Launch of Carol Drinkwater’s online gallery

To celebrate the publication of The Olive Tree, the fifth book in Carol Drinkwater’s bestselling olive series, we’ve launched a special online photo gallery.

The gallery features a wealth of amazing photos taken by Carol herself during her travels around the Mediterranean through countries as diverse as Libya, Morocco, Spain and Malta. Take a look and be inspired for your next holiday!

 Julie Walters selected for Richard & Judy Christmas Books special

Julie Walters’ autobiography, That’s Another Story, has been selected by Richard & Judy for their Christmas Books special.

Julie will be appearing on Richard & Judy’s New Position on Watch TV on Wednesday 3rd December 8pm - but don’t worry, if you miss it you can catch the repeat on Thursday 4th December.

That’s Another Story is the long-awaited autobiography by one of the nation’s best-loved actresses.

 Bloomsbury Ballerina shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award

Judith Mackrell’s Bloomsbury Ballerina has been shortlisted for the 2008 Costa Biography Award.

The 2008 shortlists were announced on 19th November and the award winners will be announced on 6th January.

Bloomsbury Ballerina is the story of Lydia Lopokova, the spendidly unpredictable Russian dancer who ruffled the feathers of the Bloomsbury set and became the wife of John Maynard Keynes.

 Hand Me Down Histories wins at the Your Family Tree awards

Your Family Tree magazine this month ran their first ever awards issue and we’re delighted to announce that our very own Hand Me Down Histories by Judy Rose won the Best Gift/Memorabilia Award.

The Your Family Tree awards celebrate the best family history products and services available during 2008.

Hand Me Down Histories is the perfect family gift for generations to come, and is now available in hardback.

 Snobs on BBC Radio 4

BBC RADIO 4 will be dramatising Snobs by Julian Fellowes, with episodes airing from December 1st to December 5th at 10.45 am (with a daily repeat at 7.45 pm).

Snobs is out now in paperback and hardback.

 Brasyl on Warwick Prize longlist

Brasyl, Ian McDonald’s hugely acclaimed science fiction novel, has made the longlist for the inaugural Warwick Prize for Writing.

The prize aims to explore "how writing evolves" and "pick out its moving edge." Brasyl joins a longlist of 20 books, both fiction and non-fiction, by writers from Croatia, America, Canada, Australia, UK, Ireland, Spain and Colombia, covering a range of subjects including politics, maths, economics, global warming, slavery, nature, music, science fiction and poetry.
The judging Panel is chaired by award-winning science fiction writer China Mieville and the final shortlist of six titles will be revealed in January with the winner announced in February at the University of Warwick.
 
Congratulations to Ian!
 

 Ian Rankin discusses comics with the ICA

Devouring The Beano proved to be a formative influence on this Edinburgh lad who grew up to become an acclaimed author of crime fiction. Now he has turned to writing comics and his debut graphic novel, a John Constantine: Hellblazer original entitled Dark Entries, is due to be published mid-next year.

Ian Rankin shares his passions for reading and writing comics and for their role in improving youth literacy, in conversation with Toby Litt at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on Monday 17th November.

For more information on how to book tickets click here.

Ian’s new book, Doors Open, is out now in hardback.

 Arthur Miller to be read on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week

Arthur Miller by Christopher Bigsby will be read on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week on 24th November. Christopher will also be on Start the Week on 17th November, Night Waves on BBC Radio 3 on 19th November and will be signing copies of his Arthur Miller biography on 10th December at the National Theatre in London.

Christopher’s biography of Arthur Miller is out now in hardback.

 An Equal Stillness to be read on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime

Francesca Kay’s An Equal Stillness has been chosen to be read on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime in January 2009.

Book at Bedtime goes out every weekday evening from 10.45-11pm for a week.

An Equal Stillness will be published in hardback in January 2009.

 Simon Sebag Montefiore wins for Young Stalin

Simon Sebag Montefiore has been awarded the prestigious Grand Prize of Political Biography for Young Stalin at the Book Fair du Touquet (Pas-de-Calais).

