Publishing Company Blog: September 2022

Friday, September 30, 2022

Matilda the Musical kicks off the London film festival as Netflix banks on Roald Dahl

The rights to Dahl’s work has been the streaming service’s most expensive content deal to date, so Matthew Warchus’s new film needs to work its magic

Canada’s Robert Munsch marathon aims to honour much-loved children’s author

Actor M John Kennedy will read all 75 books in a single day during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche art festival

Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga found guilty of inciting violence

Novelist given suspended sentence after staging peaceful protest calling for political reform

Trump made up audit excuse for not releasing tax returns on the fly, new book says

In eagerly awaited book Confidence Man, Maggie Haberman of the New York Times depicts scene on campaign plane in 2016

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Kushner camping tale one of many bizarre scenes in latest Trump book

Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman reveals racism, transphobia and ignorance from ex-president’s time in power

Trump asked May at debut meeting why Boris Johnson was not PM, book says

Former president reportedly asked indelicate question at White House in January 2017 when Johnson was foreign secretary

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Libraries to offer shelter to the vulnerable during UK’s cost of living crisis

Fines for late books will also be abolished by some libraries in England and Wales in a bid to ease financial pressures

Judith Schalansky is ninth author to write secret work for Future Library

The German author’s contribution will remain unseen, alongside contributions from authors including Margaret Atwood and David Mitchell, until 2114

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Bill Bryson breaks retirement to record Christmas audiobook

Despite assertions that he is ‘enjoying not doing anything’, author pens The Secret History of Christmas to reveal Santa’s true identity

Tom Hanks announces ‘wildly ambitious’ first novel

The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece spans 80 years and is said to be ‘thoughtful, poignant and hugely entertaining’

Pennsylvania school district accused of banning Girls Who Code book series

Pen America says Central York school district banned the books but officials strongly deny it in statement

Republican ex-congressman suggests colleagues ‘had serious cognitive issues’

Paul Gosar and Louie Gohmert were eager to believe ‘wild, dramatic fantasies’, claims Denver Riggleman in new book

Monday, September 26, 2022

Trump claimed ‘I was not watching television’ on January 6, book says

Ex-president denied knowing his supporters were rioting and called them ‘fucking crazy’, Maggie Haberman writes in new book

Saturday, September 24, 2022

‘Everyone’s got a book in them’: boom in memoir industry as ordinary people record their stories

Companies providing ghostwritten autobiographies for people wanting to tell their histories have seen surge in trade since the pandemic

Friday, September 23, 2022

Renowned Melbourne bookstore in war of words with authors over ‘traumatic’ pay dispute

Readings boss sends angry rebuke after more than 250 writers campaigned for better pay and conditions for booksellers

‘We’ve lost a genius’: authors and politicians pay tribute to Hilary Mantel

From JK Rowling to Nicola Sturgeon, world laments death of Booker prize-winning author
• Hilary Mantel, celebrated author of Wolf Hall, dies aged 70

France sets minimum book delivery fee in anti-Amazon struggle

New €3 charge aims to restore equilibrium between e-commerce firms that offer virtually free delivery

Thursday, September 22, 2022

GCHQ publishes book of spies’ brainteasers for children

Agency also invites public to solve colouring-in puzzle as it seeks to engage next generation of agents

Philip Pullman calls for inquiry into writers’ trade union the Society of Authors

The writer, president of the SoA for nine years before he stood down in March, claims the organisation needs ‘investigation from outside’

Violence of British empire in focus on Baillie Gifford longlist

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins among potential winners of £50,000 nonfiction prize

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Mitch McConnell called Trump ‘crazy’ after Capitol attack, new book says

Rachael Bade and Karoun Demirjian’s Unchecked reports the Senate Republican leader vowed never to speak to Trump again

Fox News anchor Bret Baier wanted Arizona ‘put back’ in Trump’s column, book says

News of ‘stunning’ attempt to rescind dramatic election night call contained in The Divider, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Longest single-volume book in the world goes on sale – and is impossible to read

The 21,450-page volume of manga series One Piece is physically unreadable, to highlight how comics now exist as commodities

