Jonathan Cape buys second Wyld novel
Jonathan Cape has acquired a second novel from the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize-winning author Evie Wyld.
Senior editor Alex Bowler acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Wyld's All the Birds, Singing from Laetitia Rutherford at Mulcahy Conway Associates, and will publish in February 2013.
The book tells the story of damaged Australian sheep farmer Jake who has started life again on an English hill farm, yet is still haunted by the traumas of his early life.
Bowler said: "Very simply, Evie wrote a truly beautiful debut novel, has now written a glorious second, and will continue to write addictively beautiful books for a very long time to come—it's a thrill to be able to work with someone so gifted."
Wyld's first novel After the Fire, A Still Small Voice won both the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize in 2009 and the Betty Trask Award in 2010, and was shortlisted for the Orange New Writers Prize and IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She was recently picked as one of the 12 Best New British Writers by BBC2's "The Culture Show".
Pan Mac wins 'Dragons' Den' memoir
Pan Macmillan is delighted to announce they will be publishing Hilary Devey’s autobiography in spring 2012. Editorial director Ingrid Connell acquired the book from Jonathan Conway, of Mulcahy Conway Associates, in a heated auction that involved ten publishers.
Hilary Devey is an award-winning businesswoman who took Britain by storm when she appeared on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den in autumn 2011, with her unique style, gravelly voice and warm down-to-earth manner. She has not talked in any depth about her life but now she’s ready to tell the full story of the girl from Bolton whose talent, resilience and determination have seen her overcome devastating hardships in her personal life and numerous obstacles in her business career. With no financial backing, she battled to set up a revolutionary haulage business, taking Pall-Ex from tiny beginnings to a company with an annual turnover in excess of £100 million, and which has now expanded into Europe.
Ingrid Connell commented: ‘Hilary’s story is extraordinary – powerful, moving and funny. I love the material I’ve seen so far and I know the finished book will be as inspirational as the woman herself.’
Hilary Devey commented: “Writing this book has brought back so many memories, and I have to say it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I hope that readers will enjoy the account of my professional and personal journey from a tough Bolton childhood to being the new girl in the Dragons’ Den. But this isn’t going to be a ‘Look what I did so you can too’ book, because not everyone can. And not everyone should try. Building a business from scratch brings huge rewards but there are sacrifices too and I’m not going to soft soap what they are.”
http://thebookseller.com/news/pan-mac-wi…
Helen Berry's The Castrato and His Wife longlisted for the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Award
Congratulations to Helen Berry whose book The Castrato and His Wife has been longlisted for the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Award. Helen's book was published to exceptional reviews, and was recently Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4.
The award is organised jointly by the publishers Longman and History Today to foster a wider understanding of, and enthusiasm for, history. A prize of £2,000 is given for an author’s first or second book, written in English, on any aspect of history. The winning book will have contributed significantly to making its subject accessible and rewarding to the general reader of history and will display innovative research and interpretation in its field. Books must have been published during the year October 1st, 2010 to September 30th, 2011.
A shortlist will be announced in December.
http://historytoday.com/blog/2011/11/lon…
Mark Robson's “The Devil’s Triangle” has been shortlisted for the Cheshire Schools’ Book Award 2012
The Cheshire Schools’ Book Award is now in its sixth year. The winner for 2011, Charlie Higson’s ‘The Dead’, was announced at the Education Library Service on Tuesday 28 June to an excited audience of over 100 people.
The purpose of the award is to promote pleasure in reading through reading groups in secondary schools. The shortlist is selected from nominations received from the pupils themselves in participating schools.
Author and illustrator, Curtis Jobling, helped launch next year’s award at a ceremony held at the Education Library Service on Wednesday 19 October.
The shortlisted titles are:
ALMOND, David, My Name is Mina
FODEN, Fiona, Life, Death & Gold Leather Trousers
HOROWITZ, Anthony, Scorpia Rising
JOBLING, Curtis, Rise of the Wolf
MAYHEW, Jon, The Demon Collector
NESS, Patrick, A Monster Calls
ROBSON, Mark, The Devil’s Triangle
Reading groups have until 25 May 2012 to read all the books and vote for their favourite. An award ceremony is planned to take place on Tuesday 26 June 2012 when the winner will be announced.
http://cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/edu…
John Butler's novel The Tenderloin shortlisted for this year's Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards
Congratulations to John Butler, whose debut novel The Tenderloin - published earlier this year by Picador - has been shortlisted in the Sunday Independent Best Irish Newcomer of the Year category of the Irish Book Awards.
RTE Television will broadcast the highlights of the awards on 24th November at 10.45 p.m. The awards themselves take place in Dublin's Royal Dublin Society on 17th November.
