagger and the Diamond Dagger, which this year will be awarded to Lee Child. On that occasion we will also be announcing the longlists for the Gold, Steel and John Creasey Daggers.’

The main website – www.thecwa.co.uk - gives more information about each of these as well as details of past winners.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival - book now

Book Your Festival Tickets Now This year's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival promises to be the best yet, so why not join us to celebrate a decade of the best crime writing festival around? With more than 80 authors programmed in over 20 events over one long criminally good weekend, there is something for everyone from die hard crime fiction fans to those fascinated by Victorian crime or obsessed with Twitter. Here's a run down of the fabulous panels we have planned for the festival. Book your tickets now to avoid missing out on the biggest and best crime wave of the summer! Fri 19 July | 10.30am | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Dead In Deutschland The UK’s leading expert on translated crime fiction Barry Forshaw asks  Jan Costin Wagner, Sebastian Fitzek, Nele Neuhaus and Dane Jussi Adler-Olsen, is German crime fiction the Next Big Thing? Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Fri 19 July | 12 pm | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Victorian Crime: Fact or Fiction? Chair Sarah Pinborough seeks out the truth leading authors Kate Colquhoun, Lyndsay Faye, Kate Summerscale and Andrew Taylor down a myriad of dark Victorian alleys. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Fri 19 July | 2pm | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Social Media: Who Are You? Do you dream in hashtags? Explore the fine line between social media success and social media suicide with authors Ruth Dudley-Edwards, Erin Kelly, Steve Mosby, and Sarah Pinborough with Mark Billingham as chair. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Fri 19 July | 3.30pm| Tickets £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Touching Evil In a world where unspeakable crimes are committed, does crime fiction anatomise or glorify crime? Michael Ridpath chairs the panel with Belinda Bauer, writing duo Nicci French, Alex Marwood and Stav Sherez. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562303 Fri 19 July | 5 pm | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants  We ask Sophie McKenzie, Denise Mina, Louise Penny and Henry Sutton to reflect on their own heroes and divulge which faithful books they return to time and again, with chair Martyn Waites. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Fri 19 July | 10 pm | £10 BOND PANEL: FLEMING FANS You’ll be shaken AND stirred by authors Sam Bourne, JJ Connolly, Susan Hill and Gregg Hurwitz, who will be given the license to thrill by chair Charles Cumming. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Sat 20 July | 12.00pm | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: New Blood Programming Chair, Queen of Crime Val McDermid. Eager readers on the lookout for the next big thing will discover a sure-fire list of ‘ones to watch’. Introducing Derek B. Mille, Anya Lipska, Malcolm Mackay and Colette McBeth. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Sat 20 July |3.30 pm | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: South of the Equator Join us on a memorable long-haul flight to far-flung destinations with a sizzling showcase of authors from the Southern Hemisphere. Authors Lauren Beukes, Helen Fitzgerald, Michael Robotham, and M D Villiers join chair Paul Johnston for a journey you won’t forget. Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303 Sun 21July | 10am | £10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Slaughtering The Sacred Cows Iconoclastic authors Stuart MacBride, Catriona McPherson, Manda Scott and Cathi Unsworth speak to broadcaster Mark Lawson, about breaking the mould, bending the rules, flouting the conventions, sticking their tongues out and generally pushing the boundaries of the genre.  Book Online Box Office: 01423 562 303

Pearson makes "significant changes" to structure

23.05.13 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller

Pearson has revealed “significant changes” to its organisational structure and appointed a new leadership team in a bid to accelerate its advances into digital learning, education services and emerging markets.
The changes will be implemented to capitalise on “significant growth opportunities” in those three areas, the company said this morning (23rd May).

Under the new structure, Pearson will concentrate on two streams—global lines of business and geographic market categories. The global lines of business will centre around the School, Higher Education and Professional areas and the geographic streams will focus on North American market, Growth markets and Core markets, according to a statement from the company.

The changes will come into effect on 1st January 2014 and from then onwards, Pearson will report sales and profits by both lines of business and geography separately “to provide investors with greater insight into business trends and performance”. In 2012, digital and service businesses contributed 50% of Pearson’s sales, while emerging economies made up 16% of the company's sales on a continuing basis.

