Newsletter: August 2005

Well the moment the reading world has long been waiting for finally arrived this month with the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A hand-picked group of young readers was invited to the book's official midnight launch at Edinburgh Castle, to hear author J.K. Rowling read from the book, though there were special events and midnight openings at bookshops around the country. But the enormous excitement about the boy wizard stretches far beyond UK shores. In Australia, apparently, there were HP beach parties being held. And German fans were so keen to find out what happens in the sixth instalment of Rowling's wizarding saga that they translated the book themselves rather than wait 77 days for the official German version. (You can read more about this story on the Guardian website).

We're approaching literary festival season here in the UK. One of the largest events, and one of the few scheduled during the summer months, is the Edinburgh Book Festival, which takes place from 13th-29th August under canvas in Charlotte Square Gardens. This year there will be over 600 individual events, and authors taking part include Jung Chang, Jacqueline Wilson and Zadie Smith. Find out more. Other festivals taking place over the coming months include the Ilkley Literature Festival (September-October), Cheltenham Literature Festival and Manchester Poetry Festival (both October).

And finally, a mention for a programme on UK television which is making waves in the publishing and reading world. Richard & Judy is a daytime show hosted by husband and wife team Judy Finnegan and Richard Madeley. Picking up on the success of Oprah Winfrey's book club in the States, the show began a 'club' of its own, where ten books were discussed over successive months (leading to huge increases in sales for the lucky titles). Building on the success of the book club, the programme then began a 'get your novel published' competition, inviting viewers to mail in their manuscripts. They received 46,000. The eventual winner was 52 year-old grandmother from Bournemouth, Christine Aziz, who won a publishing contract with Pan Macmillan and a £50,000 advance. But not content with this, the latest Richard & Judy book-related spin-off is a new mini-series due to start in the autumn, called True. Here viewers will get the chance to have their true life stories published by Random House, along with a £25,000 advance. The show is looking for 'personal experiences about love, adventure, loss and overcoming tremendous odds'. Read more about Richard & Judy on their website.

Don't forget to keep sending in your reviews of books listed on the EnCompass site. The ones which receive 5 star ratings join the list on the home page. But of course, we all like reading reviews of books you didn't enjoy as well...

Best wishes,

Susan

Back to main page