The jury commented that the book was chosen for ‘the exceptional quality of investigative work and writing which shows a young unknown Stalin (1879-1953) ready to conquer power. We discover the many facets of a cultivated revolutionary and Mafiosi, brutal and seductive, who would shake the world.’

Young Stalin is out now in paperback.

 Love and War in the Pyrenees wins Travel Writers Award

Love and War in the Pyrenees by Rosemary Bailey has won the British Guild of Travel Writers Award for Best Narrative Travel Book Award.

Love and War in the Pyrenees is currently available in hardback and will be published in paperback July 2009. Congratulations Rosemary!

 Joseph Boyden wins Giller Prize

Joseph Boyden has won Canada’s most prestigious English-language fiction prize, the Giller Prize, for his second novel, Through Black Spruce.

At a lavish televised ceremony in Toronto, the 42-year-old Mr. Boyden prevailed over four other finalists to win $50,000 as the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize laureate.

 Barry Awards success for Orion authors

The results of the 2008 Barry Awards are in, and Orion has a great showing:

• Best Novel - What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
• Best British Crime Novel - Damnation Falls by Edward Wright
• Best Thriller - The Watchman by Robert Crais

Other nominations included A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory, One Under by Graham Hurley, The 50/50 Killer by Steve Mosby all nominated for Best British Crime Novel, and No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay nominated for Best Thriller.

 Jonathan Wilson’s Inverting the Pyramid shortlisted for Sports Book of the Year

Jonathan Wilson’s Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics has been shortlisted for the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

The acclaimed Inverting the Pyramid is the second of Wilson’s books to nominated for an award and has been hailed by critics as ’a masterful work, it’s all deliciously nerdy - a cross between a coaching manual and a social history - and if its publication helps foster a flowering of interest in the tactical and analytical side of the game in this country, it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years.’ TIME OUT and ‘one of the most revelatory sports books of the year, as well as one of the best, who would have thought that a book charting the history of football tactics and strategy, from the 1870s to the present day, could be so engrossing and entertaining.’ SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

Other shortlisted titles include: John Carlin’s Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Made A Nation (Atlantic); Janie Hampton’s The Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came To London in 1948 (Aurum); Rowan Simons’ Bamboo Goalposts: One Man’s Quest to Teach The People’s Republic of China To Love Football (Macmillan); Jeremy Whittle’s Bad Blood: The Secret Life Of The Tour de France (Yellow Jersey) and Marcus Trescothick’s Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography (Harper).

The annual award, which is now in its 20th year, is worth £20,000 and a free £2,000 bet to the winner. The William Hill Sport’s Book of the Year will be announced on 24th November.

 Laura Wilson wins the CWA Historical Crime Award 2008

Congratulations to Orion author Laura Wilson who has been awarded the £3,000 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Awards 2008 for her novel Stratton’s War, after being shortlisted twice before.

Her win was announced at a ceremony last night (27th October).

To read more about Stratton’s War go to http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/PB-39359/Stratton’s-War.htm

 Maeve Binchy’s blockbuster new novel, Heart and Soul, out now in hardback

Maeve Binchy’s captivating new novel, Heart and Soul, is currently storming up the hard back fiction charts and charming readers and reviewers alike. The Times have said ’Oh, the bliss ... Maeve’s back, on top form ... The heart is the theme, literally and metaphorically, and this is heartwarming stuff - sweet but never cloying.’ While Metro described it ‘as warming as cocoa’ – perfect as these winter nights draw in!

Look out for the beautiful advertising in shopping malls and high streets around the country and if you can’t wait to get your hands on a copy, listen to our audio extract or read a PDF extract now.

 Spread the Word - so many books, so little time

Thousands of books are published every year, and only a small percentage makes the mark that it should.

The World Book Day team asked publishers large and small to submit books they thought deserved to reach a wider readership – most specifically those that would make good subjects for discussion, those that don’t merely entertain, but give greater food for thought.

