Paula Hawkins' much-anticipated next novel will be released on May 2

Publishers Lunch

Riverhead, Transworld in the UK, and Doubleday Canada have announced that The Girl on the Train author Paula Hawkins' much-anticipated next novel will be released on May 2, 2017. Into the Water is another novel of psychological suspense "about the slipperiness of the truth and a family drowning in secrets." The set up: "When a single mother and a teenage girl each turn up dead at the bottom of the river, just weeks apart, the ensuing investigation dredges up a complicated history." The US edition is listed as 352 pages long, priced at $27. A cover has been released for the UK edition, but not yet for the US edition. The Girl on the Train has now sold over 6 million copies in the US, and over 18 million copies worldwide (including just over 2 million print copies in the UK).

Hawkins notes in the release, "This story has been brewing for a good while. For me there is something irresistible about the stories we tell ourselves, the way voices and truths can be hidden consciously or unconsciously, memories can be washed away and whole histories submerged."

Forbes Launches Book Imprint

 

By Dianna Dilworth on Nov. 28, 2016 - Galley Cat

Advantage Media Group (Advantage) and Forbes have launched a new imprint called ForbesBooks.

The editorial team is currently looking for submissions from known leaders in the business world. “Top thought leaders and idea makers in the business world today” can apply online to be considered. The imprint promises that it will cut the typical book publishing timeline in half.

“We see adding a book imprint to our business as a unique growth opportunity in the marketplace, and it’s in line with our strategy to diversify revenue streams and expand our global reach,” stated Mike Federle, president and COO of Forbes Media.  “We chose to partner with Advantage because its team brings experience and insight, along with an innovative, speed-to-market model unencumbered by traditional book publishing cycles.  Advantage also offers a suite of services designed to strategically and tactically support our authors and promote their expertise.”

Fun frolic in picture book

Squeakopotamus
by Dawn McMillan and illustrator Ross Kinnaird

Squeakopotamus is another fun, frolicking picture book from author Dawn McMillan and illustrator Ross Kinnaird – the team that brought us I Need a New Bum! and, with another, Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms?

  The mischievous mix of mouse and hippopotamus will really appeal to children. 

   The text is reinforced by bright, playful illustrations with hidden giggles all of their own. They blend beautifully with big, colourful word art, encouraging active reading and participation in the story, and supporting the imaginative tone.

    The text has a conversational, enjoyable approach to rhyme and rhythm, making the story jump up from the page right along with Squeakopotamus!
     Discover the terrific troubles of having this larger than life pet (from feeding to simply fitting in!) and see how a rainy day can work out well for everybody in the end.

    Read it aloud with all the energy, actions and expression that the writing and layout inspire, and this book will be a real hoot (or perhaps a squeak!) for the whole family.

---

Flaxflower Review by Jenny Palmer

Title: Squeakopotamus
Author: Dawn McMillan
Illustrations: Ross Kinnaird
Publisher: Oratia Books
ISBN: 978-0-947506-11-7
RRP: $19.99
Available: bookshops

Latest News overnight from The Bookseller

Shadow culture minister Brennan slams government over library stats Shadow culture minister Kevin Brennan has criticised the government for not undertaking robust research into library closures, while vowing to hold ministers to account over the widespread axing of services.

Oxford Lit Fest u-turns on author payment The Oxford Literary Festival has changed its mind over paying authors to appear at the event.

Delay to Libraries Taskforce report 'a disgrace' Library campaigners have expressed their intense frustration at the continued non-appearance of the Libraries Taskforce's Ambition report on a national strategy for England's public libraries.

Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh pen Sweet cookbook Penguin Random House has acquired Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh to be published by Ebury Press on 14th September 2017.

Helena Morrissey pens feminist guide to success William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins, has acquired A Good Time to be a Girl: How to Succeed in a Changing World by city c.e.o. Helena Morrissey.

