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Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy to open this month

This month will see the launch of the new Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, a project which will explore the importance of fairy takes in literary and culture.

Professor Bill Gray, an English lecturer at the University of Chichester, is the brainchild behind the centre that will discuss and celebrate the folktales, fairy tales and fantastic imagination from across the world that has led to bestselling fantasy works by writers as diverse as JRR Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, JK Rowling, Angela Carter, Philip Pullman and CS Lewis.

“The heart of this project is a focus on the importance of fairy tales as a creative force both in literature and culture. Literary fairy tales can be seen, in terms of genre, to mediate between, on the one hand, folktales, from which they often derive both form and content; and on the other, the more elaborate narratives of full-blown fantasy novels. The Centre will provide a forum where writers and scholars from various disciplines can discuss folk narratives, fairy tales and fantasy works, both as independent ‘genres’ (the literary fantastic, for example, may not always have obvious folk- or fairy-tale motifs), and also in terms of the resonances and dissonances between them, and other cultural forms.”

For more information, visit http://sussexfolktalecentre.org.

Posted: February 9th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: CS Lewis, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett

The ins and outs of the Google Book Settlement

The families of John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie have decided to opt in to the revised Google Book Search settlement. Gail Steinbeck, who initially opposed the settlement and Arlo Guthrie, said they would not bring a separate lawsuit against Google. Ms. Steinbeck is the wife of the late John Steinbeck’s son, Thomas, also a novelist.

Meanwhile, opposition to the settlement continues. Author Ursula Le Guin, who resigned as a member of the Authors Guild for “selling authors down the river,” has submitted to the Court an online petition signed by 367 authors against the settlement. In her petition, Le Guin states: “The Google Settlement was negotiated by the Authors Guild, without consultation with any other group of authors or American authors as a whole. The Guild cannot and does not speak for all American writers. Its settlement cannot be seen as reflecting the will or interest of any group but the Guild.

Among the Authors Guild members supporting the settlement are Wally Lamb, Simon Winchester, Beverly Cleary, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Garrison Keillor and Elmore Leonard.

The objection corner has recently obtained heavyweight support in online retail giant Amazon, Consumer Watchdog, half-a-dozen French publishing houses and the Open Book Alliance. Amazon said the revised agreement violates anti-trust and copyright law and urged the judge to reject it.

British authors have also snubbed Google Books, with JK Rowling and Philip Pullman turning their backs on Google’s new digital library.

Caradoc King, Mr Pullman’s agent, said: “Why should we have to do this because Google decided to set something up which is clearly for the benefit of Google? Google can’t afford to do it without the support of major authors — they have to come back with a better deal.”

Ms Rowling’s lawyer at the Christopher Little agency said that the settlement “purport[s] to change US and international copyright rules”.

Other British authors including Helen Oyeyemi, Kamila Shamsie and Nick Harkaway have signed a petition headed by the children’s fantasy author Ursula le Guin, which argues the settlement “render[s] copyright essentially meaningless”.

The Justice Department has until February 4 to make its views known but the revised deal does not appear to have placated some of its original opponents.

The Google Book Search settlement agreement is the 303-page agreement reached between the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and Google in October 2008 and recently revised after intervention from the Justice Department. The agreement settles a lawsuit filed against Google for “massive copyright infringement” related to the Google Books Library Project in which hundreds of thousands of titles were illegally scanned by Google. The settlement seeks to develop revenue models to compensate authors and publishers for Google’s digital use of copyrighted books. A fairness hearing is scheduled February 18, 2010.

Posted: February 5th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: JK Rowling, Latest News, Philip Pullman, Ursula Le Guin

Random House Children’s Books running story competition

Random House Children’s Books have teamed up with The Unicorn Theatre and The London Eye to launch a competition to mark the stage première of Siobhan Dowd’s award-winning children’s book, The London Eye Mystery, from March this year.

About The London Eye Mystery
When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off – and no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? So Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unputdownable spine-tingling thriller – a race against time.