Here is a selection of the great reviews John's novel has received:
'Writer and filmmaker John Butler's debut novel is a bracingly honest, entertaining and sharply well-observed coming of age story set in San Francisco during the dotcom boom. His hero, Evan, is an intensely likeable Everyman, out of his depth in ForwardSlash, run by the slyly manipulative Sam. The Tenderloin is a story which could only have been written now, but whose themes, the loss of innocence, the difficulties of embarking on adult life, are universal.' --Irish Independent
'Debut coming-of-age novels are nothing new, but ones that freshen the genre are. John Butler s The Tenderloin, about three young Dublin twenty-somethings who head to San Francisco during the dotcom explosion of 1995, updates a familiar story without sacrificing those things we ve come to expect sexual exploration and identity, loneliness, the ambiguities of adulthood.' Independent
'The Tenderloin is well-written and drops all the right cultural references. Butler captures the flamoboyant optimism of the times' --Sunday Herald
‘John Butler already has a legion of fans who enjoy his insightful, funny and never less than brutally honest weekly column in the Irish Times. He is a refreshingly modern Irishman who regards the world from beneath a raised eyebrow . . . infectious’ Conor McPherson, playwright and director
http://amazon.co.uk/Tenderloin-John-Butl…
Duran Duran rock icon John Taylor's Autobiography to be published in 2012
An icon to millions, John Taylor co-founded Duran Duran in 1978 when he was just eighteen years old. Almost immediately, the band became an international pop phenomenon, defining a new genre of music and the start of an extraordinary three decade career that continues to this day, with sales of more than 80 million records, chart-topping hits around the world, and a global presence that guarantees the band huge live audiences across five continents.
In his autobiography, Taylor will give a candid and captivating account of his life, from a reserved young man in the suburbs of provincial England, to the heights of global fame and adulation. He will unflinchingly explore how the glories of excess led to drug addiction and a descent into despair and loneliness, as well as the difficult process of recovery, and the joy of rediscovering the love of family and friends. For the global army of ‘Duranie’ fans, his book will also contain fascinating behind-the-scenes insights and stories about the band’s inner workings and life in the spotlight.
John Taylor: “This book recounts the million tiny seductions that are required to make the journey from English suburbia to selling out Madison Square Garden—seductions that go by a hundred different names; family, friendship, romances, collaborations and strategicalliances. Here is my journey and where it took me; into fantastic success,more than a little decadence, darkness, and finally, I like to think, a little enlightenment.”
United Kingdom: Little, Brown and Sphere are delighted to announce the acquisition of a major new project – the autobiography of Duran Duran co-founder and bassist John Taylor. Little, Brown’s Editor-in-Chief Antonia Hodgson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) at auction from Jonathan Conway of Mulcahy Conway Associates. John Taylor will write the book himself with support from co-writer, Tom Sykes. Sphere plans to publish in hardback in autumn 2012, alongside Penguin US. Antonia Hodgson says: “We’re so excited about this project. John Taylor is a warm, witty and engaging writer with an incredible story to tell. His book will be an honest and frank account of his life – good times and bad. It will also capture all the joy and glamour and craziness of being in Duran Duran – surely one of the greatest and best-loved bands of all time.”
In the United States: Brian Tart, president and publisher of Dutton, announced today the acquisition of DuranDuran bassist and founding member John Taylor’s autobiography, to be released in the fall of 2012. Executive Editor Carrie Thornton bought North American and Canadian rights at auction in a major deal from Jonathan Conway of Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd. Carrie Thornton says: “I’m incredibly excited to publish John Taylor’s memoir. I’ve been a Duran Duran fan since I was first riveted by the video for ‘Rio’ on MTV. As someone who came of age in the 1980s, I can think of no better person to tell the story of the biggest band of that era, and to describe the excesses of that decade—the fashion, the drugs, the money, and of course, the music. John has a great tale to tell, and he tells it with honesty and intelligence, and with an absolutely great voice on the page.”
PUMA.Creative Announces “The End of the Line” as Winner of Inaugural PUMA.Creative Impact Award for Documentary Film
Today PUMA.Creative and the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced “The End of the Line” as the winner of the inaugural PUMA.Creative Impact Award. This annual €50,000 award, a first of its kind in the industry, has been launched to identify and honor the documentary film that has made the most significant positive impact on society. “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” was unexpectedly awarded a Special Commendation for its social impact and a €25,000 prize.
Commenting on the PUMA.Creative Impact Award winner, Jochen Zeitz, CEO Sport & Lifestyle Group and CSO of PPR and Chairman of the Board of PUMA, said, “I would like to congratulate “The End of the Line” on becoming the first winner of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award. At PUMA, we believe that corporations have a responsibility and opportunity to contribute to a better world for generations to come. Documentary film is such an influential medium because it allows the public to emotionally connect with the subject matter. We hope that with the PUMA.Creative Impact award we can help to inspire positive change in the world.”
The shortlist of five finalists, derived from 70 submitted documentaries also includes “The Age of Stupid“, “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court“ and “Trouble the Water“ and were judged by an elite jury: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Morgan Spurlock, Orlando Bagwell, Emmanuel Jal, and Loretta Minghella OBE.
The winning documentary, “The End of the Line“, was the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on the world’s oceans and has been widely acclaimed as a wake-up call. Filmed over two years, following investigative reporter Charles Clover, ”The End of the Line” provides a firsthand analysis of the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.
Rupert Murray, Director of “The End of The Line“, comments, “Documentary filmmakers are unique in that we want to change the world; we want to make things better, which is why it is fantastic to win the PUMA.Creative Impact Award. This is an award that truly understands and recognises our investment.”
http://fashionnews.com/2011/10/12/puma-c…
© Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd, 2012
