Category Archives: Books

Australian authors group give every federal politician five books to encourage nuance in Middle East debate

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Exclusive: Group of more than 90 including writers Tim Winton and Charlotte Wood have paid for every federal senator and MP to receive curated package

Some of Australia’s most prominent authors are among a group of more than 90 writers and literary supporters who have paid for every federal parliamentarian to receive a carefully curated package of books on the Middle East to expand their knowledge of the history of the conflict.

Each of the 227 MPs and senators is being given the same five books – nonfiction, fiction and reference works – as part of the campaign to encourage wider reading on the origins of the Middle East conflict among Australia’s political leaders.

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The Gruffalo’s illustrator launches book to help UK pupils learn German

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Axel Scheffler says he hopes Wuschel auf der Erde will encourage more children to learn his first language

Axel Scheffler, the illustrator behind the international children’s bestseller The Gruffalo, has launched a book to help primary school pupils learn German.

Wuschel auf der Erde: A New Adventure in Learning German tells the story of a friendly alien called Wuschel arriving on Earth from a distant planet with a mission to learn German. Through Scheffler’s distinctive illustrations, children are introduced to their first German words, such as die Maus (mouse) and der Spielplatz (playground), in a fun and interactive way.

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Evaristos united: namesakes Bernardine and Conceição meet at book festival

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Celebrated authors discuss the somewhat connected stories of their shared surname at literary event in Rio

Born more than 5,500 miles apart, the Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, 65, and Brazil’s most celebrated living Black author, Conceição Evaristo, 77, share the same surname, though they are – as far as is known – unrelated.

But their surnames’ stories are somewhat connected, and shed light on aspects of the history of Brazil, the country that received the largest number of enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.

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Bill Clinton book describes ‘frustration’ over Monica Lewinsky affair questions

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In new memoir Citizen, Clinton acknowledges he has not directly apologized to Lewinsky over White House affair

Bill Clinton, the former US president, has written of his “frustration” at being questioned about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky while acknowledging that he has never apologized to her directly.

Clinton became embroiled in one of the biggest political scandals in history when it emerged in 1998 that he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old Lewinsky. The president, who initially lied before apologizing, was impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.

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Alexis Wright wins $60,000 Melbourne literature prize

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The Waanyi writer, who won the Miles Franklin award and Stella prize this year for her novel Praiseworthy, has been recognised for her body of work and contribution to Australian culture

Alexis Wright has been awarded the $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature, capping off an extraordinary year in which she has won more than $200,000 in prize money after the publication of her epic novel, Praiseworthy.

The Melbourne prize for literature, awarded every three years, recognises a Victorian writer whose “body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life”. Past winners include Christos Tsiolkas, Alison Lester and Helen Garner.

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Jamie Oliver pulls children’s book from shelves after criticism for ‘stereotyping’ Indigenous Australians

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Billy and the Epic Escape to be withdrawn worldwide after First Nations groups say fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories

Jamie Oliver has pulled his children’s book from sale after condemnation from First Nations communities that the fantasy novel is offensive and harmful.

Penguin Random House UK on Sunday notified the Guardian that Billy and the Epic Escape would be withdrawn from sale in all countries where it holds rights, including the UK and Australia.

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Jamie Oliver apologises after his children’s book is criticised for ‘stereotyping’ First Nations Australians

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Exclusive: Publisher takes responsibility for the failure to consult Indigenous groups, who say the fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories

Jamie Oliver says he is “devastated” by the offence he has caused to First Nations people and has issued an apology, after calls by Australia’s peak body for Indigenous education for the British celebrity chef to withdraw his children’s book from sale.

Oliver is in Australia promoting his latest cookbook, Simply Jamie, but it is his decision to join a growing flock of celebrity children’s book authors with a 400-page fantasy novel for primary school-age children that has come under fire.

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Dutch publisher to use AI to translate ‘limited number of books’ into English

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Veen Bosch & Keuning, the largest publisher in the Netherlands, has confirmed plans to trial the use of artificial intelligence to assist in translation of commercial fiction

A major Dutch publisher plans to trial translating books into English using artificial intelligence.

Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) – the largest publisher in the Netherlands, acquired by Simon & Schuster earlier this year – is “using AI to assist in the translation of a limited number of books”, Vanessa van Hofwegen, commercial director at VBK said.

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Konnie Huq launches free climate crisis ebook for UK primary schools

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Children for Change contains stories, poems, and illustrations from more than 80 collaborators including Jamie Oliver, Mary Portas, David Baddiel and Adam Kay

Konnie Huq, Jamie Oliver, David Baddiel, Adam Kay, Mary Portas and Joseph Coelho are among those collaborating on an ebook about the climate crisis which will be free to access for every UK primary school.

The ebook, Children for Change, is edited by Huq and features contributions from more than 80 writers, illustrators, environmentalists and young people including Tom Gates author Liz Pichon, The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler and TV presenter Chris Packham.

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Nobel and Pulitzer winners denounce ‘dangerous’ Israel cultural boycott

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More than 1,000 well-known figures sign open letter in response to authors pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions over Gaza

More than 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industry – including several Nobel laureates, Pulitzer prize, and Booker prize winners – have signed an open letter against “illiberal and dangerous” cultural boycotts.

