In Catalyst news, Bridget Krone’s Small Mercies was just named an Outstanding International Book by the U.S. Board of Books for Young People (USBBY)! This is the second time a Catalyst Press book has won this prize, starting with Futhi Ntshingila’s We Kiss Them with Rain. And a new translation from Ivanka Hahnenberger, the translator for our upcoming graphic novel Madame Livingstone, was just awarded the prestigious Batchelder Award! The Batchelder Award celebrates outstanding children’s books from outside of the United States that have been translated into English. The winning book, Catherine’s War (HarperCollins), was originally published in France in 2017 and tells the story of a Jewish girl named Catherine who is forced to change her identity during World War II. Madame Livingstone, our newest graphic novel about an unlikely friendship in the Congo during World War I, is available from Catalyst Press in June. Congratulations to Bridget and Ivanka!
In celebrity book news, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade wrote a children’s book, Shady Baby, inspired by their daughter and scheduled for release in May. Also in May, Big Short author Michael Lewis is releasing a new book, this time about the group that anticipated the global pandemic. Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is starting a book club, and so is Jeffrey Sachs. Maria Shriver is starting up an imprint at Penguin called The Open Field. Quentin Tarantino signed a two-book deal with Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, the first of which will be the director’s first work of fiction, based on his film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Speaking of the film, its co-star Margaret Qualley will be starring alongside Sigourney Weaver for the movie treatment of the breakout 2014 memoir My Salinger Year, out March 5th.
Harry Potter and his Hogwarts friends are mourning the loss of Christopher Little, the literary agent who scored JK Rowling her first book deal for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – for only 2,500 Euros! To put that in perspective, a first edition copy of the book is expected to go for 35,000 Euros at an auction this March.
ICYMI, Amanda Gorman has hit the big time. After performing a (mindblowing!!) poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris a few weeks ago, Gorman has already scored a Superbowl slot, a modeling agency, and several book deals. As in love with her as we are? Familiarize yourself with these must-know poets of color.
Small press success story! Monique Roffey, a Trinidadian-born British writer, has been awarded the Costa Book of the Year Award for her novel The Mermaid of Black Conch. The book was published by independent press Peepal Tree, which publishes literature from the Caribbean. Roffey used a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for publicity when the book was launched.
In more good news, a book club in New Mexico has started a vaccination clinic, illustrator Michaela Goade became the first Native American to win the Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in the children’s book We Are Water Protectors, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is publishing Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate’s first book. As a reminder, last year, Associated Press was (appropriately) raked over the coals when they cut Nakate from a photo with four other climate youth activists, including Greta Thunberg, all of whom were white. And despite shutdowns forcing bookstores worldwide to close their doors, book sales in the UK were the highest in eight years in 2020.
In the book business, Hachette just launched a Feminist Book Box, and Literati’s new book club platform has raised almost $40 million in funding. Founder Jessica Ewing hopes it will be “the next great literary social network.” Spotify is getting into audiobooks, and a new digital library called Feast Afrique, started by Nigerian chef Ozoz Sokoh, is bringing together over 200 recipes from African Diaspora worldwide, with some recipes dating back to history books from the early 1800s.
Book list round up: here’s twelve upcoming queer women, lesbian, and bisexual books, five comic and anime-themed cookbooks, and ten amazing book covers from January. It’s the week of “fifteen” on Book Riot, apparently: here’s fifteen YA thrillers, fifteen feminist mysteries, and fifteen books by female comedians. And if you haven’t already, you should definitely read the book series behind Netflix’s new heist hit, Lupin.
For some thought provoking reads, read up on the complicated history of the spelling bee, the epidemic of loneliness in middle aged men, and the role of spirituality in fiction. The New York Times Book Review is celebrating 125 years, so to celebrate, they released 25 book reviews from great writers and thinkers over the years. Here’s Joan Didion on why she writes, Matthew Salesses on the purpose (and dangers) of craft, and transgender author Torrey Peters on her thirties and the conflicting desires for de-transitioning and motherhood.
In South Africa, The Book Stokvel founder Sarah Mokwebo writes about her organization, a library that fundraises to buy Black-authored books from Black-owned bookshops.
And finally, the best headline of the week.