McDermid, Cornwell, Hawkins star in BBC documentary Serial Killers The BBC is airing a new documentary on BBC One tonight (29th November) about women who write crime fiction, featuring prominent crime writers Val McDermid, Patricia Cornwell, Martina Cole, husband-and-wife author team Nicci French, Sarah Phelps and Paula Hawkins in interview with presenter Alan Yentob.

Atlantic's Fran Owen joins the Vintage communications team Fran Owen, publicity director at Atlantic, is joining Vintage as publicity director for Chatto & Windus, Hogarth and Square Peg in a job-share role with publicity director Mari Yamazaki.

England rugby player James Haskell to publish training guide with Hodder Hodder & Stoughton has acquired an accessible fitness and nutritional guide from internationally renowned athlete and England international rugby player, James Haskell.

Pushkin to publish Trash author Andy Mulligan Sarah Odedina, editor-at-large at Pushkin Children's has acquired the next novel by Andy Mulligan.

Spread the Word launches new Life Writing Prize Writer development organisation Spread the Word is launching a new nationwide Life Writing Prize, thanks to a donation from writer Joanna Munro and partnership support from Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre, the Royal Society of Literature and Arvon.

Goodhart's book probing Brexit Britain to Hurst Hurst is set to publish a book about the political and moral values which are “sharply dividing Brexit Britain”, by David Goodhart.

2016's Best & Notable Books

Best and Notable Books - Publishers Lunch

In advance of picking their top 10, the New York Times Book Review editors listed their 100 notable books of 2016. Joining the notables are a number of other lists, including top 10s from Newsday and Glamour magazine, five top novels from Kevin Nguyen for GQ, and the Telegraph's top 50 books of the year in the UK.

15 Books for Literally Every Reader in Your Life

Off the Shelf

By Erica Nelson    |   Monday, November 28, 2016

It’s that lovely time of the year when we get to shower our loved ones with gifts that show our appreciation for them. The gift of a book is a very special type—it can show a deep understanding of another person’s interests and also give them a glimpse into who you are, how you think, and what’s important to you. Here's our guide to 15 great books to give the readers in your life. READ MORE

Wellington in Your Pocket

Wellington in Your Pocket

By Karolina Slovakova, Nigel Beckford and Michael Fitzsimons

This handy pocket-sized guide is a vibrant tribute to all things Wellington. It combines fresh and funky illustrations with witty and informative text about the city’s main attractions. It is educative as well as entertaining. It includes a map of the city and is a charming gift for Wellingtonians abroad and anyone with a day to spare in Wellington. Wellington in Your Pocket is printed on quality art paper, making it an ideal memento for Wellington enthusiasts. As well as the pocket book guide, a giant art print of the whole city – Welcome to Wellington, the new Hawaii – has also been created in the same dynamic illustrative style. 

 Wellington in Your Pocket combines the talents of exciting young Czech illustrator Karolina Slovakova and award-winning Wellington writers and art directors, Nigel Beckford and Michael Fitzsimons. Nigel Beckford and Michael Fitzsimons are directors of FitzBeck Creative which was responsible for the highly successful Wellington Book and the NZ Book. Both these books have had several reprints with sales approaching 12,000 copies, and both have been recognised with Best Design Awards from the NZ Designers’ Institute.

Say its creators: "This was another painstaking labour of love. All the people in the book are real people sketched going about their daily business. Hence the skyscrapers of paper, multiple scans and hours of colouring and art direction it took to achieve a final, bespoke result. We also avoided the tyranny of quick lists and 'trip advisor-speak' and opted for a few well-chosen words from heart instead." 

RRP  $25

88 pages plus soft cover
165mm x 110mm
Publisher: FitzBeck Publishing

Distributer: Greene Phonenix Marketing

News from The Bookseller

Note this is a couple of days old as a result of my being off-line.

