NZSA 2017 conference, Strasbourg

Dear All – Please note the deadline of 7 January for the receipt of abstracts for NZSA’s Strasbourg conference. We have already received many abstracts for what promises to be another excellent gathering. Look forward to seeing you there. Best – Ian and Ron

Dear All – Please find below the CFP for NZSA’s 23^rd annual conference, which will be held in Strasbourg, 7-10 July 2017. A copy of the conference poster is attached and note that we accept a broad range of papers within NZ and Pacific studies but give priority to papers that work within the conference theme. Rooms have already been reserved at a discount rate at a 4 star Mercure and a 4 star Novotel hotel in the city centre. Best – Ian and Ron

Contested Territories

in the Pacific

 

The 23rd annual conference of the

New Zealand Studies Association (NZSA),

together with the University of Strasbourg

Strasbourg, France, 7-10 July 2017

 A 4-day international conference, with coach excursion and conference dinner, and first night boat-trip reception. 

The conference venue is the University of Strasbourg, very close to the city's historic centre.

 Keynotes:

Professor Tony Ballantyne

David Blyth

James George

Dr Bronwyn Labrum

Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh

Dr Conal McCarthy

Professor Katie Pickles

Professor Nicholas Thomas

Professor Kirsten Moana Thompson

The New Zealand Studies Association has a long and strong history in promoting New Zealand Studies, which now extends within the region through its twice-yearly Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies. Building on the successes of the conferences in Lugano (2016), Vienna (2015), Oslo (2014), Nijmegen (2013), Gdansk (2012), Frankfurt (2009), Florence (2008), London (2007), and Paris (2006), this major event will be held at the University of Strasbourg.

Proposals for 20 minute papers to be sent by 7 January to Ian Conrich (ian@ianconrich.co.uk). Papers can consider all topics related to the Pacific and New Zealand, with priority given to papers that address the theme of ‘contested territories’. Interpretations of the theme are broad and can include colonialism, neo-colonialism, multiculturalism, museum collections, land/sea claims and usage, the Gothic, the environment and climate change, war and conflict. The conference fee includes annual membership to the NZSA, which for 2017 includes a twice-yearly journal. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in the refereed Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies, published by Intellect.

The conference will accept proposals on a range of subjects including the following: literature, history, film, music, art, cultural studies, sociology, geography, tourism, war studies, politics, international relations, identity and multiculturalism, anthropology, Māori Studies, Pacific Studies, archaeology and museum studies.

 

A year in review

A year in review: 2016's biggest stories

Published December 29, 2016 by Lisa Campbell

 

From politics to Potter, we take a look at some of the biggest stories in UK publishing in 2016.

America’s Reading Crisis – Something Has To Change

WORDS Posted: December 30, 2016

 

 

“Whether it takes phonics, whole-language learning, all-singing, all-dancing teachers, or the gradual introduction of criminal penalties for illiteracy, something has to change. A national reading push would be the moonshot that makes all others possible. How many more studies will it take? We know that readers vote more and volunteer more, and that reading literature deepens empathy. And — as finally, categorically demonstrated in a landmark Yale study last year — that readers live longer.”

 

 

Read the story at The New York Times Published: 12.28.16

News from Publishers Lunch

Briefs

The Costco Pennie's Pick for January is Amy Stewart's Girl Waits With Gun (HMH) while the company's book club pick for the month is The Tumbling Turner Sisters (Gallery) by Juliette Fay.

Updating our very best of the best books of 2016 report, Jacqueline Woodson is represented now by Kathleen Nishimoto at William Morris Endeavor. Also, USA Today weighed in with their top 10 books of the year (now added to our vote count), also naming Colson Whitehead as their author of the year.

Announcements

The

Ward & Balkin Agency is being acquired by Roam Agency as of July 1, 2017, when Rick Balkin retires after more than 40 years as an agent.

All Romance eBooks announced on their website that they will shut down at the end of the year, after having "accepted that there is not a viable path forward." The posted message says they incurred a loss for the first year since opening in 2006 and "the financial forecast for 2017 isn't hopeful."

UK literary agent David Miller of Rogers, Coleridge and White suffered a heart attack on Christmas Eve and is in intensive care, still in "very serious" condition, Gil Coleridge tells the Bookseller.

Obituaries

Co-owner of Blue Marble Children's Bookstore in Fort Thomas, KY Tina Moore died Wednesday. She had served on the board of the Association of Children's Booksellers and was a founding member of the organization.

