Newsletter: December 2005

Greetings from the UK. If the nights are drawing in where you are, and it's getting cold and dark, I hope you've been warming up with a good book or two. Here's a round-up of some of the news from the UK book world...

Everyone involved in publishing and bookselling has been eagerly anticipating a decision as to whether bookselling chain Waterstone's can legally takeover its rival Ottakars. This is due from the Office of Fair Trading later this week. Much has been written in the general and trade press about this issue, with many authors claiming a merger will damage the range of titles available to book buyers, and thereby restrict the oppportunities for authors to get their work on high street shelves. There'll be an update on the site when the decision is made public.

Meanwhile Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has launched a website which aims to become a national archive for live recordings of poets reading their work. www.poetryarchive.org contains a fascinating range of material from poets including Allen Ginsberg, W.B. Yeats and even Lord Tennyson, and is well worth checking out if you've ever wondered what these poets actually sounded like, or how they read their work.

Following on from last month, we're still in the throes of literary prize season in the UK, with several more awards due to be announced soon. At a ceremony in London tonight the winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys award - for writers under the age of 35 - will be announced, and the winner of the Guardian First Book Award is due early this month too. On December 14th the winner of the Nestle Children's Book Prize (formerly known as the Smarties Prize) will be revealed. You'll be able to catch up with all the winners here on EnCompass - just keep your eyes on our 'News' section!

Talking of prizes, my Book of the Month for December (and a good Christmas present if you're buying for a literary friend) is Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel Never Let Me Go, which was hotly tipped for the Booker this year. As well as this, I've recently been enjoying some Chekhov short stories, and the enormous but hugely readable The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. As always, if you've any comments on any of these titles, or any books you've recently enjoyed (or not...), then the EnCompass discussion forum is the place to air them! Just drop me a email (readerinresidence@encompassculture.com) and I'll set up a discussion thread - you could soon be discussing books with readers from around the world.

With best wishes for the festive period,

Susan

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