Should the job of court poet go?Popular poet Wendy Cope, known for her dry wit and keen ironic eye, and the favorite for taking up the cap when current...
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Is the Poet Laureate job an anachronistic elephant?
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Friday, January 30, 2009 | 11:57 AM
Dr Who wins Shakespeare Award
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | 11:09 AM
What? What, what? Gor Blimey, but Dr Who has saved the World again.David Tennant's depiction of Hamlet has earned him a best Shakespearean performance...
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Top editor fired
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Monday, January 26, 2009 | 12:17 PM
Tidings from the US publishing industry becomes more dire by the moment. Breaking news from the Los Angeles Times book blog is that Sara Nelson, editor...
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The future of the book
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Thursday, January 22, 2009 | 11:38 AM
TIME Magazine has published a marvellously upbeat vision of the publishing industry, present and future. Considering the awful state of the present --...
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The Inauguration Bible
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Monday, January 19, 2009 | 7:35 PM
When Barack Obama makes history, he will be using the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used on March 4, 1861. It was not the family Bible, because the...
7:35 PM | 0
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Keyboard or Quill?
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Sunday, January 18, 2009 | 2:22 PM
The Washington Post features a charming study by Joseph J. Ellis (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary Generation, pictured)....
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The privateer barons of old New York
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Saturday, January 17, 2009 | 5:14 PM
Defying Empire: Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York uncovers the story of New York City merchants engaged in a forbidden trade with the enemy...
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American Indians discovered Europe first?
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Friday, January 16, 2009 | 12:46 PM
Raising controversy already is Jack D. Forbes's The American Discovery of Europe, which speculates about Native American crossings of the Atlantic before...
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Rumpole's creator Mortimer dies
Dramatist and author Sir John Mortimer, who created enduring character Rumpole of the Bailey, has died aged 85 after a long illness.Sir John, who began...
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Those romantic shortlisters
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Thursday, January 15, 2009 | 11:52 AM
A comment left on my post about the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of the year made me realize that the nominees were not done equal justice. So here...
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Romantic Novel of the Year shortlist
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | 11:52 AM
'Tis the season for the shortlist, apparently. The Romantic Novelists' Association has announced the all-female nominations for their prize, which recognizes...
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Waterstone's Children's book prize shortlist
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | 12:05 PM
In announcing the finalists for this year's Waterstone's Children's book prize, manager Sarah Clarke said, "We are incredibly excited by the quality and...
12:05 PM | 0
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Well stacked, and other riverboat phrases
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Saturday, January 10, 2009 | 12:02 PM
A delightful site managed by Jerry Hay features a lexicon of colorful nineteenth century riverboat phrases.A couple of examples:Well Stacked: Men will...
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Spider-Man nabs Obama as a co-star
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Friday, January 9, 2009 | 12:31 PM
What was that I said about trivialization of the US presidency? To my vast amusement, I read on Huffington Post that the inauguration edition of the Marvel...
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Mr Darcy Portrait up for Auction
A portrait of actor Colin Firth as Mr Darcy is to go under the hammer at Bonham's London auction house on 21 January, according to the Arts and Entertainment...
12:09 PM | 0
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Vampires out-sell Wizards
Stephenie Meyer (pictured) sold over 15 million books in the US in 2008, and that's just in outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan, where various editions...
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Banana republics and capitalistic terrorism
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Thursday, January 8, 2009 | 12:16 PM
A couple of weeks ago, browsing through the tables of leftovers from the Wellington Public Library book sale, I found a book by a favorite writer, Julian...
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Costa Book Award nominees announced
The shortlist for the Costa Books Award (formerly the Whibread) has been revealed. Unusually, all five names are already winners, in individual categories....
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How bizarre can huge book advances be in hard economic times?
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Monday, January 5, 2009 | 7:30 PM
In today's Wall Street Journal, a story by Anita Elberse, "Blockbuster or Bust - Why struggling publishers will keep placing outrageous bids on new books," describes how publishers continue to fall back on their old business model of paying large advances...
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Richard and Judy release their book list
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Friday, January 2, 2009 | 12:39 PM
Ten books have been chosen by digital TV hosts Richard and Judy for their book club discussion list, 2009.It is the sixth time they have done this, a...
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The Paparazzi President
Well, talking about "ordinary" people on the covers of popular magazines, it seems that an extraordinary politician has made that leap already. According...
11:47 AM | 0
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Can the future of books and publishing be predicted from public trends?
Written By Lingkar Dunia on Thursday, January 1, 2009 | 1:38 PM
Richard Watson (pictured) is a futurist -- a predictor of trends, that is, not an astrologer -- who foresees ten shifts in public sentiment this year.To...
1:38 PM | 0
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