John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson [pictured], said: "This new organisation structure flows directly from the strategy that we set out earlier this year. It is designed to make Pearson more digital, more services-oriented, more focused on emerging economies and more accountable for learning outcomes. This is a significant change in the way we run the company that will take time and sustained commitment, but it is one we must make to be able to accelerate the execution of our global education strategy."

Pearson has also announced a new leadership team. Rod Bristow, currently president of Pearson UK, will lead Pearson’s Core markets strand from January 2014. Doug Kubach, currently chief executive of Pearson's assessment and instruction group in North America, will lead the School business.

Tim Bozik, currently chief executive of Pearson's US Higher Education business, will run Higher Education. John Ridding, chief executive of the Financial Times, will take on leadership of the Professional business. Don Kilburn, vice-chairman of Pearson Higher Education North America and chief executive of Pearson Learning Solutions will run North America and Tamara Minick-Scokalo, president of Pearson Europe, Middle East and Africa will run the new Growth markets category.

Global lines of business will have primary responsibility for strategy and product development, while Geographies have primary responsibility for customer relationships, sales, marketing and product delivery, Pearson said.

However, as a result of the new structure, Will Ethridge, currently chief executive of Pearson North America, will step down from his role and from the Pearson Board on 31st December but continue to work for Pearson in an advisory capacity. Genevieve Shore, currently Pearson chief technology officer, will take on a new role as chief product and marketing officer.

Glen Moreno, chairman of Pearson, said: "North American Education has been a powerhouse for Pearson for many years and Will has been at the heart of its success. He has developed a strong team of executives and ensured they are ready to take on these new responsibilities. We thank him for his significant contribution to Pearson as a leader and board director."

In February this year, Pearson announced a new strategic framework for the company, while revealing it would spend £150m in restructuring costs in 2013. At the time, the publisher warned it planned to "significantly accelerate" the shift of its education businesses towards fast-growing economies in the developing world, and towards digital and services businesses.

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Beware of book blurbs

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Salon

The Washington Post did not review Martin Amis' latest novel favorably, but the book blurb suggests otherwise

By Prachi Gupta 

Enlarge (Credit: Falconia via Shutterstock)

As book blurb whore/not whore Gary Shteyngart will tell you, writing book blurbs is an artform — but it’s also a bit of a farce.
As Washington Post fiction editor Ron Charles points out, the book blurb from the Washington Post on the front of Martin Amis’ “Lionel Asbo” (which Charles did not review favorably) is so disingenuous, it borders on lying:

Amis is one of the finest stylists alive, but I thought “Lionel Asbo” was a bad novel. A really bad novel. In fact, my review of “Lionel Asbo” was a finalist for the Hatchet Job — a prize given for the most negative book review of the year. And yet, on the new paperback — on the front cover, no less — appears this ringing endorsement from The Washington Post: “Amis is a force unto himself … There is, quite simply, no one else like him.”
All true. But caveat emptor. That line is drawn from a review of “London Fields” that my colleague Jonathan Yardley wrote … 23 years ago.

More 

Hachette scores two on Desmond Elliott shortlist

23.05.13 | Charlotte Williams - The Bookseller

Hachette has two novels on the three-strong shortlist for the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize for debut fiction, with titles from Sceptre and Hodder & Stoughton both making the list.

The shortlist comprises Ros Barber's novel in verse, The Marlowe Papers (Sceptre), The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence (Hodder) and Jenni Fagan's The Panopticon (William Heinemann).

The panel of judges was chaired by novelist Joanne Harris who said all three shortlisted novelists were "ambitiously pushing the boundaries of style and form, with the confidence of authors much later in their careers".

She added: "Gavin Extence's debut is precisely plotted and has an audaciously realised circular narrative; the use of verse in The Marlowe Papers is brave and innovative; and Jenni Fagan's use of the Scottish vernacular in The Panopticon is original and assured. If this is the benchmark for debut novels today the future of UK and Irish literature is in safe hands."

The three authors will take part in a free public panel event at Foyles on 30th May, chaired by judge and deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times, Robert Collins. The overall winner will be announced on 27th June at a ceremony at Fortnum & Mason.

'Inferno' Has Huge Debut, But Below 'The Lost Symbol'

Dan Brown's Inferno posted a massive debut, selling 369,000 copies at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The number was more than enough to make it the #1 bestselling book last week, but the total fell short of the first week sales for Brown's The Lost Symbol.

more »

Publisher ceases supplying Amazon - Barefoot Books CEO On Why She Dumped Amazon

Shelf Awareness

'Life's Too Short'

"At a certain point, you realize life's too short for this. We couldn't even talk to a human being. It's not a very satisfying way of doing business."

