Latest from The Bookseller

Heaney Virgil translation to be published next year Faber is to publish a verse translation of Book VI of Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid by the poet Seamus Heaney, which he was still working on at the time of his death in 2013. The translation had reached "a level of completion that suggested it would not be inappropriate to share with a wider readership," in the opinion of both his editor and his family, the publisher said.

Milton to lead expanded Harlequin publishing business Lisa Milton is to join HarperCollins as executive publisher of its Harlequin UK publishing division, with Tim Cooper, UK managing director, departing. The development follows the relocation of the company from its Richmond base to HarperCollins’ office at London Bridge over the summer with the intention of Harlequin becoming a second commercial fiction publishing business within the group.

Tyler is top-selling Man Booker longlisted title Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread (Chatto & Windus) is so far the bestselling of the 13 titles longlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, with under a week to go until the shortlist is announced. All of the longlisted books, announced on 29th July, have now charted in the Nielsen BookScan TCM Top 5,000.

Bertelsmann creates new education unit Bertelsmann has created a new business unit for its education activities. The unit, called Bertelsmann Education Group, launched yesterday (Wednesday 9th September) in New York and will be effective immediately. It aims to create €1bn of revenues in the medium term.

Reading Agency presents report to Downing Street The Reading Agency has presented a report to Downing Street showing that 92% of participants in its Reading Ahead challenge felt more confident about reading after taking part. The charity presented its findings into the impact of Reading Ahead, which was known as the Six Book Challenge from its launch in 2008 until June this year, at a reception at 11 Downing Street hosted by writer Frances Osborne, wife of the Chancellor George Osborne. Also present were skills minister Nick Boles MP, authors Martina Cole and Bali Rai, and publishers, funders and other charities.

Perseus explores sales options US-based Perseus Books Group is looking to sell the business, a year after an acquisition by Hachette Book Group fell through. The company has hired investment bank firm Greenhill & Co. and “initiated a formal process to explore a potential sale of the business," according to Publishers Weekly.

Michael Joseph snaps up spy thrillers for six-figures Michael Joseph has acquired three spy thrillers by a parliamentary speechwriter for a six-figure sum. Publishing director Rowland White pre-empted world rights to the books by Matthew Richardson from Euan Thorneycroft at A.M. Heath. The first book, My Name is Nobody, introduces MI6 operative Solomon Vine and his contemporary, friend and rival Gabriel Wilde. Richardson, 25, is a parliamentary researcher and speechwriter.

Amazon brings Kindle Scout to UK Amazon has expanded its Kindle Scout crowd-sourcing publishing programme to the UK. The programme was launched in the US last October and has been rolled out to other countries in Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and India, among others.

Morrisons to close 11 stores Morrisons is to close 11 stores following a 47% drop in its half yearly profits. The Bradford-based supermarket chain has not revealed where the 11 stores will be located because managers are in the process of informing staff, but they are thought to be smaller-sized supermarkets. The store closures will result in the loss of around 900 jobs. Morrisons revealed the news today (10th September) at the same times as reporting a 47% drop in half-yearly pre-tax profit to £126m. Like-for-like sales also fell by 2.7% in the six months to 2nd August.

IPA condemns attacks on bookshops in Turkey The International Publishers Association (IPA) has said it is "appalled" at recent attacks on newspaper offices and a bookshop in Turkey, and has called on the Turkish government to do more to take action to "stem the tide of assaults". The group said the violence was politically motivated, and included the vandalising of newspaper offices in Istanbul, the burning of a bookshop in Kırşehir, and threats made against journalists and booksellers, with some being injured.

Biteback signs 'warts and all' Berlusconi book Biteback Publishing, has acquired  Berlusconi: the Epic Story of the Billionaire Who Took Over by Alan Friedman. M.d Iain Dale acquired UK rights from Caroline Michel at Peters, Fraser and Dunlop. Berlusconi tells the life story - “warts and all” - of the Italian media tycoon and billionaire turned Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. In a series of “candid and revealing” interviews, Berlusconi discusses “everything from the infamous bunga-bunga parties” to his “most secret moments” with world leaders including Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.

Scholastic buys book fair business Troubadour Scholastic has acquired Troubadour, also known as The Travelling Book Company, for an undisclosed sum. Steve Thompson, co-group m.d. of Scholastic UK, said the publisher had been tracking Troubadour’s progress for some time. “We know that by having a flexible approach to providing schools with the events they need, we will give more children access to books in the UK and Ireland,” Thompson said.