The Unicorn Theatre and Random House Children’s Books are offering the chance for fans to create their own idea for a thrilling Ted and Kat adventure. The judging panel includes Philip Pullman and DFB editor Hannah Featherstone.

First prize is a private-party capsule for up to 20 people on The London Eye, followed by a trip for up to 4 people to see a performance of The London Eye Mystery at the Unicorn Theatre, and a chance to meet the cast and Philip Pullman. Plus, a selection of books, including the complete set of Siobhan Dowd novels (A Swift Pure Cry, Bog Child, Solace of the Road and The London Eye Mystery), and signed Philip Pullman books.

The runners-up will each receive a trip for up to 4 people to see a performance of The London Eye Mystery at the Unicorn Theatre, plus a selection of Siobhan Dowd and Philip Pullman books.

For entry details, visit the Unicorn Theatre website www.unicorntheatre.com

For more details on Siobhan Dowd please visit www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk or www.siobhandowdtrust.com

Posted: February 4th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman

Tesco in talks with Philip Pullman over possible film adaptations

Supermarket giant Tesco has joined forces with new media firm Amber Productions to create DVD feature films based on books. Under the joint venture DVDs will be initially available exclusively through Tesco stores, online and through Tesco Direct.

Tesco will focus solely on marketing and sales of the films and will have no say in the content of the screenplays.

Rob Salter, Tesco entertainment director, said: “This ground-breaking relationship with Amber Entertainment is a significant development for Tesco and the first of its kind.”

Other blockbuster authors in talks over Tesco releases include Philip Pullman, Judy Blume, Dick and Felix Francis, Karin Slaughter and Jacqueline Wilson.

In November Tesco secured exclusive rights to release an animated Merry Madagascar Christmas film with DreamWorks studio, which sold nearly 124,000 copies.

Posted: January 27th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman

One for your diary: The Sunday Times Oxford Literary festival

Saturday, March 20 is the date of this year’s Sunday Times Oxford Literary festival. It really is a  must-attend event for book lovers with organisers delighted with the quality of the line-up they have assembled. John le Carré will give a lecture within the Sheldonian Theatre, and other big names include Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel and Philip Pullman, who will talk in public for the first time about his controversial forthcoming novel, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

Running until March 28, the nine-day celebration of books and literature is even bigger and better this year, taking place over two complete weekends and featuring hundreds of writers and events. 

AS Byatt, the Booker-winning novelist, will accept an honorary fellowship at a dinner on Thursday night, and then appear on Friday as one of the judges when the inaugural winner of The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the biggest prize of its kind in the world, will be announced.

The children’s programme will include everyone from Anthony Horowitz to Meg Rosoff and Geraldine McCaughrean, author of Fantasy Book Review’s Book of the Month The Death-Defying Pepper Roux.

You can also sign up to the third Fiction Creative Writing Course, a five-day all-inclusive residential course from March 20 to 26, with masterclasses by Helen Dunmore, Joanne Harris and Julie Myerson. To find out more, telephone 07540 188564 or email creativewriting@oxfordliteraryfestival.com.

Writers and artists confirmed for this year’s festival are:

• Martin Amis
• Gaynor Arnold
• Antony Beevor
• Malorie Blackman
• Frank Cottrell Boyce
• Melvyn Bragg
• John Burnside
• AS Byatt
• John le Carré
• Zizou Corder (Louisa Young)
• Richard Dawkins
• David Dimbleby
• Antonia Fraser
• Adele Geras 
• Ben Goldacre
• John Gray
• Frances Hardinge
• Joanne Harris
• Robert Harris
• Max Hastings
• Victoria Hislop
• Anthony Horowitz
• Will Hutton
• PD  James
• Steve Jones
• Anthony Julius
• Shappi Khorsandi
• Andrew Lane 
• Penelope Lively
• Hilary Mantel
• Neil MacGregor
• Anita Mason 
• Ian McEwan
• Don McCullin
• Brian Moore
• Blake Morrison
• William Nicholson 
• Susie Orbach
• Mal Peet
• Tim Pigott-Smith
• Philip Pullman
• Craig Raine
• Andrew Rawnsley
• Philip Reeve 
• Ruth Rendell
• Louise Rennison
• Meg Rosoff
• James Shapiro
• Lionel Shriver
• Ali Sparkes 
• Simon Singh
• Patti Smith
• Norman Tebbit
• Rose Tremain
• Joanna Trollope
• Lynne Truss
• Shirley Williams