--Nancy Traversy, co-founder and CEO of Barefoot Books, 

speaking with IBTimes about why the publisher decided to stop selling to Amazon, a decision that came after years of "lowball price-fixing, delayed payments and frustrating interactions with Amazon's automated publisher services."

Confessions of a Booker judge

Being on the jury of the Man Booker Prize is no mean feat. With 150 books to read, Natalie Haynes barely has time to sleep. But, she says, the popularity of historical fiction means she now knows a lot more about world history

Natalie Haynes

Wednesday 22 May 2013 - The Independent

1 / 1

Brought to book: Natalie Haynes at home, surrounded by Booker contenders

I have hit the halfway point. Four months in, 75 books read, 75 left to go. Ju



Judging the Man Booker Prize, to paraphrase Bette Davis, is not for sissies. I did the Orange Prize last year (about 50 books for each judge), and it ate up all my free time: during every bus journey, every moment sitting waiting for a film to start, every interval of whatever play I was reviewing, I'd whip out a book and cram a few more pages in.

This is different. We had 50 books to read in the first three months, and a book every other day is fine. Then publishers submitted more. A lot more. My reading speed had to double overnight: between March and July, I will have read the final 100 books in 100 days. You get ahead sometimes (a couple of short books in a row), and then a 900-page monster lurks behind them on the shelf, gobbling up the spare day and spitting out its bones. It's like running on sand, but less healthy.

It robs you of the chance to talk about books, too: I'm not allowed to tell you which books have been submitted for the prize, so I can't discuss them with anyone but my fellow judges. And I don't have time to read the books everyone else is talking about (what's the plot twist in Gone Girl? I hate not knowing). Not that this has stopped publishers sending over other books with a jaunty note, suggesting it might make a nice break from the Booker reading. I'm tempted to write back, telling them that I'm already using that time to sleep.

More

Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox - invitation to launch

Booksellers NZ reports on AWRF

• 
  
  • An Hour With Jackie Kay
  • Sylvie Simmons – Mr Cohen Revealed
  • Lauraine Jacobs – Everlasting Feast

Antiquarian book news - James Cook Titles

PBA Galleries - Thursday May 30 - 11.00am

Sale 507

South Sea: The Library of Dr. Richard Topel, Part II

Among the highlights:

• The official account of James Cook's Third Voyage, on which he discovered Hawaii and was later killed by the natives, first edition in three volumes with the folio atlas. Estimate: $10,000/15,000.

• Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes, 1845, 6 volumes including the atlas, the third edition but the preceding two were very limited for presentation. Estimate: $6,000/9,000.

• Ergebnisse der Sudsee-Expedition, 1908-1910, by Dr. Georg Thilenius, 18 volumes, with important text and photographs from this German expedition to the South Seas. Estimate: $3,000/5,000.

• A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1783, by the American traveler and adventurer John Ledyard, one of the earliest published accounts of the voyage. Estimate: $7,000/10,000.

• James Burney's A Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery, 1819, an important compilation with accounts of voyages by the English, Dutch, and Danes in search of the Northeast Passage, and the Russian invasion of Kamchatka. Estimate: $3,000/5,000.

• Three original manuscript Log Books/Journals of whaling and trading voyages of the steam barkentine Herman, command by Captain Hartson H. Bodfish, out of San Francisco, 1909-1911. Estimate: $2,000/3,000.

• James Cook's A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World, 2 volumes, 1777, the first edition of the official account of his second voyage, a large, untrimmed copy in early calf-backed boards. Estimate: $6,000/9,000.

            *

Hawaiian Surfboard, by James Blake, Honolulu, 1935, a surfing rarity with chapters on ancient Hawaiian surfing legends, surfing history, how to use the new hollow surfboards, etc., bound in tapa-cloth over boards. Estimate: $2,000/3,000.

• A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board the Ship Globe of Nantucket, by William Lay and Cyrus M. Lay, New-London, Connecticut, 1828, "one of the goriest mutinies in Pacific history." Estimate: $1,200/1,800.

