The publicity
has really gone crazy for Per Mertesacker ‘s autobiography, Big Friendly German (hb,
£20, 978 1909245938) just out from out from De Coubertin. The
Telegraph commented “Per Mertesacker’s book is
predictably fascinating” while the
Mirror said it was “recommended reading. The best BFG story since Roald
Dahl” and the
Times wrote that “the book is particularly good.” Talk
Sport and TalkSport 2
both had an interview with Mertesacker on their breakfast shows, there were
also great interviews in the Guardian,
Daily
Star, Daily
Mail, and the Independent
and the Evening
Standard ran an extract. There has also been loads of stuff on the footie
blogs and syndicated local press – all of which means the books is flying out
of the shops; if you haven’t ordered it yet, what are you waiting for!
The publication date for the exciting new
Outspoken series from Pluto is coming up! These books are the
first of their kind; written by young people for young people and tackling
important issues that matter. The first two titles are Behind Closed Doors: Sex Education Transformed (£9.99, pb, 978 0745338736) by Natalie Fiennes and
Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined (978 0745338743) by JJ Bola.
You can find out lots more by watching the series trailer. And alongside all the social media
takeovers, giveaways and exciting blogs, there’s also: Areview of Mask Off in the Guardian This primer for young people is an
antidote to Jordan Peterson; a piece by Natalie Fiennes in Indy Voices A new sex ed curriculum means nothing
if the ignogrance outside the school gates isn't confronted first.; an
extract from Mask Off in Dazed and Confused’s masculinity special Men Don't Cry and Other Myths, JJ Bola talking on Dane
Baptiste's Question Everything podcast What Is Masculinity? We're also expecting features in gal-dem,
Teen Vogue, Dazed and Confused, Vice and TIME magazine.
Registration is now open for the big
weekend of events in Manchester from 21- 24 November to celebrate Carcanet’s
50th Birthday. There’s loads of exciting things to look forward to,
including readings from Kei Miller, Sinéad
Morrissey and Matthew Welton, a chance to look at selected items
from Carcanet’s archive, creative writing workshops, a special edition of Poets
& Players (Manchester’s long-running poetry & music performance
series), Poem of the Week with Carol Rumens and also
lots of local writers and literary figures including Simon Armitage, Helen Mort, SuAndi, Afshan D’souza Lodhi, Stephen Raw,
Matthew Frost and Zaffar Kunial, who will all read their favourite Carcanet
poems It sounds amazing and all the information on how to books tickets is on
the Carcanet
website.
The viral sensation of the last ten
days has to be the Jacob Rees-Mogg slouching meme, you can see the best on the BBC here. And the new Biteback unauthorised biog,
Jacob’s Ladder (978 1785904875, £20, hb)
reveals him apparently to be the world's most unlikely sex symbol. You can read
the serialisation here
in the Mail on Sunday and find
out how the posh one asked a chick lit author to marry him, ditched a
girlfriend because she was a divorcee then married an heiress with a silver
tongue stud.
This week saw the broadcasting of the BBC National Short Story Award 2019 shortlist on BBC Radio 4's Front Row,
which has seen each story read by an actor, followed by an interview with one
of the shortlisted authors (Lucy Caldwell, Jo Lloyd,
Lynda Clark, Jacqueline Crooks and Tamsin Grey), every day this
week. You listen again to those broadcasts here.
All the shortlisted stories the 2019 BBC National Short Story Award (pb, £7.99, 978 19126972290) anthology explore the
sanctity of the home and family, and the instinct to defend what's closest to
us. In each case, these stories demonstrate what editor Nikki Bedi argues
in her introduction: short stories are not a warm-up act, they're the main
event.
Jane Hardy’s
story Pink Slippers (£9.99, pb, 978 1788600880) appears in a double page
spread in September’s Simply You, which is a new magazine for the over
40’s. For those dealing with a loved one with dementia, Jane writes frankly
about the experiences she and her Mum have shared over the past four years, the
lessons and strategies she's learned and the things she wished she’d known
before they started this journey together. It’s published by Practical
Inspiration.
Raising the Velvet Curtain
is a series of events presenting a vibrant new generation of Slovak writers and
artists to mark 30 years since the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Three authors are
touring from 22- 25 October to Blackwell’s in Manchester, St Anthony’s in
Oxford, Heffers in Cambridge and the British Library in London. One of the
three is Uršuľa Kovalyk, a feminist
writer, social worker and theatre maker and a leading representative of contemporary
feminist literary discourse in Slovakia. Her book, The
Night Circus and Other Stories (pb, £8.99, 978 1912681044) was
published by Parthian in April, and blends the naturalistic and the
fabulistic in elusive, delicate stories that fold fable and fairy tale into
everyday settings and reveal the magic lurking just beneath the surface of the
daily skin of existence.
Fermentation: How to Make Your
Own Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Brine Pickles, Kefir, Kombucha, Vegan Dairy, and More
(£15, hb, 978 0754834649) by Åsa Simonsson which has just been published by Lorenz is
featured in Vegan Living this month. Asa also appeared at the recent Foodies
Festival in Chiswick, and has a feature in the Twickenham Tribune
and in Alison Jee's Women Talking blog. There will be more publicity to
come; fermenting is both a time-honoured technique and a super-fashionable
topic right now! This inspiring and beautifully photographed guide also shows
how to make all kinds of delicious brine pickles, nut cheeses, and sourdough
and is packed with easy and expert advice.
Lucy Werner author of the forthcoming Hype Yourself is
already doing a terrific job of hyping herself and has had some great publicity,
such as a series of nine guest articles for Mailchimp (a million hits a
day), podcast slots, and Meet the PR Expert events for Found Flourish,
Courier etc, with lots more guest posts and activity to come. Hype Yourself: A No Nonsense DIY PR Toolkit for Small
Businesses (£14.99, pb, 978
1788601238) is out from Practical Inspiration in January.
And finally, Comma’s Becca
Parkinson and her colleague Zoe Turner have been interviewed for a
series set to be published on the Translating Women blog. There’s more
about that and a preview here.
And in this week’s Hot Topics, here are
the six times John Bercow was funny, here are
Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey performing Don’t Call Me Angel
from the new Charlie’s Angels reboot, and as a remastered and expanded
version of his classic album 1999 is announced, here's
the Guardian’s rating of the Purple
One’s fifty finest funk hits. That’s all folks, more
next week!
This weekly blog is written for the UK
book trade. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please
talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the Compass office on 020 8326
5696. Every Friday an e-newsletter containing highlights from the blog is sent
out to over 700 booksellers and if you’d like to receive this then please
contact nuala@compassips.london
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