Our clients were much in evidence at the Irish Book Awards last week in Dublin. Robert Kirby’s client Anthony Horowitz presented two awards, John Boyne was a guest of his publisher Random House Books, Robert Harris was shortlisted for The Tubridy Show Award for THE GHOST and Niamh Greene’s THE SECRET DIARY OF A DEMENTED HOUSEWIFE was shortlisted for both the Newcomer Of The Year Award and The Galaxy Popular Fiction Book Of The Year. Pictured are John Boyne and Niamh Greene. For lots more pictures see here.
Archive for April, 2008
Welcome to Amy Krouse Rosenthal (and her daughter Paris) who are in the UK this week to promote ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE published by Grove Atlantic. As Viv Groskop said, in the Sunday Express, ‘Amy is a witty, astute observer of modern life in all its baffling guises…ENCYCLOPAEDIA makes you feel glad to be alive’.
Congratulations to the multi-talented Robert Popper for winning a BAFTA last night for PEEP SHOW in the Situation Comedy category. The paperback of his hilarious book The Timewaster Diaries is published by Little Brown later this year.
John Boyne’s THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS has been awarded the prestigious Qué Leer prize for the best novel translated into Spanish. John receives the award at a prize ceremony held in Barcelona later today. My colleague Jane Willis here at United Agents has just sold Maltese rights for John’s novel - this is a first for her and the agency.
In common with most people in publishing I will be at Earls Court for the next three days for the London International Book Fair. The Bookseller’s free downloadable digital daily magazine is well-worth reading. Check it out here.
Congratulations to my friend and colleague Robert Kirby for his much-deserved shortlisting as Literary Agent of the Year, to the creative team at Canongate for the StoraEnso Design & Production Award shortlisting for Scarlett Thomas’ The End Of Mr Y and the marketing team at Canongate (headed by Jenny Todd) for being shortlisted for the Guardian Marketing Campaign Of the Year for their publication of Steven Hall’s The Raw Shark Texts. The winners will be announced at the BA Conference in May.
Patrick Neate’s Bookslam podcast was nominated for a highly prestigious Sony Radio Academy Award last night in the category of Internet Programme at a launch hosted by multiple Sony Gold winner, Chris Evans and webcast live around the country. The winners will be revealed at the 26th Sony Radio Academy Awards Ceremony on Monday 12th May at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane.
The quite brilliant The Internet Now Available In Handy Book Form by David McCandless has received the ultimate web-based honour, being an Official Nominee in the 12th Annual Webby Awards in the humour category. Hoorah!
The Winchester Writers Conference is rapidly gaining a reputation as a great launching pad for new writers. Three years ago at Winchester I met the unagented and unpublished but clearly multi-talented Lola Jaye. I was thrilled to hear that as a result of meeting agent Judith Murdoch there she not only landed herself an agent but, through Judith’s hard work, a fabulous deal with HarperCollins UK and US for her debut novel and a second book. BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS is launched this Summer in the U.K. Lola writes a great blog and her website is www.lolajaye.com
On the eve of the London International Book Fair New York agent Daniel Greenberg (left) 
has closed a great deal with John Parsley at Little Brown (US) for Danny Wallace’s heartwarming book ‘Friends Like These’. John said of Danny’s account of his quest to Film4/track down his key childhood friends, ‘I’ve fallen for the book, which I can’t stop talking about and which I found funny, original, and compelling’. He will publish next year and Ebury will bring out their edition this Summer. Ruby Films/Film4/Miramax have already acquired the film rights and the book is selling rapidly in translation with more deals in the offing during the book fair. Jessica Craig is the contact on that front.
I am very pleased to be a judge for an exciting new initiative launched this week by Waterstone’s. They are looking for the next great writing talent to emerge from within its stores and offices. The Bookseller’s Bursary will offer two booksellers the chance to go on one of the Arvon Foundation’s renowned creative writing courses, as well as give them a cash prize of £500. Continue reading ‘THE WRITE STUFF’
Fiona Neil’s The Secret Life Of a Slummy Mummy is one of six books short-listed for this year’s Melissa Nathan Award. Having attended the inaugural event in 2006 I can speak from first-hand knowledge that this award, set up to commemorate the tragically-short life of bestselling novelist Melissa Nathan, is a really wonderful endeavour and I am delighted that Fiona has been selected. Read the full press release here. You can also watch a webcast interview with Fiona for Bookzone on Sky/BordersTv by clicking on the screebgrab (above left).
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