Actress, screenwriter, and author Carrie Fisher, 60, died December 27 from complications of a heart attack suffered four days earlier on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Fisher was most recently promoting her new book, The Princess Diarist, published in November by Blue Rider Press, and also published two other books of nonfiction, Wishful Drinking and Shockaholic, as well as four novels.

Richard Adams, 96, author of the classic children's novel Watership Down (1972) and many other books, died December 24. An animated adaptation of the book is set to air on the BBC in 2017.

23 Thrilling Novels from the Bookshelf of Linwood Barclay

Off the Shelf   By Linwood Barclay    |   Thursday, December 29, 2016 As the conclusion to my Promise Falls trilogy, THE TWENTY-THREE, hits bookstores, I thought I’d share my 23 favorite novels that, in one way or another, thrilled me. I know I’ve left some out, or forgotten one or two I will remember moments after I finish writing this, but these are all great books, for a variety of reasons. READ MORE

‘Everyone Is Scared’ In Hong Kong’s Book Industry Since Those Publishers And Booksellers Were Disappeared

WORDS Posted: December 28, 2016

 

 

“Bookshops have closed. Publishers have left. Authors have stopped writing. Books have been pulped. Printers are refusing political works. Translators have grown weary of being associated with certain topics. Readers have stopped buying. And the whole industry is wondering if hard-hitting books on Chinese politics still have a future in the former British colony.”

 

 

Read the story at The Guardian Published: 12.28.16

Here Are Five Of 2016’s Best Books In Translation

WORDS Posted: December 28, 2016

 

“In 2016, small publishers like New Directions and Coffee House Press and lauded indie powerhouses like Melville House continue to bring many deserving international voices to the forefront. And in an election year that has many Americans wondering what in the bloody hell is going on around here, books from other parts of the globe can be a welcome treat to help counterbalance the chaos.”

 

 

Read the story at NPR Published: 12.25.16

Story Time!: 9 Books That Feature a Story Within a Story

Off the Shelf By Kerry Fiallo    |   Wednesday, December 28, 2016 The act of storytelling has been used as an engaging plot device throughout literary history. Just think of THE ODYSSEY and THE CANTERBURY TALES. The inventive result is what is known as a framed narrative. Below are some brilliant examples of framed narratives—stories relayed from one character to another within the novel—that are perfect for you to sink your teeth into. READ MORE

13 of Off the Shelf’s Favorite Book Recommendations from 2016

|+| ADD TO YOUR SHELF

Off the Shelf By Off the Shelf Staff    |   Tuesday, December 27, 2016 Off the Shelf is made possible by a small group of passionate readers who love nothing more than discovering fantastic books and sharing them with Off the Shelf readers. We recommend books that move us to laughter and tears—and everything in between. It gives us great pleasure to offer you a collection of our favorite single-title recommendations from 2016. Trust us when we say, “You’ve got to read this!” READ MORE

Ladybird titles as a tongue-in-cheek way

In the UK, “updated” Ladybird books have sold more than a million copies.

By Roger Tagholm

The bestseller lists in the UK this past Christmas concealed a curious story, one that raises interesting questions about who “owns” ideas and who — if anyone — copied whom. It’s a saga that some see as a David and Goliath tale of the big bad conglomerate allegedly ripping off the plucky independent artist/author/publisher. It is also about satire about copyright and what is or isn’t permissible.
One series went absolutely crazy in UK bookshops in December 2015. At the end of October, Penguin Random House’s Michael Joseph imprint published a brilliant collection of spoof Ladybird titles as a tongue-in-cheek way

12 Authors We Lost Too Soon in 2016

In Memoriam: 12 Authors We Lost Too Soon in 2016 By Sarah Jane Abbott - Off the Shelf In 2016, we said goodbye to many literary luminaries. These authors have inspired us, challenged us to think deeply, and opened windows into the lives and struggles of others. Here we remember some of the award winners, trailblazers, and the creators of beloved classics whose works will stand the test of time. Read More

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !!

The Bookman wishes all his readers the happiest and most relaxing of holidays.

The blog will continue through the holiday season but not with quite the same regularity or extent.

Lemony Snicket Creates A Poetry Prize

 

 Posted: December 21, 2016 8:02 am

It seems that when the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events – né Daniel Handler – was on location in Vancouver for the shooting of Netflix’s upcoming Series series, he never spent his per diem. So he’s come up with a use for that money.