Authors question deep discounts as SoA calls for greater contract transparency The Society of Authors (SoA) has called on publishers to give authors “the right to say no” to high-discounting practices as part of its campaign for fairer, more transparent contracts.

The Good Immigrant crowned Britain's favourite book of 2016 The Good Immigrant has been voted as the British public’s favourite book of 2016 at the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards.

Communications director Maureen Corish to leave PRH in restructure Maureen Corish, group communications director for Penguin Random House UK, is leaving the business at the end of November as the result of a restructure in PRH's communications function.

Booksellers compete for share of Black Friday bonanza Booksellers are bidding to get a share of the £2bn shoppers are predicted to spend today, Black Friday.

Participation in Summer Reading Challenge falls 4% The number of children taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge fell 4% this year, although percentage of under-4s participating rose 12%.

Bluebird hosts star-studded 2017 preview Bluebird hosted a star-studded 2017 preview event for press and retailers with bestselling authors Joe "The Body Coach" Wicks, comedian Russell Brand and activist Jack Monroe all appearing at the London Edition Hotel.

Retailers reveal festive promotional campaigns Bookshops are rolling out their Christmas advertising campaigns, with Foyles releasing a video in support of its festive push for the first time.

Deal prices surge at Shanghai International Children's Book Fair UK publishers in attendance at the fourth Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (known as CCBF) reported a frenzy of intense interest from Chinese publishers keen to buy translation rights, with deal prices rising as auctions took place to distribute coveted titles.

Surfing memoir Barbarian Days wins William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award Surfing memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by New Yorker journalist William Finnegan (Corsair) has scooped the 28th William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

Natalie Jerome joins Kings Road Publishing Natalie Jerome is joining Kings Road Publishing, a division of Bonnier Publishing, as brand and licensing director.

Riddell and Fletcher amongst WBD Show line-up Children’s authors such as Tom Fletcher, Chris Hoy and the children’s laureate Chris Riddell have signed up to take part in next year’s ‘Biggest Book Show on Earth’, organised by World Book Day.

Kobo partners with retailer Fnac Spain Rakuten Kobo has partnered with European retail chain Fnac to bring Kobo products to readers in Spain.

White Fungus Receives Award from ANZCHAM

 

 

Last night White Fungus received the inaugural Special Achievement Award for Contribution to the NZ-Taiwan Relationship at the 11th Annual ANZCHAM Business awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Taipei.   Thanks to ANZCHAM, the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office and everyone who has supported this project since it began 12 years ago. A complete list of NZ award winners is below.     • White Fungus, Hanson Brothers, Ron and Mark - Special Achievement Award for Contribution to the NZ-Taiwan Relationship    • David Yu, Chief Executive of RMG Group - New Zealand-Taiwan Young Entrepreneur Award • Scott Hung, General Manager of Somuch - New Zealand - Taiwan Business Partnership Award • Fonterra Brands (New Young) Pte. Ltd. - New Zealand – Taiwan Business Excellence Award

Beautiful publication

   

 

 

Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Maori Portraits
Edited by Ngahiraka Mason and Zara Stanhope 

What a stunning volume!
  For those of us who have grown up aware of the artistic legacy of Gottfried Lindauer, it is a joy to find this appreciation of his life and works presented in such a way.

  The large-format (310 x 206 mm), hard covered, 284 page book is a beautiful publication divided into three parts.
   Part 1 is made up of 54 pages of a series of essays by experts – Patu Hohepa, Rhana Devenport, Elizabeth Ellis, Ngahiraka Mason, Zara Stanhope, Aleš Filip, Roman Musil, and Leonard Bell. Each contributes their tribute to and discussion of the New Zealand portfolio of this Austrian-born artist. From these, anyone not formerly aware of his work can learn how much we owe to his pictorial record of the people of this country, produced over more than four decades from the 1870s.
    Lindauer is of course best known here for his portraits of Maori of the period, and these are what makes up Part 2 of the volume.