Monday, September 19, 2022

‘Rapid acceleration’ in US school book censorship leads to 2,500 bans in a year

School districts in 32 states banned 1,648 individual titles in the last school year, a report by Pen America found

Former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy shares poem to mark Queen’s passing

Poem entitled Daughter written in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

Sunday, September 18, 2022

‘Bitter, gentle, funny’: Irish stars unite to celebrate overlooked poet Patrick Kavanagh

Celebrities including Bono and Liam Neeson hope to bring their homeland’s bard to a global audience with an album of read poems

Friday, September 16, 2022

US libraries face ‘unprecedented’ efforts to ban books on race and gender themes

Challenges from conservative parent groups and others targeted 1,651 different titles, the American Library Association said

Thursday, September 15, 2022

‘I did not identify as a lesbian’: Anne Heche reflects on Ellen DeGeneres in upcoming memoir

The late actor opens up about her relationship with DeGeneres in Call Me Anne, a memoir finished shortly before her death, to be released in January

‘Temple of peace’: rare chance to visit William Gladstone’s study

Books and other belongings of 19th-century PM on show during festival at Hawarden estate in north Wales

‘Feminist icon’ Miss Marple returns in 12 new authorised mystery stories

Agatha Christie’s detective faces a dozen fresh cases in newly commissioned work by authors including Val McDermid, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse and Natalie Haynes

Trump chief of staff used book on president’s mental health as White House guide

John Kelly secretly consulted The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, according to new book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Trump says Pence is out as potential running mate, book reveals

Former president told Peter Baker and Susan Glasser Pence ‘committed political suicide’ by refusing to reject Biden victory

Trump feared assassination by Iran as revenge for Suleimani death, book says

Revelation about former president’s concern reported in new book The Divider by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Berman book prompts Senate panel to investigate Trump DoJ interference

Judiciary committee notifies justice department of investigation into claims made by fired US attorney Geoffrey Berman

First German film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front shows ‘shame’ of war

Edward Berger’s adaptation of 1928 classic depicts ‘guilt and pain’ felt by Germans over being aggressor country

Folio from ‘world masterpiece’ illuminated manuscript goes up for auction

Section of the Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh is expected to fetch between £4m and £6m at auction next month

Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman among authors signed up for Ukrainian book festival

Lviv BookForum is partnering with Hay festival for a programme of in-person and online events, which will be streamed free from 6-9 October

Monday, September 12, 2022

Uncle Jack Charles, Indigenous actor and activist, dies aged 79

Artists across Australia have paid tribute to Charles, who died following a stroke, as a ‘true Australian legend’

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Poet laureate honours Queen Elizabeth II with new work, Floral Tribute

Simon Armitage’s poem, which spells out the late monarch’s name acrostically, pays homage to ‘a promise made and kept for life’

Floral Tribute, a poem for the Queen by Simon Armitage

Spanish novelist Javier Marías dies in Madrid hospital aged 70

Marías, also a translator and columnist, was described as ‘one of Spain’s greatest contemporary writers’

Trump threatened not to leave White House after election loss, book says

Defeated president told aide ‘we’re never leaving’ despite Biden’s win, according to new book Confidence Man

Bestselling novel forces France to reckon with #MeToo movement

Virginie Despentes’ book Cher Connard pushes problem of sexual harassment back into spotlight

Sunday, September 11, 2022

Spanish novelist Javier Marías dies at home in Madrid aged 70

Marías, also a translator and columnist, was described as ‘one of Spain’s greatest contemporary writers’

Vince Cable reveals he suffered stroke when Liberal Democrat leader

Former business secretary reveals in memoir that he tried to keep health issues a secret and carry on working

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Trump backed failed campaign coup against Kushner, Navarro book says

Ex-adviser says president in 2020 agreed that his son-in-law had to be replaced by Steve Bannon but did not dare try to fire him

Friday, September 9, 2022

‘A new way of life’: the Marxist, post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan

Kohei Saito’s book Capital in the Anthropocene has become an unlikely hit among young people and is about to be translated into English

