By: William Gibson,
on 12/5/2014
At Powell's, we feel the holidays are the perfect time to share our love of books with those close to us. For this special blog series, we reached out to authors featured in our Holiday Gift Guide to learn about their own experiences with book giving during this bountiful time of year. Today's featured giver [...]
By: Maryann Yin,
on 4/15/2013
Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar. To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.
New York Times illustrator Tamara Shopsin and Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman will headline a conversation event tonight. See them at the Strand on Monday, April 15th at 7 p.m. (New York, NY)
Books of Wonder is hosting a “Girls Get Real” panel featuring four young-adult authors. Hear them on Tuesday, April 16th at 6 p.m. (New York, NY)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Jason Boog,
on 1/31/2011
In November, Twitter recommendations from Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) and William Gibson (@GreatDismal) sent a reprinted version of a six-year-old book rocketing up the Amazon UK charts.
eBookNewser has more: “Twitter can have a lot of power when it comes to reviving an old book. Author Sarah Salway learned this when her book which was originally published in 2004, was republished by the Friday Project this past November. After catching the eyes of some influential Twitter users, this buried book managed to make its way up the Kindle charts.”
What do you think–could Twitter recommendations revive an author’s backlist? Our sibling blog also reminded authors to check out our best book reviewers on Twitter directory to interact with other influential Twitter readers.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Maud Newton,
on 9/22/2010
In my absence here’s Maximus Clarke — aka the guy I’m married to — on, and in conversation with, William Gibson, one of his favorite writers. Gibson reads from his new book, Zero History
, tomorrow, 9/23, at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, at 7 p.m.
William Gibson rose to prominence a quarter century ago with a unique hybrid of science fiction, noir, and grimy realism, set in an amoral, multicultural, commercialized, networked future. Gibson developed his distinctive vision (dubbed “cyberpunk” by others) in a series of short stories written in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I remember discovering his writing around that time in Omni magazine, and realizing, young as I was, that this guy was operating on a whole different level from the conventional SF authors I’d grown up reading.
Gibson’s first novel, Neuromancer (1984), won science fiction’s three most prestigious awards, but was soon acclaimed well beyond the confines of the genre. Neuromancer deviated sharply from traditional “space opera” in its subject matter, portraying the cutthroat struggles of global conglomerates, street gangs, and computer jockeys who hack into online systems brain-first. But it was Gibson’s virtuosic style that gained him literary respect.
As an introverted teen, he’d been an equally avid consumer of pulp sci-fi and the writings of William S. Burroughs and friends. As a writer, Gibson developed a blend of clipped, hard-boiled language and dense, sometimes overwhelming imagery. His work has often featured allusions to Asian, European and Caribbean cultures, street-level snapshots of decaying cityscapes, and fragments of consumer technology and broadcast media. Narratives tend to emerge gradually, from the perspectives of multiple protagonists.
Neuromancer and its two sequels were followed by The Difference Engine (an alternate-history tale of a computerized Victorian England, co-authored with Bruce Sterling), and a trilogy of novels revolving around a near-future version of San Francisco. But as the 21st century unfolded in ways that neither Gibson nor anyone else had quite foreseen, he turned his attention to writing about the present.
Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007), and the recently released Zero History are, Gibson told me, “speculative novels of last Wednesday”: adventures in the stranger-than-fiction contemporary world, as seen through a science-fiction lens. Instead of making alien futures familiar, these stories show us the familiar present in an alien light. They remind us that our age of fetishized fashion, shadowy capital flows, digital art, devious marketing, and military contractors run amok is a deeply weird time to be alive.
MC: In your fiction, certain physical objects have extraordinary presence — they become more than just plot devices. The Cornell boxes in Count Zero, the
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By: renee,
on 1/8/2008
If I do say so myself, I think the Otter Dinner is the biggest shindig for children's book lovers this side of the Mississippi. Don't miss it. Contact your local NCCBA member bookstore for tickets (or email me and I'll put you in touch with one).
Here is the press release with all the dirty details:
NCCBA's 21st Annual Otter Awards Banquet
The Northern California Children’s Booksellers’ Association’s well-loved Otter Awards Banquet, the premier children’s literature and literacy event in the San Francisco Bay Area, is coming up on March 22, 2008 at San Francisco's elegant Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street.
This year marks the beginning of our third decade presenting the Otter Award, which honors an individual or organization for an ongoing and unique role in bringing together children and books. The Otter winner for 2008 is Stephen D. Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California. A highly acclaimed linguist, educational researcher, and activist, he is best known for his contributions to the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading. He is, in addition, a tireless advocate for access to books and the right of children to free reading time.
We're also thrilled to announce our keynote speakers for the evening: Mark Teague and Ying Chang Compestine. Mark is the well-known illustrator of the How Do Dinosaurs...? picture book series with Jane Yolen, and the author/illustrator of the hilarious LaRue books, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School and Detective LaRue: Letters From the Investigation. Local author Ying has written several cook books and picture books, including The Real Story of Stone Soup and D is for Dragon Dance, and also an acclaimed first novel, the semi-autobiographical Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party.
This same evening, we will announce the winners of our grants for community-based literacy projects.
No-host cocktails start at 6 p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets, available through you local, independent bookseller, are $75 until March 1, $85 thereafter.
This event often sells out, so be sure to order your tickets soon.
Stephen Krashen! Excellent! He spoke about The Natural Approach (newly published back then)at a TESOL event at a university where I taught. He was/is one of our heroes in ESL. Great to hear he was awarded.
You're digging up all kinds of things I need to/want to know! Thanks!
Annie,
Yeah, I saw him speak once too. Just made you want to rush out and make kids read! Or better, make their teachers let them read!
Renee