From the many submissions received, they have selected fifty titles, two of which are Orion books - The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White and The Solitude of Emperors by David Davidar.

You can vote for your favourite Book to Talk About on the list by going to http://www.spread-the-word.org.uk/. Voting for the long list ends on 2nd January 2009.

 Live from New York - the Eminem book launch

Well, Eminem’s officially back in business! The music world is buzzing after Wednesday’s launch party for The Way I Am in New York. It was Eminem’s first public appearance in 3 years and stars of hip hop turned out in force to show their support for his return to centre stage. Guests included 50 Cent, LL Cool J, Kid Kudi and lots of familiar faces from the small and large screen.

The venue - a sneaker store in downtown Manhattan - was decked out with massive blow-ups from the book, Eminem’s sneaker collection, and various awards and memorabilia.

Nike designed a limited edition ’The Way I Am’ sneaker to celebrate the book’s release. One of only 313 pairs (a ref to Detroit’s area code) it was on display and the shoe was printed with some of the hand written lyrics that appear in the book.

And of course other than Eminem’s appearance the other big news of the evening was the announcement of a new album entitled Relapse which he talked about during a live broadcast on Sirius Radio. The news has spread across the world via the web so expect to see news all over the place including Q, NME, Guardian, various BBC outlets and a major interview on Radio 1 next week!  

On Tuesday before the launch Eminem recorded a major interview with Zane Lowe exclusively about The Way I Am. Slim Shady is noted for hating interviews so even before his retreat from the world 3 years ago he rarely spoke to the media. Tune into Radio 1 on Monday 20th October at 7pm to hear the world-exclusive interview.

 Free Finding Happiness audio extract now available

Abbot Christopher Jamison, author of Finding Sanctuary, and the abbot from the hit TV BBC series The Monastery, turns his attention to the eternal questions of how to be happy, and why we believe it is so important, in his new hardback, Finding Happiness.

 Finding Happiness is also available in audio download, CD or eBook format. To listen to a short extract go to http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/HB-40815/Finding-Happiness.htm

 Cliff NcNish live forum on Write Away website

Young adult fantasy writer Cliff McNish will be hosting a live forum on www.writeaway.org.uk on the 13th November from 7-8pm. He will be chatting about ’Ghosts and Ghouls’, the Write Away theme for October/November.

Cliff’s latest novel, Angel, is about fourteen-year-old Freya, whose life as a guardian angel proves to be more than she can sometimes copes with.

To leave advance questions for Cliff to answer in the forum, go to http://www.writeaway.org.uk

 Orion authors at the Guildford Literary Festival

The Guildford Literary Festival runs from 16th - 25th October and this year we’ve got a strong lineup of Orion authors appearing at the festival, including Robyn Sisman, RJ Ellory, Carol Drinkwater, Victoria Blake, Graham Hurley and Chris Simms.

For more information on the event, go to http://www.guildfordbookfestival.co.uk/html/index.php

 Orion winners at the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards

It was a brilliant night for Orion at the inaugural ITV3 CRIME THRILLER AWARDS, televised last night.

Ian Rankin beat off stiff competition from Lee Child, Robert Harris and Peter James to win AUTHOR OF THE YEAR for Exit Music!

BEST FILM went to The Bourne Ultimatum, beating Gone Baby Gone, No Country for Old Men and The Dark Knight himself for the honours!

And it’s also worth mentioning that INTERNATIONAL TV CRIME DRAMA OF THE YEAR went to The Wire. Fans will know that our very own George Pelecanos is on the writing team for this fantastic show.

Many congratulations to Ian and everyone at Orion who has worked so hard on our wonderful crime list.

 Gollancz authors at Fantasycon 2008

There may not have been many Gollancz writers at Fantasycon this year, but we certainly made up in quality what we might have lacked in quantity, with James Barclay putting on a particularly excellent show as Guest of Honour.

Shell-shocked authors was pretty much the theme of the weekend, with Simon Green reeling from the news that the first of his ‘Secret Histories’ series, The Man with the Golden Torc, had made the New York Times bestseller list that week – it’s out in paperback from Gollancz, together with the sequel, Daemons Are Forever. Stephen Jones (editor of many of our short story collections, including Necronomicon and The Conan Chronicles) was rendered speechless (briefly!) when he was told he’d won a British Fantasy Award for one of his many anthologies, as was Scott Lynch, who was chosen as this year’s recipient of the Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award – Joe Hill was the first winner, last year.

Suzanne McLeod was still finding it hard to believe she was a published writer (her first novel, The Sweet Scent of Blood, arrived on the bookshelves just two weeks before), and Stephen Deas, author of the dragon fantasy The Adamantine Palace, was equally incredulous; his very first proof copy arrived the first day of Fantasycon.

William Heaney was so shocked to find himself being taken seriously that he was mostly to be found topping up his Dutch courage! Luckily Gollancz stalwarts like Simon, Steve, Graham Joyce and Mark Chadbourn – paying a flying visit – were on hand to support our newcomers in fine style.

 I Found My Horn comes to the London stage this December

The stage version of I Found My Horn, Jasper Rees’ hilarious book about learning to play the French horn, will be performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London from Monday 1st - Saturday 20th December.

About the Play:
A man wakes up at forty to a broken marriage, a beckoning bedsit, and the realisation that he has done nothing to make himself memorable. Then he clambers into the attic...

Ever learnt a musical instrument? Then dropped it on leaving school? And secretly regretted it ever since?

After a lay-off of 25 years, Jasper Rees seeks redemption via the sixteen feet of treacherous brass tubing he never mastered in his youth. Resuming his old French horn, he sets himself an impossible task: to perform a Mozart concerto in front of a paying audience of horn fanatics. For Jasper, there’s no choice - it’s now or it’s never.

 Jonathan Guy Lewis plays Jasper Rees and the show is directed by Harry Burton.

To find out more go to http://www.ifoundmyhorn.co.uk/

 New BBC1 remake of 70s cult TV show, Survivors

Coming soon to BBC1 is a remake of the cult 70s TV series, Survivors, based on the original novel of the same name. The new series stars Julie Graham (Bonekickers), Max Beesley (Hotel Babylon) and Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who).

Imagine being a survivor of a disease that kills nearly everyone you’ve ever met - in fact, almost everyone on the planet.

You are among the lonely few to live and now you must start again in a world where everything that was once safe and familiar is now strange and dangerous.

What would you do? How would any of us cope in a brave new world where all traditional 21st century comforts – electricity, clean running water, advanced technology – have disappeared?

It’s an opportunity for new beginnings, but with no society, no police and no law and order, the ‘lucky’ few face terrible dangers – not just the daily struggle for food and water, but also the deadly threat from other survivors…

Orion are publishing a re-issue of Survivors by Terry Nation in early November.

 Elmore Leonard signs new contract with Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Weidenfeld & Nicolson and the Orion Publishing Group are delighted to announce the acquisition of two new works from master crime writer Elmore Leonard.  COMFORT TO THE ENEMY, a three-part novel continuing the career of legendary lawman Carl Webster, will be published in hardcover in April 2009.  ROAD DOGS will follow, also  in hardcover, in November 2009, and unites three familiar characters from his earlier novels: Jack Foley, the most famous low-key bank robber in America; Cundo Rey, wealthy conman and Cuban refugee from La Brava; and Dawn Navarro, a beautiful psychic from Riding the Rap. 

Elmore Leonard is “the crime-writer’s crime writer, king of all he surveys” (Ian Rankin) who has achieved international critical acclaim and commercial success, and been awarded The Crime Writers’ Association’s Cartier Diamond Dagger and the Mystery Writers of America’s title of Grand Master.  He has written more than forty books during his phenomenal career, and many of his books have been made into hit movies, including Rum Punch, which became Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. 

 Orion authors win at prestigious Burghley Horse Trials

Orion authors took the top four places at a very gruelling and competitive Burghley Three Day Event this weekend.

William Fox-Pitt was first and second, riding Tamarillo and Ballincoola while Mary King was third and fourth riding, Imperial Cavalier and Apache Sauce.

The paperback of William’s book will be published in May in time for Badminton next year and Mary King’s autobiography will be published to coincide with Burghley 2009.

 Olympic success for Orion authors!

Cyclist Bradley Wiggins has wone his second gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The British team took home the gold in the team pursuit, where the British team beat the world record by an amazing 3 seconds! Bradley Wiggin’s autobiography, In Pursuit of Glory, is released in October 2008.

Orion authors William Fox-Pitt and Mary King also took home the bronze in the horseriding 3 day event. William Fox-Pitt’s autobiography, What Will Be, is out now, while Mary King’s autobiography is released in August 2009.

 Joe Hill wins 2008 International Thriller Award

The International Thriller Writers have given this year’s Award for Best First Novel to Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. The International Thriller Writers celebrated and announced the winner for their literary awards at a gala celebration in New York City on July 12th.

Joe Hill’s new novel, 20th Century Ghosts, is published in paperback in October.

 Gus and Waldo have Pride!

Everyone’s favourite partnered penguins Gus and Waldo, the cheeky stars of Gus and Waldo’s Book of Love and Gus and Waldo’s Book of Fame, made a surprise appearance at London’s Gay Pride on Saturday July 5th. Their creator Massimo Fenati who writes and draws their cheeky adventures set up a stall to sell the books and T shirts featuring the penguins and said he had a “fantastic response.”

“There were even a couple of big Gus and Waldo fans whose eyes popped out as soon as they saw there was a whole stall dedicated to their feathered heroes!” he said. Watch out for Gus and Waldo’s naughtiest adventure yet - Gus and Waldo’s Book of Sex which is published in October by Orion.

 New Michael Palin picture gallery now live

Visit the New Europe Online Gallery to see exclusive photographs taken by Basil Pao as he accompanied Michael Palin on his recent trip through all the countries that formerly lay behind the Iron Curtain. The photographs displayed here have not appeared in print anywhere – not even in the stunning hardback book that accompanied the TV series.
The paperback edition of New Europe is now available.

 Graham Hurley shortlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year

For the second year in a row Graham Hurley has been shortlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award. Hurley’s acclaimed novel, One Under, has been chosen by the general public as one of this year’s outstanding British crime novels, he has been hailed as:

‘One of the great talents of British police procedurals. Every book he delivers is better than the last and ONE UNDER is no exception. I can’t recommend it highly enough’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

’There is no-one writing better police procedurals today than Graham Hurley. He gives an almost cinematic quality to the narrative, creating a convincing sense of watching a team of real detectives at work’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

The winner of this year’s Crime Novel of the Year will be announced at the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival on Thursday 17th July. For more information and to book your tickets visit: http://www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime/index.html

 Jaine Fenn signing at The Little Green Dragon bookshop

Jaine Fenn, whose debut novel Principles of Angels was released last month by Gollancz, did a signing at her local bookshop The Little Green Dragon in Alton to meet readers and sign books. Here are a couple of photos of the day!

 A backlash from Jeff Lindsay’s creation!

Jeff Lindsay and ‘Dexter’ at the special preview screening in London of the new series of Dexter. (June 2008) 

The paperback of Dexter in the Dark is out 26 July 2008.

The new series of Dexter is starts in early July on FX Channel.

 Authors longlisted for Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

One Under by Graham Hurley and Shifting Skin by Chris Simms have both been longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. 
The shortlist will be decided by public vote - click here to vote for your favourite.

 Exit Music wins CrimeFest audio award

Exit Music by Ian Rankin won the  Sounds of Crime Award at CrimeFest on Saturday 7th June. The award was sponsored by Audible.co.uk, the Internet’s leading audio download website. Published in 2007, Exit Music is read by Ian MacPherson and was one of 5 audio titles nominated.