 

Sixty-seven plates are beautifully presented, one portrait per page, with a description (by Ngahiraka Mason, or Nigel Borell) of the subject and some background, on the facing page.
     The best-known of these will be immediately recognized by a large proportion of New Zealanders. Some, such as those of Tamati Waka Nene (cover pic), Eruera Maihi Patuone, Wiremu Tamihana, Tawhiao Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero, Rewi Manga Maniapoto, Hamiora Tu, Te Ua Haumene Horopapera Tuwhakararo and more, have been reproduced in many works of history in the years since.
     The same is true of the wahine mana and wahine toa included, such as Rangi Topeora, Huria Matenga Ngarongoa, Pare Watene, Pikirakau, Te Paea Hinerangi, and Heeni Hirini whose image the artist repeated over and over.
      Without Lindauer’s paintings we would have no likeness of most of his subjects.
    A further 8 plates present his scenes of Maori life and customs, which are perhaps even more reproduced and well-known.

     Part 3 extends the appreciation of the artist’s works beyond New Zealand, through a series of further essays on his photography and paintings of European subjects, his techniques, and chronology – these contributed by Ute Larsen, Jane Davidson-Ladd, Sarah Hillary, Chanel Clarke, Ngarino Ellis, Kahutoi Te Kanawa, Ngahiraka Mason, and Caroline McBride.

     A glossary, notes, select bibliography, acknowledgements, and notes on contributors complete this handsome volume, which is a splendid addition to the library of anyone with any degree of interest in the art or the history of New Zealand. 

---

Flaxflower Review by Paua Blue

Title: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Maori Portraits
Editors: Ngahiraka Mason, Zara Stanhope
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 978 1 86940 856 5
RRP: $75
Available: bookshops

Poetry critic Stephen Burt gives public masterclass in Wellington

Contemporary poetry has plenty to offer new readers, and plenty more for those who already follow it. Yet its difficulty—and sheer variety—leaves many readers puzzled and overwhelmed. The critic, scholar and poet Stephen Burt sets out to help. 

In Close Calls with Nonsense: How to Read New Poetry, Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) presents a public masterclass on poetry. Steered by Victoria University Emeritus Professor Bill Manhire, Burt will guide the audience through a number of contemporary poems by writers from the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, illuminating their methods and unfolding their pleasures. This event aims to introduce both tentative and long-time poetry readers to the rewards of reading new poetry. Burt will also give a reading of their poems.

Burt is Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Their influential reviews and books have made them one of the leading critics of their generation, and their enthusiasm for new writing has helped to establish the careers of younger poets, and helped audiences to appreciate their work.

Burt’s 1998 essay ‘The Elliptical Poets’ is widely credited with identifying a new school of poetry. The book that followed, Close Calls With Nonsense (2009), includes an essay on James K. Baxter among those on more recent poets.

In their new book, The Poem is You, Burt explores 60 American poems. Publisher’s Weekly wrote that: “Burt’s many ways of looking at a poem will inspire new students and accomplished poets, especially as many of his meditations circle the question of what poetry does or should do: making readers pay attention, ask questions, and experience new things.”

In 2012 a NY Times interview hailed Burt as ‘Poetry’s Cross-Dressing Kingmaker’. Burt identifies as transgender, and their poetry chapbook All-Season Stephanie (2015) explores coming of age as it might have happened for their female alter-ego. Burt prefers to use the gender-neutral pronoun ‘they’.

Close Calls With Nonsense is presented by the IIML in partnership with City Gallery Wellington. Admission is free, with all welcome. The gallery will be open prior to the event for visitors to view the exhibition Cindy Sherman (exhibition entry charges apply).

What: Close Calls With Nonsense, with Stephen Burt and Bill Manhire

When: 5.30–7pm, Monday 12 December

Where: City Gallery, Wellington

For more information contact Chris Price on chris.price@vuw.ac.nz.