Publishing Company Blog: December 2023

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Reams of secret poetry by pioneering British scientist finally come to light

Sir Humphry Davy’s unpublished verse – including one published below for the first time – was found in notebooks alongside details of his groundbreaking experiments

Keir Starmer ‘lacks clear sense of purpose’ claims Labour ex-policy chief

Party historian MP Jon Cruddas questions readiness for power of leader with few ties to movement’s roots or ideology

Millions wasted on attempt to create nationwide UK library website, campaigners claim

Former Waterstones boss Tim Coates among those to criticise government, Arts Council and British Library bid to create a ‘single digital presence’ for libraries

Friday, December 29, 2023

Jilly Cooper is made a dame in new year honours list

Bestselling author and journalist is ‘incredibly bowled over’ to receive DBE

218-year-old library above Manchester pub prepares for £7m redevelopment

Portico library has secured funding for plans to create dining, meeting, exhibition and educational spaces

‘It’s a golden age’: poetry flourishes in Ukraine – but at a terrible price

Conflict has changed Ukrainian poetry and boosted interest at home and abroad, but several poets have died or disappeared

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Kerry Packer was proposed as mediator in Thatcher’s fight to stop Spycatcher memoir

Counsel for ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright suggested role for Australian media tycoon but idea was swiftly rejected

Benjamin Zephaniah laid to rest in private funeral

Wellwishers are asked to plant flowers in Birmingham-born poet’s name or donate to Vegan Society or Inquest

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Hanif Kureishi: accident ‘completely eradicated’ sense of self and privacy

Author says he had to adjust to ‘becoming another person’ after injuries in Boxing Day fall last year

Sunday, December 24, 2023

‘No, that’s fascism’: the librarian who defied Russia’s purge of LGBTQ+ books

When Vladimir Kosarevsky was ordered to destroy books referring to same-sex relationships, he raised the alarm instead – then went to Spain to rebuild his life

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Murder mystery puzzle book Murdle tops UK Christmas bestseller chart

GT Karber’s book of challenges beats Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die and Guinness World Records to top spot

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Tolkien and CS Lewis manuscripts among treasures made available to public in 2023

Other UK cultural objects such as Spitting Image puppets and Barbara Hepworth works also donated via Acceptance in Lieu and Cultural Gifts schemes

Mills & Boon launch ‘spicy’ Afterglow series to woo TikTok book lovers

Romance publisher to launch two ‘trend-led books’ a month, with ‘generous dose of spice in every story’

Monday, December 18, 2023

Copyright claim against Tolkien estate backfires on Lord of the Rings fanfiction author

Demetrious Polychron ordered to destroy all copies of The Fellowship of the King after claiming Amazon prequel infringed his copyright

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Freud exhibition delves into a dramatic legacy in Latin America

Early and enduring adoption of Freudian psychoanalysis puts paid to view of it being a European practice

Five years and 2m copies later, self-published author lands UK book deal

Norfolk-based crime writer JM Dalgliesh topped the Amazon and Kindle bestsellers before being signed by a traditional publisher

Friday, December 15, 2023

Reading print improves comprehension far more than looking at digital text, say researchers

A study from the University of Valencia found that print reading could boost skills by six to eight times more than digital reading

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Bed bugs in books close London library

Shutdown in Northolt comes weeks after the neighbouring central library was found to have the pests in its furnishings

Patti Smith ‘in good health’ after being hospitalised in Italy

Singer suffers sudden illness while on tour and cancels remainder of dates

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Publisher drops author for using fake accounts to ‘review-bomb’ peers

Cait Corrain, whose book Crown of Starlight was due to be published next year, admits to leaving notices ‘that ranged from kind of mean to downright abusive’

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Paws for applause: Paddington set to star in stage musical

After two hit movies, the children’s books hero will lead a new theatre production from the company behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Monday, December 11, 2023

Cambridge University Library asked to return Book of Deer to Scotland

SNP councillor Glen Reid renews efforts to get back Scotland’s oldest surviving manuscript and ‘right this historical wrong’

‘Freedom begins with a book’: incarcerated people to judge new US literary award

The Inside literary prize, chosen by a jury of 300, is hailed by finalists including Imani Perry and Tess Gunty

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Agatha Christie’s family welcome diversity in new BBC adaptation

Author’s great-grandson suggests she would have approved of changing lead’s ethnicity in Murder is Easy

Murdered journalist Dom Phillips’ unfinished book to be published in 2025

How to Save the Amazon: Ask the People Who Know will be completed by writers and environmentalists thanks to a grant from the Whiting foundation

Groundbreaking graphic novel on Gaza rushed back into print 20 years on

When Joe Sacco created Palestine no one knew what ‘comics journalism’ was. Now his pioneering book has eager new readers

Saturday, December 9, 2023

‘I’ve had death threats’: Real Happy Valley writer vilified in tweets by police

Former Met PC Alice Vinten says online abuse worse since publication of book about women in force that inspired BBC drama

Friday, December 8, 2023

Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer killed in Gaza

Tributes pour in for one of the leaders of a young generation of writers in Gaza who chose to tell their stories in English

Israel-Gaza war latest updates

Danger Sound Klaxon! wins oddest book title award

Matthew Jordan’s horn history beat Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze and ‘I Fart in your General Direction!’ Flatulence in Popular Culture

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Jon Fosse says he would have stopped writing 40 years ago if he had listened to critics

Septology author uses Nobel laureate speech to say writing ‘can save lives’ as he recalls his early poor reviews

British poet Benjamin Zephaniah dies aged 65

The dub poet and author of collections including Talking Turkeys has died of a brain tumour

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Keats scholar finds that Roman police investigated poet before death

Official records show that the English poet’s landlady alerted Rome’s authorities to the 25-year-old’s illness months before he died from tuberculosis