 New novel from cult SF writer Greg Bear

Readers who have been waiting for more than a decade for another Greg Bear novel will not be disappointed in July when his new book City at the End of Time is released.

The SF publishing event of the year, Bear’s new novel is a visionary epic well worth the wait.

 Major crime writers nominated for the Barry Awards

Four Orion crime authors have been nominated for the Barry Award’s Best British Crime Novel. The Barry Awards are sponsored by the US’s top crime magazine, DEADLY PLEASURES. Our nominated authors are RJ Ellory for A Quiet Belief in Angels, Graham Hurley for One Under, Steve Mosby for The 50/50 Killer and Edward Wright for Damnation Falls.

 Carlos Ruiz Zafon now published exclusively by Orion

Orion will now publish Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s new adult novel, The Angel’s Game, in June 2009 PLUS his previous four young adult novels.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon was born in Barcelona and is the award-winning author of five books. After Don Quixote, The Shadow of the Wind is the most
successful Spanish novel ever, and has sold ten million copies worldwide. It has been translated into over forty languages, received numerous international
awards and has been on the bestseller lists of several countries for more than four years.

 Children’s authors nominated for Queen of Teen prize!

Here’s your chance to nominate your favourite female author and see her crowned Queen of Teen! The Book People are running a competition to find the best female writer as voted for by young female readers. So who’s your favourite? Could it be Michelle Paver with her thrilling Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, Caroline Lawrence for her Roman Mysteries adventures or Sally Gardner for her beautiful historical novels? Get on over to the Queen of Teen site and let them know in 200 words why you think you’re favourite author should be nominated. Nominations close on July 10th and by entering you automatically get placed into a prize draw to win a special ticket to the ultra glamorous coronation party in September!

 Phillp Pullman loves Firmin!

Philip Pullman is raving about Firmin, a darkly comic rat’s tale of exile, unrequited love and the redemptive power of books, published in August 2008 and written by debut author Sam Savage. Pullman describes Firmin as ’one of the most enjoyably surprising books I’ve read for a long time. It’s a work of great originality: whenever I thought it was going to be one sort of book, it gently swerved aside and became another. It’s held together by the character of the narrator himself, a rat of deep humanity and intelligence, and the final impression is one of delicate tragedy. This really is a book like nothing else. ’

 Audio books chosen for the Guardian’s 40 Best Audiobooks

Four Orion audiobooks have been chosen in the Guardian’s 40 Best Audiobooks promotion. Our featured titles include Agent Zigzag by Ben MacIntyre, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday, Exit Music by Ian Rankin and Horrid Henry’s Stinkbomb by Francesca Simon. The audiobooks will feature in a supplement in the Guardian on 28th June and will be promoted 3 for 2 in all Waterstone’s bookstores.

 Gollancz wins the prestigious Yellow Pencil design awards

Orion Publishing has won a Yellow Pencil design award for the Gollancz Future Classics cover design. The prestigious Yellow Pencil awards are awarded to the best in the art and design world - the equivalent to the Oscars in status. The judges look for highly original and inspiring ideas that are highly executed. Well done to the design team at Orion!

The Orion design team accept the Yellow Pencil award

 Orion marketing campaign wins at the British Book Awards

Orion Marketing Manager, Jessica Mead, has won the prestigious Guardian Marketing Campaign of the Year for her campaign to promote Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The award was announced at the British Book Awards gala dinner, held on the 13th May, where winners were announced in categories such as Campaign of the Year, Publisher of the Year and Editor of the Year.

 Ilario & Rome Burning nominated for Sidewise Awards

Ilario by Mary Gentle and Rome Burning by Sophia McDougall have been shortlisted for the Sidewise Awards for Alernate History. The winners will be announced at Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, the week of August 6-10 in Denver, USA.

 Who Killed Nancy? Sid Vicious author directs documentary

A new documentary directed by Sid Vicious fan and author Alan Parker is set to be released in October this year. Exploring the truth behind who killed Nancy and where Sid was on the night of her death, the documentary will premiere at cinemas on the anniversary of Nancy’s death.  Alan’s new book, Sid Vicious: No One is Innocent, will be released in September.