 

 

Read the story at Slate Published: 12.20.16

Is This The World’s Coolest New Library?

 

Inside, there’s the collection of books, a center for city government services,
a computer center, a cafe, lecture halls, playgrounds, and an interactive floor; outside, there’s an even bigger playground and a giant tubular bell that rings every time a baby is born in town. Down below is a parking lot run by robots.

 

 

Read the story at CityLab Published: 12.20.16

2007 | Birth of a Literary Landmark

 

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

DEC. 22, 2016

The New York Times

 

Times Insider shares historical insights from The New York Times.

   

Authors’ autographs adorn the walls of Room 05S1-228 at The Times’s headquarters. The marketing department now occupies this area, where The Book Review used to be. Credit David W. Dunlap/The New York Times

America’s newest literary landmark is not a library, a bookstore, an author’s birthplace or her salon.

It is Room 05S1-228 on the fifth floor of The New York Times’s headquarters near Times Square. A nondescript box of a space, closed off by a sliding frosted-glass door, the 5-by-9-foot room was originally intended as a refuge where employees could spend a few private moments crying or chilling.

 

But since it faced the Book Review’s cubicles, it became something else: a gallery of autographs from literary luminaries, written like graffiti with black markers on white plaster walls.

E. L. Doctorow? He’s on the west wall, hovering over Garrison Keillor. Gay Talese’s signature practically rests on Mr. Doctorow’s “w,” while Rafael Yglesias’s autograph nearly bumps into Mr. Talese’s “G.”

 

Continue reading the main story

 

 

To Supporters of Indie Bookstores...'

"When my wife and I opened Literati four years ago, we did so because we believe bookstores were more than places that simply sold a product. At the risk of sounding maudlin, it has been my experience that bookstores can help change lives.
Bookstores are where challenging and evocative ideas flourish, new worlds open, and magic blooms. To anyone and everyone who has supported an independent bookstore this holiday season: Thank you for helping continue a bookstore's ultimate endeavor--to change lives, cultivate ideas, and create magic."

--Michael Gustafson of Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich., via Facebook

Meet the writers who still sell millions of books. Actually, hundreds of millions.

By Karen Heller

The Washington Post

December 20 

 

Danielle Steel, Stephen King, top right, and Paolo Coelho rank among some of the best-selling authors of all time. (LEFT: Richard Drew/AP; TOP RIGHT: Elise Amendola/AP Photo; BOTTOM RIGHT: Matej Divizna/Getty Images/COMPO IMAGE)

 

Reading, contrary to previous reports, is not dead. In fact, it’s very far from it.
Brazilian author Paulo Coelho has legions of readers. His best-known book, “The Alchemist,” the story of a young Andalusian shepherd on a personal quest, spent almost eight years — two presidential election cycles — on the bestseller lists. It was translated into 81 languages.
But “The Alchemist” is only one of Coelho’s more than 30 works. “The Spy” came out in November. All told, the writer has sold an estimated 350 million books. MORE

The Roundup with PW

Farewell to the Reader In Chief: Barack Obama has had the makings of a great literary president. But where do we go from here?

Rowling Works on Two New Novels: The Harry Potter author revealed to fans on Twitter that she has two books in the pipeline, one under her own name and one as Robert Galbraith.

N.M. Book Publisher Seeks More in Suit: A New Mexico book publisher who filed a lawsuit against the state earlier this year has increased the amount she is seeking in the case.

How Junot Díaz Does Breakfast: Díaz is as passionate about food as he is about his work, although "anyone reading my fiction would never guess how seriously I take food."

Lit Hub's Favorite Stories of 2016: The editors of Literary Hub round up the stories they loved best and stayed with them after a year of publishing literary essays.

VIEW ALL »

Assuming the V.C. Andrews Mantle

Off the Shelf By Andrew Neiderman    |   Thursday, December 22, 2016 Twenty-nine years ago, my agent, who was also V.C. Andrews’s agent, changed my life. “We would like you to think about finishing Virginia Andrews’s latest novel,” she said. “She’s too sick to do so.” The idea was at first overwhelming. V.C. Andrews was a major worldwide publishing success. I was, at the time, a high school English and creative writing teacher who graded papers and wrote thrillers, but I had never before been asked to write in another author’s voice. I attacked the challenge with all my research skills and spent hours reading and rereading Virginia Andrews’s works until I understood what made her writing distinct. Her vocabulary and syntax, images, and dialogues were truly special. READ MORE