Tickets are on sale now; to see the festival programme and book online, visit www.oxfordliteraryfestival.com, or telephone 0870 343 1001.

Posted: January 18th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman

Round-up: JA Rowling, Bath-time for Pullman and Le Guin not finished yet

A round-up of fantasy news around the world.

A rare JK Rowling uncorrected proof sells for £1,600
An uncorrected proof edition of JK Rowling’s very first Harry Potter book has been sold for £1600 at auction.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, attributed to JA Rowling was bought by a collector at Edinburgh’s Lyon & Turnbull auction house. The copy was sent to critics and booksellers around the UK by Bloomsbury shortly after taking Rowling on.

The book, which also contains spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, was famously written on an old manual typewriter in coffee shops around Edinburgh.

Twilight seeps top spots in USA TODAYS’s best-selling books of 2009
For the second year in a row, Stephenie Meyer has swept the top four spots in USA TODAY’s lists of the best-selling books of 2009. Not even JK Rowling achieved this.

Books for children and teenagers accounted for 29% of sales recorded in 2009. Altogether, last year the Meyer books added up to £29.3m in sales – 10% of the total children’s book  sales, according to Nielson BookScan, which compiles the best-seller lists for several national newspapers.

Philip Pullman’s Bath-time
Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, thriller writer Robert Goddard and celebrated cult writer Philip Pullman are just three of the internationally acclaimed writers who will be visiting Bath over the coming weeks.

Philip Pullman comes to Bath on April 1. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is his spellbinding retelling of the life of Jesus. Philip comes to Bath to discuss his new work, which is part novel, part history and part fairytale. He will discuss the tensions inherent in the dual nature of Jesus Christ and explore some of the myths and mysteries of the gospels that have helped shape human history in the last two millennia. The event is at the Guildhall at 8pm. Tickets £9 with £9 off the book. Tickets £7 when booked in person at the bookshop.

Random House to raise funds for new new television, toys, video games, and film projects
Random House Children’s Screen Entertainment will be looking to raise $100 million in order to create new television, toys, video games and film projects. The group was created when Random House Children’s Books struck a partnership with the UK production company, Komixx Entertainment.

A number of authors and illustrators could see more properties developed with Philip Pullman and Terry Pratchett having already been mentioned. Komixx intends to go out into the market for RHCSE in March. It may yet approach an existing film and television financier such as Aramid Capital to help it raise the money. The $100 million will be used to develop cartoons and live-action films and television series based on RHCB properties, as well as video games and toys.

Ursula Le Guin plans next move after resigning over Google Book Settlement
Ursula Le Guin says she wants to do more than simply resign in protest. On the Book View Cafe Blog, she says she’s heard from many writers who agree with her and wants to start marshalling that collective sentiment.

“How, where, can I ask writers who are unhappy with the Settlement to speak up – to stand up and be counted? We don’t have to agree on every detail, but I think there are a lot of us who see it as urgently important to let it be known that writers support the principle of copyright, and want the Copyright Office, the judges, the publishers, and the libraries to know that we intend to keep control of our work, in print or out, printed or electronic, believing that the people who do the work, rather than any corporation, should have the major voice in how it’s used and who profits from it.”

Oscar nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes to appear in Legend Of The Seeker
Keisha Castle-Hughes, the youngest woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award will be a guest star on an episode of Legend of the Seeker.

