Bookish News

2016 Nobel Laureate: Bob Dylan

Thursday, October 13th, 2016

Congratulations to Bob Dylan on winning the Nobel Prize in Literature!

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature today "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

Dylan's lyrics have long been considered poetically powerful with great literary influence. The Nobel committee cited his album Blonde on Blonde as "an extraordinary example of his brilliant way of rhyming and putting together refrains, and his pictorial thinking." As a social critic and cultural icon, Dylan is one of the best-selling artists of all time. 

 

2016 Man Booker Prize

Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

The titles shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize have been announced!  The Man Booker Prize, launched in 1969, aims to promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written in English and published in the United Kingdom.  Which is your pick to win?

See the Shortlist

Anna Dewdney (1965-2016)

Wednesday, September 7th, 2016

Anna Dewdney, author of the Llama Llama series, has died at age 50.

Author and illustrator Anna Dewdney died on September 3rd after a battle with cancer. Her bestselling children's book series featuring Llama Llama has sold nearly 10 million copies.

"The entire Penguin Young Readers family is heartbroken," said Jen Loja, president. "And as we grieve, we also celebrate Anna's life, in dedicating ourselves to carrying forward her mission of putting books into as many little hands as possible. We will miss her so, but consider ourselves so lucky to be her publishing family and her partner in her legacy."

In lieu of a funeral, Anna Dewdney asked that people read to a child.

 

2016 Hugo Awards

Wednesday, August 24th, 2016

The 2016 Hugo Award Winner Has Been Announced!

The Hugo Awards celebrate the best of science fiction and fantasy. The winning novel this year is The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin. Also awarded was best short story, best screenplay (The Martian), and best novelette, among others. Congratulations N. K. Jemisin!

Get The Fifth Season here!

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

Tuesday, July 5th

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has passed away at age 87.

Born in Romania in 1928, Elie Wiesel's family were highly respected in the Jewish community. He was 15 when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz, though he was later transferred to Buchenwald. Luckily, he survived the war, and was reunited with his two remaining sisters at an orphanage in France.

Wiesel wrote over 40 books, served on the US Holocaust Memorial Council, and spearheaded the construction of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Elie Wiesel made activism the focus of his life, writing and speaking about the prevention of violence, which earned him countless awards and honorary degrees. He died on July 2nd in his home at the age of 87.

 

2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

 

The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners Have Been Announced!

On the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize yesterday, the 2016 winners were announced. The winners in twenty-one distinguished categories include The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen for Fiction, Hamilton the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda for Drama, and Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick for General Nonfiction.

See The List

 

Jim Harrison (1937-2016)

Monday, March 28th, 2016

Author Jim Harrison has died at age 78.

Jim Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, in 1937. He received a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in English from Michigan State University and soon began writing full time. Over the course of his career, he wrote dozens of books of poetry, novellas, novels, essays, and short stories. He is best known for his work about nature and rural life. Many of his stories take place in the outdoors of Michigan, Arizona, and Montana, all of which he lived in for several years. His wife of more than 50 years died in 2015, and he died on March 26, 2016, at the age of 78.

 

Pages