Each lot illustrated in the online version of the catalogue.
Bid directly from the site. Now available in the Bid Live Now section

Please visit our website to view nearly 350 lots of rare and significant works on the islands and peoples of the vast Pacific Ocean, its history, exploration, culture, geography, and more. Included are the three voyages of Captain James Cook, important scientific expeditions, missionary experiences among the natives, scarce ephemeral works on Hawaii, and much more

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British Library

From The Little Red Book to the Green Cross Code, Propaganda: Power and Persuasion opens at the British Library exploring state propaganda from all over the world in its many forms

The British Library is to present a major new exhibition examining state propaganda, from its origins in the ancient world up until the present day. With over 200 exhibits on display, ranging from chilling Nazi propaganda to modern day ephemera such as bank notes, badges and even tweets which permeate our everyday lives, Propaganda: Power and Persuasion is the first exhibition to gather such a significant range of international state propaganda in one room, looking at its rationales, methods and effectiveness.

From 17 May to 17 September 2013

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Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

A rare ‘Superman’ comic was discovered hidden in the walls of a Minnesota house where it had lain for nearly 80 years. The No 1 issue of the Action Comics book, showing Superman lifting a car above his head, is expected to make more than $100,000 for the finder.

David Gonzalez found the 1938 comic book among old newspapers that had been used to insulate the wall of a house he was working on in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, USA.

The No 1 issue of Action Comics, revealing its new character, Superman, has already attracted 31 bids in an online auction, ComicConnect, that closes on June 11. One bidder has offered $107,333 for the find. The comic could have fetched even more, but in the excitement of the discovery, the back cover was torn.

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First Editions — Second Thoughts

21 May 2013 – Sotheby's, London: First Editions, Second Thoughts, a ground-breaking auction in which 50 of the UK and Commonwealth's outstanding contemporary writers annotated and in some instances illustrated a first edition copy of one of their best-known works, tonight raised a combined total of £439,200/ $669,341/ €519,574 in support of the writers' charity which campaigns for freedom of expression, English PEN.

The top lot of the evening in which every lot sold was a first edition of Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone personally annotated by J.K. Rowling, containing revealing commentary and 22 of her own original illustrations. The sale room fell silent as two determined bidders vied for the prized edition. Bidding leapt in increments of up to £25,000 and the hammer finally fell, to a round of applause, on a £150,000 telephone bid.

The second-highest price of the auction was achieved for the much-loved children's classic Matilda by Roald Dahl, with new illustrations by Quentin Blake, which sold for £30,000.

Further highlights of the sale include Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, which sold for £18,000; Julian Barnes' Metroland, which sold for £14,000; Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader, which fetched £11,000; Seamus Heaney's Death of a Naturalist, which brought £17,000; Colm Toibin's The Heather Blazing, which sold for £15,500; Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall which sold for £16,000; Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes, which fetched £14,500 and Ralph Steadman's richly illustrated Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, which sold for £14,500.

The evening was attended by a number of authors whose works were featured in the sale, including Helen Fielding, Colm Toibin, Jeanette Winterson, Frederick Forsyth, Ben Okri, Margaret Drabble, Andrea Levy, David Lodge, John Banville, Justin Cartwright and Wendy Cope.

Rick Gekoski, rare book dealer and trustee of English PEN, who curated the collection of annotated first editions for the sale, said: "This is a triumphant conclusion to a wonderful project, which has involved the hard work and good will of so many people. I am sure that the buyers of the individual books will be thrilled with their purchases."

Dr Philip W. Errington, Director of Printed Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby's, said: "Each and every one of these first editions can be described as the ultimate first edition of the respective publications, and the remarkable personal insights that the authors have granted us, through their annotations – together with the hugely important cause that this event supports – has truly made this a landmark sale."

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To Contact Ibookcollector
Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press. 

Lloyd Geering drew one of the biggest audiences at the recent AWRF - most impressive at 95 !

Geering and God: 1965-71 - The Heresy Trial that Divided New Zealand

by Lloyd Geering

Throughout his long life Lloyd Geering has wrestled with ‘God’, the deepest fundamental questions of human identity and making sense of living in this world in relationship with others. His great legacy is in provoking people to think about these questions for themselves, for the wellbeing of society and for the world. Allan K. Davidson, Foreword

The events surrounding the ‘trial’ of Professor Lloyd Geering for ‘heresy’ in the late 1960s were unprecedented in New Zealand history.

In the late 1960s Lloyd Geering became a public figure among New Zealanders when he was charged with ‘doctrinal error’ – generally referred to as ‘heresy’ – and ‘disturbing the peace and unity of the [Presbyterian] church’. Led by a group of conservative laymen, the charges were brought before the church’s General Assembly in Christchurch in 1967 but were eventually dismissed.

These dramatic events and those that followed through to 1971 are described in Lloyd Geering’s own words in this BWB Text, sourced from his autobiography Wrestling With God.

What are BWB Texts?

BWB Texts offer a new form of reading for New Zealanders. Commissioned as short digital-only works, BWB Texts unlock diverse stories, insights and analysis from the best of our past, present and future New Zealand writing. For more information please visit: www.bwb.co.nz/texts

Invaluable Writing Advice From Famous Authors

HuffPost

Many avid readers are also avid writers. It only makes sense that someone who loves the beauty of language would want to make a craft of it.

However, even the best writers get stuck from time to time, and it's always nice to get a push in the right direction. Most authors agree that the first draft is going to be horrible, but as Sylvia Plath says, "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."

So push through that writer's block, and get inspired by these amazing tips from famous authors. Pick up that pen, and begin writing. After all, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” (And we hope you'd trust a quote from Stephen King).
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with BOLD Needle & Thread - review by Dawn Forbes

with BOLD Needle & Thread

by Rosemary McLeod

Godwit

RRP $55.00

Thank you Rosemary for such a wonderful book – informative, well-researched, nostalgic and handsome. 

It is a social history of a familiar way of life for many New Zealand women during 1920 – 1950 which included the austere war years, the subsequent difficulties of obtaining clothing and fabrics and the need for careful family spending.

The reproduction of sections of the magazines that were “ordered” weekly or monthly at the local bookshop will remind so many of where our patterns and ideas came from and the projects will be familiar.

Rosemary says the book is an invitation to stitch and has converted the project instructions into “now”  for those wanting to make them  including options and even a danger warning for each one; You need patience for assembling the flowers (Hessian cosy from 1930s – 1940s) and my favourite: None. This is a benign project (Floral tea cosy from Woman and Home, December 1950).

But it is not just all about needlework.  It is full of all sorts of nostalgia. There is a time-line with significant happenings, firsts and births; in 1927 Charles Lindbergh made the first solo air crossing of the Atlantic; in 1938 teflon, ballpoint pens, shock treatment and instant coffee were introduced to the world; in 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific opened on Broadway; in 1952 Birdseye sold the first frozen peas; in 1954 Henri Matisse died; and in 1950 you could buy a copy of My Home for 10d, up from 6d in 1933.

There are old hints and tips:  from the Australian Needlework 16 January 1933 comes

“To keep your cuffs from soiling when working for a few moments in the kitchen, place elastic bands above the elbow and pull up the sleeves.  In this way they are not crushed by rubbing, and yet are out of the way”.  A reader of Wife and Home in February 1944 suggested: “if you are ironing and a visitor calls, switch off the electric current and cover the iron with a tea cosy.  It will still be beautifully hot when you wish to resume work.”

Enjoy the old painted covers of the magazines -  the advertisements, the clippings,  the captions and Rosemary’s own collections of memorabilia and supplies.

Start a stash and if you can’t sew already turn to page 468 and teach yourself how from the easy to follow diagrams.  And check out Cicero, the helper, on page 494.

You will love this big book.

Footnote:

Dawn Forbes is an Auckland reader – and needle-woman.

THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2013 Winner Announced

  

The innovative and influential American writer, Lydia Davis, is tonight announced as the winner of the fifth Man Booker International Prize at an award ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Davis was chosen from a list of ten eminent contenders.

The Man Booker International Prize, worth £60,000, is awarded for an achievement in fiction on the world stage.  It is presented once every two years to a living author for a body of work published either originally in English or available in translation in the English language. It has previously been awarded to Ismail Kadaré in 2005, Chinua Achebe in 2007, Alice Munro in 2009 and Philip Roth in 2011.

Lydia Davis was born in Massachusetts in 1947. She is best known for her short stories, a number of them among the shortest stories ever written.  Her work defies generic classification and she has been described as “the master of a literary form largely of her own invention”.   Much of her writing may be seen under the aspect of philosophy or poetry or short story, and even the longer pieces may be as short as two or three pages.