Castle-Hughes, who originally rose to prominence in 2002 for her role in the New Zealand film Whale Rider. The actress recently starred in projects such as Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger and Piece of My Heart. She also portrayed the Virgin Mary in The Nativity Story and had a small role in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

In Legend of the Seeker, Castle-Hughes will play a mysterious young woman who claims to be the Creator, the incarnation of God.

Posted: January 16th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: JK Rowling, Philip Pullman, Stephenie Meyer, Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin

Canadian books that made a difference over the past decade

Indigo Books & Music Inc. have revealed the 75 books that most impacted booklovers during the past ten years in the Canadian retailer’s first Best of the Decade List. Compiled, considered and debated by the dedicated team of Indigo book buyers who have read, reviewed, recommended and bought a staggering number of books since 2000, the Indigo Best of the Decade List is neither a selection of personal favourites nor a spotlight on overlooked hidden gems. Indigo’s listing of the new millennium’s best books so far is driven by their impact and their popularity, the top titles from more than 140,000 titles that were sold in 2009 alone; books that motivated Canadians to read, to talk and to think about life and the world around them.

On the Indigo Best of the Decade fiction list, the decade’s best fiction told heart-wrenching stories, followed strong female characters like Lawrence Hill’s Aminata Diallo, and harnessed the power of prize winning to heighten the success of bestsellers like Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi. Both Hill’s historical fiction and Martel’s modern fable landed on the top ten list of books that most changed the lives of Canadian booklovers.

Young adult fiction flourished through the past decade with Indigo and Chapters seeing 200% growth through the latter five years. As expected, the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer top the Indigo Best of the Decade List for young readers.

Indigo Best of the Decade 2000-2009

Fiction

• The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen, 2001
• The Life Of Pi, Yann Martel, 2002
• The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold, 2002
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 2003
• The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, 2003
• The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime, Mark Haddon, 2003
• Shadow Of The Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 2004
• Runaway, Alice Munro, 2004
• The Birth House, Ami McKay, 2006
• The Road, Cormac McCarthy, 2006
• The Book Of Negroes, Lawrence Hill, 2007

Biographies

• Lucky, Alice Sebold, 1999
• Reading Lolita In Tehran, Azar Nafisi, 2003
• Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis, 2004Dreams Of My Father , Barack Obama, 2004
• The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, 2005
• The Know It All, A.J. Jacobs, 2005
• Tender Bar, J.R. Moehringer, 2005
• Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006
• A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah, 2007
• Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2007
• Beautiful Boy, David Sheff, 2007
• Somewhere Towards the End, Diana Athill, 2009

Non-Fiction

• The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, 2000
• No Logo, Naomi Klein, 2000
• Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain, 2000
• Paris 1919, Margaret Macmillan, 2001
• Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, 2001
• The Power Of Now, Eckhart Tolle, 2001
• Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky, 2002
• Moneyball, Michael Lewis, 2003
• Shake Hands With The Devil, Romeo Dallaire, 2003
• 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, Patricia Schultz, 2003
• A Short History of Progress, Ronald Wright, 2004
• Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor, 2004
• Marley & Me, John Grogan, 2005
• Freakonomics, Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubner, 2005
• The World Is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman, 2005
• Team Of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2005
• Collapse, Jared Diamond, 2005
• The Audacity Of Hope, Barack Obama, 2006
• The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright, 2006
• God Delusion, Richard Dawkins, 2006
• Three Cups Of Tea, Greg Mortenson, 2006
• The Omnivores Dilemma, Michael Pollan, 2006
• Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, 2006
• The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, 2006
• The Black Swan, Nassim Nichola Taleb, 2007
• Made To Stick, Chip Heath, 2007
• God Is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens, 2007
• Stuff Of Thought, Steven Pinker, 2007
• 100 Mile Diet, Alisa Smith, 2007
• Ascent Of Money, Niall Ferguson, 2008
• Payback, Margaret Atwood, 2008
• In Defense Of Food, Michael Pollan, 2008
• The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch, 2008

