BTW News Briefs

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Here’s what’s happening this week in the book industry:

The National Book Foundation, supported by $1.4 million in grant funding, has announced it will greatly expand its public programming this spring under the banner of “NBF Presents,” consisting of author panels and book talks about literature and its relationship to cultural issues and themes. 

Rare Bird Books and Book Passage have launched “Through the Bookstore Window,” a display contest for “books about bookstores.” The contest, open to any independent bookstore in the U.S., dictates that each of the winning stores may designate a bookseller to receive the cash award.

Iconic author Philip Roth died Tuesday at the age of 85. His books included American Pastoral, which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Portnoy’s Complaint; Goodbye, Columbus; The Plot Against America; and a host of other award-winning works of fiction that explored American Jewish life, sexuality, and mortality, often set in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.

After 18 years as marketing director at Vintage Anchor and Everyman’s Library, Roz Parr will step down from her role on June 1. She is leaving the industry to pursue personal and family priorities.

Penguin Random House Canada has announced that Kristen Cochrane, president and publisher of PRH Canada since 2015, will succeed Brad Martin as CEO on July 1. She will also join the company’s global executive committee.

Jocelyn Schmidt, vice president and associate publisher at Penguin Young Readers, has been named senior vice president and associate publisher, while Gerard Mancini, vice president and managing editor at Viking Children’s Books, has been named vice president, executive managing editor, and associate publisher.

Bonnier Publishing USA has teamed up with GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy organization, to release an LGBTQ-friendly children’s book series. The first in the series will be Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack and illustrated by Stevie Lewis, published earlier this month.

Flight by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft and published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, has been named the winner of the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for works of translated fiction; the award is worth 50,000 British pounds.

The winners of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s 52nd Annual Nebula Awards were presented at a ceremony in Pittsburgh on May 19, including The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) for best novel and The Starving by Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen) for best young adult book.

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (Flatiron) was named the winner of the Chautauqua Prize. Marzano-Lesnevich will receive $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a summer residency at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.


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