BTW News Briefs

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Here’s what’s happening this week in the book industry:

A public memorial service for the late Toni Morrison will be held in New York City at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on November 21. Scheduled speakers include Oprah Winfrey, David Remnick, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kevin Young, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Jesmyn Ward, Edwidge Danticat, and Michael Ondaatje.

On November 6, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) launched the “Spread the Indie Love” bookseller sweepstakes, which aims to build stronger connections between bookstores and independently published books.The sweepstakes will continue through September 29, 2020. More information can be found here.

The Fall Children’s Book Week wrapped up on November 10, with over 750 locations across the country participating.

Henry Holt is teaming up with Andy Cohen to launch new imprint Andy Cohen Books, which will publish three nonfiction titles in 2020.

Zondervan is launching a new nonfiction imprint called Thrive.

Elizabeth Strout’s Olive, Again has been selected as the next pick for Oprah’s Book Club.

Turkish author Ahmet Altan was released from prison last week after more than three years, the Guardian reported.

At Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Suzanne Herz will replace Anne Messitte as publisher of Vintage/Anchor. Todd Doughty has been promoted to deputy publisher of Doubleday.

At Publishers Weekly, David Varno will take over fiction reviews, effective November 18. Phoebe Cramer is now associate reviews editor covering genre fiction.

Helen Atsma will join Ecco as vice president and editorial director on December 2, reporting to Daniel Halpern and filling the position vacated recently by Megan Lynch. She has been editorial director of fiction at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Ashley Gilliam has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Scribner.

At Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Laura Bardolph Hubers has been promoted to director of marketing and publicity.

Tammy Cabot has been promoted to vice president and director of specialty retail sales at Penguin Random House.

The Book Industry Study Group presented its annual service awards to Bill Rosenblatt (Industry Connector); Tricia McCraney (Standards Bearer); and David Hetherington (Community Builder).

Winners in poetry and prose for the 21st National Translation Awards, presented annually by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), have been announced.

Winners for the Canada's Writers Trust Prizes have been announced across multiple categories.

Finalists have been named for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards, which honor “amazing authors, imaginative illustrators and the best books for children.” The winners will be revealed March 5, World Book Day. The list of finalists can be found here.
 
Over 156 books from 40 countries have been nominated by libraries around the world for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award, sponsored by the Dublin City Council and given to a work of fiction published originally or in translation in English. The longlist for the award can be found here.
 
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