Young Adult Fiction

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling, 2007
• Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, 2005
• The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman, 2000
• Eragon, Christopher Paolini, 2003
• Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, 2007
• Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison, 2000
• A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket, 1999
• Bone: Out From Boneville, Jeff Smith, 2005
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, 2005
• The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo, 2003

Booklovers’ Top Ten "Life-changing" Books

• The Bible
• To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
• Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom, 1997
• Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1908
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 2003
• The Alchemist, Paul Coelho, 1988
• The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill, 2007
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling, 1997
• The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien, 1954
• Life of Pi, Yann Martel, 2002

Posted: December 30th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Christopher Paolini, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Stephenie Meyer

Philip Pullman and Michael Morpurgo instrumental in vetting database climb-down

Laws forcing the 11 million people who help out in schools and nurseries to undergo criminal record checks to prove they are not paedophiles are to be dropped following a massive outcry. Millions of adults who volunteer to work with children will no longer be forced to undergo criminal records checks after the Government watered down its new vetting system.

The U-turn by Schools Secretary Ed Balls means that leading children’s authors, who said they would stop visiting schools in protest at the new rules, will not now be required to register on a database designed to protect children from paedophiles. The complaint by authors including Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake, was first revealed by The Independent in July.

Ed Balls ordered a review of the 2006 safeguarding vulnerable groups acts by Sir Roger Singleton, a former chief executive of Barnardo’s, who will publish his report tomorrow. Last night, a spokesman for Balls said he would accept all of Singleton’s recommendations in full. The law will be amended as soon as possible.

This will mean that someone working with children will have to undergo vetting only if he or she has contact with the same group at least once a week, rather than once a month as stated in the act. People, such as authors, who go into different schools or similar settings to work with groups of children, should not be required to register unless their contact with the same children is frequent or intensive.

Posted: December 15th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman book to be auctioned in aid of children in southern Africa

À Outrance – an old French term for a fight to the death – is a special little book by Philip Pullman that will help children affected by HIV and Aids in southern Africa.

The book will feature an extract from Northern Lights describing the battle between two armoured bears, Iorek Byrnison and Iofur Raknison. Only 265 of the books will be published – 15 of them unique copies created by some of the world’s leading bookbinders – through an initiative with Oak Tree Fine Press.

The most expensive of the Pullman books, each hand-printed on a letter press, featuring woodcut illustrations and personally inscribed by the author, are likely to fetch thousands through a silent auction.

Pullman, the award –winning author, said “Normally I’d feel a little equivocal about being published in an edition that very few people can afford. The reason I agreed to this was that all the proceeds are going to benefit children in Africa with HIV/Aids. It seems a wonderful way of both making exquisite and unique objects and bringing help to children who desperately need it.”

Copies of À Outrance will be on display at a Bodleian Library exhibition in Oxford from December 15 to 18.

Posted: December 9th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman

Books by Philip Pullman to be auctioned online

Books by Philip Pullman are to be sold in an online auction expected to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for children with Aids.

He is collaborating with charity publisher Oak Tree Fine Press to publish a new book entitled À Outrance, which will feature an extract from the His Dark Materials trilogy, as well as a new ‘afterword’ by the author.

He said: “Oak Tree produce these beautiful books that are really extracts from books by famous authors. All the profits go to children with HIV/Aids in Africa.”

The extract tells how the rightful bear-king Iorek Byrnison regained his throne through a fight to the death with the false usurper Iofur Raknison.

Only 265 copies have been made, illustrated by woodcut artists. Some of the volumes have been printed by hand letter press on handmade paper. They are all signed and some editions inscribed by Mr Pullman.

Three designer bookbinders have also been commissioned to produce 15 unique copies, which will be displayed in the Bodleian Library from December 15 to 18.

An online auction starts at oaktreefinepress.com on Tuesday, December 1.

Posted: December 1st, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman