The Olive Reader

Nigerian Author Wins Top Women’s Fiction Prize

Museum Mile – Tuesday, June 12th – the official website doesn’t seem to be working, but there’s plenty of info in the link above. This is a great even that happens every year along 5th Ave.

The Overlook Press has a good-looking and entertaining blog called The Wingéd Elephant. It looks like they’re doing some good work over there and doing it with a smile.

And I encourage you to check the events listed at A Public Space. Hint it’s the LIT MAG MARATHON WEEKEND!

Visitors to BookExpo America explored the future — both long-term and immediate — of books. But the Hay Festival in Wales last week revisited the past when it was announced that George Orwell’s 1984 had been named the “definitive book of the 20th century.”

According to Guardian Unlimited Books, which conducted a national online survey, the choice indicates that “Paranoia, propaganda and a state of perpetual war are the defining characteristics of the last century.” The top 10 finalists included Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding.

Digital Planet, the weekly BBC World Servce programme that reports worldwide news in technology features this week our recent viral marketing campaign for the novel Average American Male by Chad Kultgen. David Roth-Ey, Harper Perennia’s editorial director, has some choice clips throughout the report. To listen, follow the first link above (the text summary is the second item), click “Listen Now” and advance to 6:05 on the audio reel.

And if you haven’t yet seen the videos, have a look.

McCarthy’s first “on-camera interview” will happen today on Oprah. I guess that’s good.

Shelf Awareness compares the coverage of BEA by the NY Times, Washington Post, and NY Sun.

Suspension by Robert Westfield won in the Gay Fiction & Gay Debut Fiction categories last night at the 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Congrats to Robert and his editor J-dubs (John Williams).

GalleyCat covers (with fab pic).

And Robert gives a first-hand account of his big night at Robert’s Blog.