Davis is also well known for her work as a translator of French literature and philosophy, most notably for translating, to great acclaim, Marcel Proust’s complex Du Côté de Chez Swann (Swann’s Way) and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.   Her other translations include books by Maurice Blanchot, Pierre Jean Jouve and Michel Leiris.

She has won many of the major American writing awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship for fiction and was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.   Davis has influenced a generation of writers including Jonathan Franzen, David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers, who wrote that Davis, ‘blows the roof off of so many of our assumptions about what constitutes short fiction.’

Her work includes one novel, The End of the Story (1995) and seven story collections including Break It Down (1986), Almost No Memory (1997), Samuel Johnson Is Indignant (2002) and Varieties of Disturbance (2007).  A new collection, Can’t and Won’t, is due to be published in America by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in Spring 2014 and in the UK by Hamish Hamilton in June 2014.

Lydia Davis lives in New York and is a professor of creative writing at the University at Albany, the capital of New York State.

The judging panel for the Man Booker International Prize 2013 consists of the scholar and literary critic, Professor Sir Christopher Ricks (Chair); author and essayist, Elif Batuman; writer and broadcaster, Aminatta Forna; novelist, Yiyun Li and author and academic, Tim Parks.

Announcing the winner, Professor Sir Christopher Ricks comments:

‘Lydia Davis’ writings fling their lithe arms wide to embrace many a kind.  Just how to categorise them? Should we simply concur with the official title and dub them stories? Or perhaps miniatures? Anecdotes? Essays? Jokes? Parables? Fables? Texts? Aphorisms, or even apophthegms? Prayers, or perhaps wisdom literature? Or might we settle for observations?

‘There is vigilance to her stories, and great imaginative attention. Vigilance as how to realize things down to the very word or syllable; vigilance as to everybody’s impure motives and illusions of feeling.’

The Man Booker International Prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.  The prize is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize in that it highlights one writer’s continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.  Both prizes strive to recognise and reward the finest modern literature.

www.themanbookerprize.com

Sir Alex Ferguson's autobiography to be published in October

Sir Alex Ferguson has signed up with Hodder & Stoughton to publish his autobiography, which will be ghost-written by the Telegraph's chief sports writer, Paul Hayward.

Sir Alex Ferguson: his autobiography will be published in October, ghost-written by the Telegraph's Paul Hayward. 

By Jon Stock

The Telegraph - 22 May 2013

Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, will reveal the secret of his success in an autobiography, to be published by Hodder & Stoughton in Ocobter.

The book will be ghost-written by Paul Hayward, the Telegraph's award-winning chief sports writer, who has already ghosted books by Michael Owen and Sir Bobby Robson.

"His career is the story of English football over the past three decades," Hayward said of Ferguson today. "It's a privilege for me to help him describe how he managed such huge change at Manchester United, and to lay out his countless insights and anecdotes stretching back to his roots in Glasgow."

For a man used to signing up other people, it must have been a strange experience for Ferguson to be signed up himself. But the former manager and Hodder, who announced their acquisition and publication date today, both know that there will be worldwide interest in his personal journey from a Govan shipyard to being one of the world's most successful football managers.

Ferguson, 71, who won 13 league titles, two Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups during his 26-year reign at United, is reported to have reached a verbal agreement with Hodder three years ago. It is not clear how much Ferguson was paid, but a recent report of £2million is thought to be well wide of the mark. Book negotiations have been handled by his son, Jason Ferguson, who runs a sports agency.

According to a statement from Hodder, Ferguson "has been reflecting on and jotting down the highlights of his quite extraordinary career and in his new book he will reveal his amazing story as it unfolded.
"Sir Alex is recognised as having a ruthless streak allied to his drive and passion to win. It is likely that he could have transferred his leadership qualities with equal success to business. He will address this question in his book."

This will be Ferguson's second autobiography. Alex Ferguson: Managing My Life, was published by Hodder in 1999, the year Manchester United famously won the treble (FA Cup, Champions' League and the Premiership).
There will be plenty for Ferguson to reflect upon in his new book, as his tenure since 1999 has been full of drama. For seven years, he refused to give any interviews to the BBC, following an unflattering documentary about his son Jason. 
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