books and authors Archives - Page 4 of 8

Hilary Mantel – Author, Award Winner, Artist's Model

February 13, 2014

On February 24, a portrait of Booker prize-winning author Hilary Mantel by Nick Lord will be on display at the British Library – making it the first painting of a living author to be displayed there. Although she had complained in the past that women are depicted in portraits as the “passive recipients of an artist’s gaze or a camera’s gaze,” she said she is “thrilled” with the Mr. Lord’s work. The 25-year-old artist won the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition and received 10,000 pounds to paint Ms. Mantel’s portrait. Read more in the NYT and Telegraph articles. And check the EPL catalog for books by the acclaimed author.

Laura

New Lemony Snicket Prize

February 4, 2014

Are you a librarian? Are you faced with A Series of Unfortunate Events ? Have you handled them with integrity and dignity? You may just be the perfect candidate for a new award to be presented at the ALA (American Library Association) Midwinter conference. Children’s author David Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) who feels that “librarians have suffered enough” is establishing “The Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity” – a $3,000 prize to be given annually to a deserving librarian from Snicket’s “disreputable gains, along with an odd, symbolic object from his private stash, as well as a certificate, which may or may not be suitable for framing.” Read more about this award here and nominate your favorite deserving librarian by visiting this ALA website.

Laura

Chaplin in the "Limelight" (Again)

February 3, 2014

Footlights, an unpublished novella written by Charlie Chaplin in 1948 will be released Tuesday at the British Film Institute in London. The book which inspired Chaplin’s film Limelight (the only film where Chaplin and Buster Keaton appear on screen together) will be sold on Amazon.com and through the Italian film restoration institute, the Cineteca di Bologna. It was reconstructed by Chaplin biographer David Robinson and researchers at the institute from drafts found in Chaplin’s private archive in Switzerland. The release of the book is part of the Chaplin centennial celebrating his first screen appearance in the film “Kid Auto Races at Venice” in 1914. Read more in this NYT article – and check the EPL catalog for films and related material on the legendary actor, director and author.

Laura

Book the Writer

January 30, 2014

Book the Writer, a recently established venture in New York is matching authors and book groups. The first author to to take part was Alexandra Styron (daughter of novelist William Styron) who talked about her 2011 memoir Reading My Father – and was questioned by club members – in exchange for a fee ($750). The service, started by novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz, has attracted authors including Michael Cunningham, Kurt Anderson, Susan Choi, Zoe Heller, and Luke Barr. As of now the service is only available to Manhattan and Brooklyn book groups.”For club members, it offers a rare opportunity to question authors in person about the writing process … For authors, it is a way to talk directly to their readers, hoping to build word-of-mouth for their books and earning a little money on the side for an evening’s work.” You can read more about this unique venture in today’s NYT article.

Laura

A Prince(ly) Exhibit

January 24, 2014

New York’s Morgan Library & Museum has a new exhibit sure to interest both children and adults.”The Little Prince: A New York Story” which opened today focuses not only on the 1943 classic but also on its New York connections when Saint-Exupery was in exile there during World War II. On display are 25 of his handwritten manuscript pages (which show coffee stains and cigarette burns), along with 43 drawings and watercolors, and a screenplay that Orson Welles wanted to use to film the book. Also included in the exhibit is “a reference to a rave 1943 review of Le Petit Prince by P.L.Travers (author of the Mary Poppins books), who says the book “will shine upon children with a sideways gleam,” adding: “why mourn for the Brothers Grimm when it is still possible for such a tale to be heard from the lips of airmen and all who steer by the stars?” Read the entire fascinating New York Times review here – and check the EPL catalog for The Little Prince and other works by the author.

Laura

Crime Pays

January 14, 2014

Judges for a debut mystery-writing contest sponsored by Minotaur Books and the Private Eye Writers of America chose Alaric Hunt as the winner, unaware that he had been in a South Carolina prison for the past 25 years serving a life sentence for murder. The award comes with a $10,000 advance and a guaranteed publishing contract. Working at the prison library in a maximum-security facility, Mr. Hunt hasn’t seen the outside world since the age of 19, and used episodes of Law & Order to describe the New York setting of his novel Cuts Through the Bone. Author S.J. Rozan, who served as a judge, said: “The manuscript felt very accomplished. He clearly knew how to tell a story. The language and dialogue were fantastic.” Read more of this NPR story here.

Laura

Mary Shelley Letters Discovered

January 9, 2014

Unpublished letters by author Mary Shelley were found by professor of English Literature at Anglia Ruskin University Nora Crook. While researching an obscure 19th-century novelist, she saw a “listing for 13 documents at Essex Record Office, catalogued under the tantalising words: “Letter from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley” – and knew they had never been published before. The letters dated between 1831 to 1849 were written to stockbroker Horace Smith (friend of Mary’s husband poet Percy Bysshe Shelley) and his daughter Eliza and discuss Mary’s declining health and her pride in her son – but surprisingly don’t mention Frankenstein at all. Some of the letters are still stamped with the author’s own scarlet wax seal. Read more of this fascinating discovery here. And check the EPL catalog for works by Mary Shelley.

Laura

Mantel's Books Go From Page to Stage to Screen

January 7, 2014

Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies are being adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Adapting the 500 page books into two-and-a-half-hour plays has been challenging but the producers are determined to retain as much of Ms. Mantel’s prose as possible, as well as to prove that “theater can bring the books to memorable life.” The plays are in preview now, although most seats are already sold out. The BBC is also planning to film a mini-series of the novels this year. Read more about the production in this NYT article.

Laura

"Steel" Yourself – Latest Legion of Honor Winner

January 2, 2014

In 2002 American author Danielle Steel was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s top cultural honor. Now she can add the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award, to her accolades. Other Americans who have won the Legion of Honor include Douglas MacArthur, Julia Child, Walt Disney, Alan Greenspan and Bob Dylan. In an earlier comment, Ms. Steel said: “Well, I always go back to the classics. I love French literature. Colette is a special favorite of mine.” You can read more in this NYT article. And check out the EPL catalog for her many novels.

Laura

New Dragon Tattoo Novel

December 18, 2013

A sequel to Stieg Larsson’s popular Millennium series (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is due to be published in August 2015. Larsson died in 2004 and was working on the fourth volume, but because of a dispute between his partner and his family, the publisher asked journalist/author David Lagercrantz to continue the series. With film versions of the first three books already produced, will there be a new one in the works? Read more in this short article from the NYT Arts Beat.

Laura