Tag: Libraries

This Week in Literary News, Week of May 31

This week has been hard. There’s really no other way to put it. We’ve watched as cities all over the country, all over the world, have stood against racism and police brutality. We’ve seen people stand together, defiantly, tearfully, bravely saying the names of those we’ve lost to the violence of white supremacy.

This week has also marked the start of some real and hard conversations— many of which were long overdue. The literary community certainly isn’t immune from inequality, and in this week’s literary news, you’ll find several articles looking at ways that the community is grappling with issues of race and inclusion. You’ll also find some lighter news, like great reviews, book releases, music, and more, because taking breaks to take care of ourselves (physically or mentally) and celebrate our wins is also an important part of this. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News, Week of May 31”

This Week in Literary News, Week of May 24

Our weekly round-up of literary news here at Catalyst and beyond, is brought to you by our intern Naomi Valenzuela. Naomi is from Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, and is majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in English & American Literature at the University of Texas, El Paso, with plans of working in the publishing business after graduation

The Lolo Series

Libraries usually have summer reading programs once the summer vacation season starts. However, these are unusual times. Book Riot explores what libraries are doing to continue these programs safely.

May 25 was Africa Day! And Brittle Paper has a list of 13 African, under-the-radar books from the 1960s.

Over at Read It Forward, author Laura McHugh writes about why realistic heroines are the ones we empathize the most.

In Catalyst news, two of our books have great new reviews: Here Comes Lolo by Niki Daly, which Publishers Weekly calls “a winsome pick for early readers,” and Cat Among the Pigeons by David Muirhead, which the Midwest Book Review praises as “an inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and thoroughly entertaining read from first page to last.” Both books are out now!

Electric Lit has nine books exploring societal beauty standards and how they become obstacles to women.

Cat Among the Pigeons

Brightly has another list to diversify children’s reading lists. They recommend these 11 books that celebrate Muslim culture.

The National Book Festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year but will be moving to a virtual setting due to the pandemic. Read more about it at The Washington Post.

LitHub has an article about the podcast “Keen On” where speakers discuss how our reading of some books may change after the pandemic.

 

Notes from the 2019 ALA Conference

I had a great time at ALA2019 in Washington D.C.

Booth 707

Catalyst Press shared booth space at the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative booth with several other publishers who focus on international and translated literature. GLLI was founded by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds, who is also the talented translator of our  recent release The Wall by Max Annas. Business was booming at the GLLI booth, with a lot of interest in publications from Africa. I brought 60 Advance Review Copies, which were snatched up before noon on Saturday, the first full day. We trust that they got into the hands of librarians who care and who will promote African writers and books set in Africa. Continue reading “Notes from the 2019 ALA Conference”