Great Regulars: The DoJ lawsuit plays,

it seems to me, right into the hands of Amazon. Yes, we'll have cheaper books, but at what cost? Is it worth paying a little bit less for a title if it threatens the future existence of the publishers who are bringing us the books? Or will we be happy getting everything we read from a vastly reduced pool of presses?

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: The Apple ebook price-fixing lawsuit has terrifying implications

~~~~~~~~~~~

American author Dave Eggers did not travel to Bremen to accept a literary award from the Günter Grass Foundation in the wake of the Nobel laureate's controversial poem about Israel.

Grass was last week barred from Israel following publication of his poem, What Must Be Said, which warned that Israel's "nuclear power is endangering/Our already fragile world peace".

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Dave Eggers shuns Günter Grass Foundation prize ceremony

~~~~~~~~~~~

[Terry] Deary doesn't visit schools either, and, extraordinarily, apparently told the paper that "when schools use his books in lessons, he said he wished he could sue them". The reason for all this? Being forced to read can put children off enjoying stories, according to Deary, who was interviewed in the wake of the release of his latest novel, The Perfect Poison Pills Plot, which "comes in 16 chunks of 100 words".

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Horrible Histories: too cool for school?

~~~~~~~~~~~

From Ireland's Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney to Kim Jong-il's exiled former court poet Jang Jin Seong, hundreds of poets from around the world are set to gather on the banks of the Thames this summer in an attempt to recreate the poetic spirit of the ancient Olympic Games.

Thousands of nominations were received from the public for the best poet in their country, with a panel including the poet Simon Armitage and other experts whittling this down to find one poet from each of the 204 competing Olympic nations.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Poetry Parnassus to gather poets from every Olympic nation

~~~~~~~~~~~

Authors signing up to the scheme will be given tools such as audio samples and links to use on social media to connect with readers and drive audiobook sales on Audible--but the $1 per sale will be paid whether they promote themselves or not.

"There is really a new class of authors, and Margaret Atwood is one of them, that has figured out that in the digital age, authors can help themselves," said [Donald] Katz.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Social media self-promotion scheme draws authors including Margaret Atwood

~~~~~~~~~~~

Steam is building behind a campaign to save the Women's Library, a London institution founded in 1926 and home to the oldest and most extensive collection of women's history in Europe.

The library, part of London Metropolitan University, is threatened with drastically reduced opening hours unless a new home, owner or sponsor can be found by December.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Women's Library campaign gathers steam with 5,000-strong petition
then The Petition Site: Save the Women's Library at London Metropolitan University

~~~~~~~~~~~