 Black Man wins the 2008 Arthur C Clarke Award

Black Man by Richard Morgan, published by Gollancz, has won this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award. This was Richard’s second nomination for the award and fellow Gollancz author Stephen Baxter was also on the shortlist. This is the third year in succession Gollancz has scooped both major Science Fiction awards in this country – the Arthur C Clarke Award and the BSFA Award. Congratulations to Richard!

 Eagle Annual drawings feature at the London Science Museum

Following the huge success of The Eagle Annual last Christmas, the Science Museum in London has opened a new exhibition called “Dan Dare and the Birth of High-Tech Britain”, which runs until October 2009.

The exhibition explores the birth of technology and how it shaped post-war Britain in all areas of society and features many of the famous ‘cutaway’ drawings that were a popular staple of the Eagle comic. These cutaways were featured in the Eagle Annual and in September 2008 will be reproduced in The Eagle Annual of the Cutaways, sure to induce a wave of nostalgia, even in a hard-hearted Mekon! Dan Dare fans are in for even more of a treat with the release of the first Dan Dare Audio CD “Voyage to Venus” in May 2008, complete with multi-voice cast and thrilling sound effects.

For more information on the “Dan Dare and the Birth of High-Tech Britain” exhibition, visit http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/galleries/dan_dare_and_the_birth_of_high-tech_britain.aspx

 Young Stalin Wins the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, one of America’s most prestigious prizes. Young Stalin has also been shortlisted for the biography section of The James Tait Black Memorial Prize, with the winner announced at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2008. 

Young Stalin will be published in Phoenix paperback on 1 May 2008.

 New Carlos Ruiz Zafón Novel to be published by W&N

Weidenfeld & Nicolson are delighted to announce the acquisition of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s eagerly-awaited second novel, The Angel’s Game, a prequel to the bestseller The Shadow of the Wind, which was an international phenomenon in over forty countries, selling well over a million copies in the UK alone. It will be publishd in late Spring 2009, following the Spanish publication in April 2008.

The Angel’s Game is set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 30s and follows a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book.  Carlos Ruiz Zafón has revealed it includes a return to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, the mythical building nestling deep within Barcelona’s Raval district, as well as the Sempere & Sons bookshop. 

Watch the coverage of The Angel’s Game’s Spanish publication.

 Horrid Henry wins Children’s Book of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards

Congratulations to Francesca Simon, who has won Children’s Book of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards for her book Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. The Galaxy British Book Awards are voted for by the public.

  Orion authors Guests of Honour at CrimeFest

Orion is delighted to announce that Jeff Lindsay author of the acclaimed Dexter novels will be American Guest of Honour at CrimeFest 2008. CrimeFest will be taking place 5-8 June in Bristol. Jeff will be joining our own Ian Rankin who is the UK Guest of Honour as well as a plethora of crimewriters and fans from across the UK.

 Visit the CrimeFest website

 Adam Foulds named Sunday Times Best Young Writer 2008!

Congratulations to Adam Foulds, author of The Truth About These Strange Times, who has won the Sunday Times Best Young Writer Award of 2008. The prize was announcd on April 6th at the Oxford Literary Festival. Past winners include Zadie Smith, Sarah Waters and William Dalrymple. 

 Download an extract of The Truth About These Strange Times

 Read an interview with Adam Foulds

 Brasyl wins BSFA Best SF Novel of the Year

Gollancz swept the board at ‘Orbital’ – this year’s Easter SF Convention. Ian McDonald’s Brasyl won the British Science Fiction Award for Best SF Novel of the Year, and Brian Aldiss’s Non-Stop won the Retrospective Best SF Novel of 1958 (still in print as No. 33 of the Gollancz SF Masterworks, some 50 years after publication!).



Ian Mcdonald with Gollancz Editorial Director Jo Fletcher