4 February 2011. Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 winner of the Nobel Laureate for Literature, has been created a marquis by Spain's King Juan Carlos. Speaking from Lima the unassuming author said: "It's a very kind gesture and I am grateful to the king and to Spain, but at the same time I'd like to say I was born a plebeian and I'll die a plebeian". Don Jorge Mario Vargas Llosa's extraordinary and universally appreciated contributin to Spanish literature and language includes novels, comedies, historical works and political thrillers. His range of novels includes 'Conversation in the Cathedral', 'Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter', and 'Feast of the Goat'. He is acknowledged as one of the leading lights of the Latin American literary boom of the 1960's. the 74 year old has written more than 30 novels, plays and essays and was the first South American winner of the Nobel Prize since 1982, when it went to Colombian Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
A reading at La Seu Benissa by Gerard Benson
October 16th at 6.30. Gerard Benson was originally one of the well known 'Barrow Poets' and the founder of the 'Poetry on the Underground ' movement (The London Underground that is), an idea now copied in the transport systems of many captial cities.
A reading and talk by Penelope Shuttle.
Stanza Alacant Invites you to a reading and talk by the distinguished poet and novelist Penelope Shuttle, at 6-30 Friday 3 October. Entrance is FREE.
Christopher North will be chairing at La Seu Universitaria de la Marina in Benissa, C/Purissima 57-59 (beside the Ayuntamiento), which is a marvellous venue. You can get more details at 96 685 6003 or christopher@oldolivepress.com.
A mini bus will be available if enough people wish to use it, so please let Nina or Christopher know as soon as possible if to you want to come to.
Penelope Shuttle has published eight volumes of poetry, with a Selected Poems chosen by herself.
Along with Peter Redgrove Shuttle wrote a prose work, The Wise Wound, also published in America and translated into German, Dutch and Croat. She writes radio drama and gives readings throughout the UK, performs at various festivals, and wins many awards and prizes. She is a well-known adjudicator and tutor and a founder member of the Falmouth Poetry Group .
Shuttle's poems are full of elemental imagery: water, earth and, in particular, lightening, as in her description of her marriage in 'The Weather House' with its "trembling galvanic rooms". Whilst her subject matter can be everyday - motherhood, depression, bereavement - she refuses to be bound by anecdote, drawing instead on myth and dream to transform reality
Click here to go to her page on the Poetry Archive.
Kate Mosse and Nick Hornby choose their favourite books for Waterstone's
27 Jan 2009: The authors of Fever Pitch and Labyrinth follow Philip Pullman and Sebastian Faulks in choosing the 40 books that have most influenced their writing for the 'writer's table' promotion
The week in books
31 Jan 2009: Erotica for (and by) women; Faber new poets; and a publishing satire
John Updike, chronicler of American loves and losses, dies at 76
27 Jan 2009: John Updike, the prolific writer who was an enduring presence in post-war literature and a chronicler of the loves and losses of small-town America, has died of lung cancer aged 76
Booker Prize shortlist
Sep 09 2008
The Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. Notably absent from the list is Salman Rushdie, who UK 'bookies' had tipped to win.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
Web site: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/thisyear/shortlist
Girl with a Pearl Earring, a new play by David Joss based on the book by Tracy Chevalier will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London on 29th September for a limited one month season.
http://www.girlwithapearlearring.co.uk/
Public vote to find the oddest book title of the past 30 years
Aug 2008
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, the UK trade publishing magazine, The Bookseller, has announced the "Diagram of Diagrams" – a public vote to find the oddest book title of the past 30 years.
The winner of the Diagram of Diagrams will be officially announced on Friday, 5th September, 2008
Contenders include:
1978: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice (University of Tokyo Press)
1979: The Madam as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution (Transaction Press)
1985: Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the Other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts (Westwood Publishing Co)
1996: Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers (Hellenic Philatelic Society)
2003: The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories (Kensington Publishing)
2006: The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification (Harry N Abrams) Vote for the Oddest Book Title
Edinburgh Book Festival celebrates 25 years
Aug 2008
The Edinburgh Book Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It was founded as a biennial event and has become the largest festival of its kind in the world. This year's festival runs from the 9th to 25th August with appearances by Sean Connery, Charlie Higson, Margaret Atwood, Kate Adie, Jonathan Dimbleby and Tony Benn among others. The special themes are Focus on China, East and West, and the War on Terror, which will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Israel and the fifth of the invasion of Iraq. Edinburgh Book Festival website
Solzhenitsyn, literary giant who defied Soviets, dies at 89
Aug 2008
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of the 20th century, died late on Sunday 4 August 2008 at the age of 89 in Moscow.
Booker Prize longlist announced
Jul 2008
The 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction have announced the longlist for this year's prize.
The titles are:
Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
Gaynor Arnold, Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
John Berger, From A to X (Sept 2008 in USA)
Michelle de Kretser, The Lost Dog (Apr 2008 in USA)
Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies (Oct 2008 in USA)
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif, A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill, Netherland
Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith, Child 44
Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole
The shortlist will be announced on 9th September and the winner will be announced on 14th October. Salman Rushdie is currently the bookie's favorite to win.
Man Booker Prize website