The letter was released by the nonprofit body Creative Community For Peace [CCFP], which campaigns against cultural boycotts of Israel, after more than 1,000 book industry figures pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.

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Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner and Arundhati Roy call for boycott of Israeli cultural institutions

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The authors are among 1,000 books industry figures pledging not to work with any publishers, festivals or publications ‘complicit in violating Palestinian rights’

Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy and Rachel Kushner are among more than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals who have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.

Signatories to the pledge say they will not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights”, including operating “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid or genocide”.

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Paddington Bear given official UK passport by Home Office

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Government issues official document to Peruvian-born character, listing him as ‘Bear’ under its observations

He has been one of the UK’s favourite and most prominent refugees for two-thirds of a century. Now Paddington Bear – official name Paddington Brown – has been granted a British passport.

The co-producer of the latest Paddington film said the Home Office had issued the document to the fictional Peruvian-born character – listing for completeness the official observation that he is, in fact, a bear.

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K-pop, K-movies, a Nobel prize … and now K-poetry: book of wise words adds to Korea’s cultural glory

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After Han Kang’s Nobel award and South Korean cinema hits, Penguin publishes new English edition of maxims by Lee Seong-bok in wake of US success

A collection of wise maxims written by a 72-year old poet, calmly setting out illuminating advice to other poets, is the latest and perhaps most unlikely book to benefit from a surge in demand for South Korean literature.

“Kick against words like you would kick back on a swing. You’ve got to feel as if the soles of your feet are touching the sky,” suggests Lee Seong-bok in his hit title Indeterminate Inflorescence.

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Book returned to Cumbria school library 113 years overdue

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Poetry of Byron borrowed by schoolboy Leonard Ewbank, who studied at Oxford and was killed at Ypres in 1916

A book borrowed from a school library before the first world war has finally been returned – more than a century overdue.

A copy of Poetry of Byron was found by a man in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, who felt it should be returned to St Bees School, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, where it had been lent out to a schoolboy.

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Anti-fossil fuel comic that went viral in France arrives in UK

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World Without End topped bestseller lists but was criticised for embracing nuclear power

In 2019, France’s best known climate expert sat down to work with its most feted graphic novelist. The result? Perhaps the most terrifying comic ever drawn.

Part history, part analysis, part vision for the future, World Without End weaves the story of humanity’s rapacious appetite for fossil fuel energy, how it has made possible the society people take for granted, and its disastrous effects on the climate.

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Luca Guadagnino to direct new take on Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho

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Call Me by Your Name and Challengers film-maker to bring new interpretation to hit novel to the screen

Luca Guadagnino, the Italian film-maker, will bring a new interpretation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel American Psycho to the screen.

According to Deadline, the acclaimed director of Call Me by Your Name and Challengers will work with screenwriter Scott Z Burns to find an updated way into the material. Burns is known for his many collaborations with Steven Soderbergh including Contagion, Side Effects and The Informant.

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Roberto Saviano to appear at Frankfurt book fair despite Italy delegation’s snub

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Gomorrah author and Meloni critic’s non-inclusion in Italy’s lineup angers writers amid claims of censorship

The Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano will appear at the Frankfurt book fair this week despite being snubbed by the organisers of the official Italian delegation, setting the scene for a clash between the country’s far-right government and its most prominent writers.

Saviano, one of Italy’s bestselling living writers and an ardent critic of the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was absent from the initial lineup of 100 authors representing Italy, this year’s guest of honour, when it was announced in May.

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Imprisoned British-Egyptian activist named PEN writer of courage 2024

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Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who is still in jail in Egypt despite completing his five-year sentence, was selected by PEN Pinter winner Arundhati Roy

British-Egyptian writer, software developer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been named this year’s PEN writer of courage. The 42-year-old is still in prison in Egypt, despite having completed his five-year sentence for allegedly “spreading false news”.

“Let’s remember that this is an innocent man who has committed no crime, but even so, he will have served his time on 29 September,” Abd el-Fattah’s sister, Sanaa Seif, said last month.

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South Korean author Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel prize in literature

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Han, whose works include The Vegetarian, was praised for her ‘intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life’

The Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to 53-year-old South Korean novelist Han Kang for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”. Her works include The Vegetarian, The White Book, Human Acts and Greek Lessons.

“I was able to talk to Han Kang on the phone,” said Swedish Academy permanent secretary Mats Malm after announcing the winner. “She was having an ordinary day it seemed – had just finished supper with her son. She wasn’t really prepared for this, but we have begun to discuss preparations for December” – when Han will be presented with the Nobel prize.

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‘I hope God gives me the strength to make more movies’: Scorsese addresses retirement rumours

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Director tells press conference he has ‘more films to make’ after long-planned Frank Sinatra biopic and adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s A Life of Jesus both get delayed

Martin Scorsese has denied he is planning to retire, telling a press conference in Italy that he has “more films to make” after reports surfaced in September that two long-planned projects had been postponed.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scorsese, 81, was speaking before an award ceremony in Turin and countered rumours he was no longer making films. “I’m not saying goodbye to cinema at all … I still have more films to make, and I hope God gives me the strength to make them.”

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