‘You have to run’: Romney urged Biden to take down Trump, book says

Gabriel Debenedetti, author of book on Biden’s relationship with Obama, reports call on night of 2018 midterms

Thursday, September 8, 2022

‘Unhinged’ Rudy Giuliani drank and ranted about Islam, new book claims

Ex-mayor derailed ‘train wreck’ dinner with clients and colleagues. He was later considered for secretary of state

Lord Ashcroft and Sun political editor to publish Liz Truss biographies

The peer, known for 2015’s Call Me Dave, promises an ‘open-minded’ study of the new PM’s first year in power, while Out of the Blue by Harry Cole and James Heale is slated for December

‘I truly believe she was close’: star of new biopic sensed Marilyn Monroe on set

Director Andrew Dominik also says that scenes for the controversial Netflix release, filmed in the room where the iconic actor died were ‘like a seance’

Sadiq Khan to publish ‘practical guide’ to the climate emergency

Breathe, due out next year, will see the London mayor draw on his own experience with adult-onset asthma to address the crisis

Queensland Literary awards: winners list reflects ‘a moment of change for the nation’

Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Chelsea Watego, Claire G. Coleman and Quentin Beresford among those recognised by the judges

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Babel: the BookTok sensation that melds dark academia with a post-colonial critique

Set at Oxford in the 1800s, Rebecca F Kuang’s new novel is a magic-infused allegory for structural oppression – and social media can’t get enough of it

Jane Austen letter about her own ‘Mr Darcy’ on show at author’s home

Message to sister, in which Pride and Prejudice’s author says she is to ‘flirt her last’ with Tom Lefroy, unveiled

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Wainwright nature writing prize goes to ‘inspirational’ Goshawk Summer

Wildlife cameraman James Aldred’s diary of time spent observing a family of goshawks in the New Forest takes top honour

Truss urged to invest in libraries and abolish tax on audiobooks

Authors and publishers’ organisations have also called on the new government to support author visits to schools and to introduce an online sales tax

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Peter Straub, celebrated horror author, dies aged 79

Acclaimed US author of numerous dark fantasies, and collaborator of Stephen King, died on Sunday after a long illness

Booker prize: Alan Garner becomes oldest author to be shortlisted

Only British writer on list will collect prize on 88th birthday if successful, and is among a list of books judges say ‘speak powerfully about important things’

Judge Shahidha Bari assesses the six finalists she and her fellow Booker prize judges must choose between

Trump considered hiring heavyweight Jones Day law firm during Russia inquiry, book says

Ex-president said to have wanted ‘someone a bit more bombastic’, writes New York Times reporter David Enrich

‘They twist the message’: Brazilian writer faces ire of Bolsonaro backers

Julián Fuks receives death threats over column calling for ‘terrorist’ to rewrite Brazil’s history

Monday, September 5, 2022

Literary festival cancelled due to cost of living crisis

Ways With Words, the organisers of Words by the Water in Keswick, say low ticket sales mean it is not viable to run next year’s event

Donald Trump once tried to pay a lawyer with a horse, new book says

New York Times reporter David Enrich also says White House counsel Donald McGahn once called senior Trump aides ‘morons’

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Sterling Lord, agent who championed Jack Kerouac and more, dies at 102

Tennis-playing publishing force also represented Ken Kesey, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Amiri Baraka

An old smock and 60 cigs a day: Peter James learns tricks of art forger’s trade

The bestselling crime writer spent time with a former master faker as he researched his latest novel

Thursday, September 1, 2022

UK and Ukraine book festivals partner to protect freedom of expression

Hay festival’s CEO describes partnership with Lviv BookForum as ‘an act of solidarity’ as Ukrainian writers look to ‘tell our true story and why we are fighting’

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Friday, September 30, 2022

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Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Monday, September 26, 2022

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Friday, September 23, 2022

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

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Monday, September 19, 2022

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Friday, September 16, 2022

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

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Monday, September 12, 2022

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Saturday, September 10, 2022

Friday, September 9, 2022

Thursday, September 8, 2022

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Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Monday, September 5, 2022

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Friday, September 2, 2022

Thursday, September 1, 2022