We mourn the passing of: Spike Milligan at the age of 83, the last of the 'Goons', a zany and
surreal humourist, author and illustrator of many books; John Thaw at the age of 60, the actor who for many was the archetypal
Chief Inspector Morse, Colin Dexter's Oxford based crime investigator.
Pamela Stephenson,
the former comedy actress and now a psychotherapist, was
awarded the Book of the Year prize at the UK book trade's annual prize-giving
ceremony in London on 5th March. Called 'Billy', it is a biography of her
husband, the comedian Billy Connolly.
Phillip
Pullman, who won the Children's Author category last year for his novel 'The
Amber Spyglass', won the prize for Author of the Year.
The
Newcomer of the Year award went to broadcaster Pete McCarthy for his comic
travelogue 'McCarthy's Bar' and the Children's Book of the Year award went
to Eoin Colfer for 'Artemis Fowl'.
The fifth World Book Day is on Thursday
14th March 2002 and every child in the UK in full-time education will receive
a book token.
Harry
Potter creator JK Rowling has stopped a Swedish radio
station broadcasting extracts of her books.
The
event came to light when the Swedish station contacted her asking where the
royalties were to be sent - under Swedish law they don't have to ask permission
as long as royalties are paid.
The 6th Rupert Book and
Ephemera Fair will be held on Sunday, 17th March 2002 at Desborough School,
Maidenhead (Berks), UK, 1 mile from juntion 8/9 of the M4 motorway.
There
is a £3 entry fee and a free limited edition enamel badge for the first
500 entrants.
Bernard
Cornwell was a recent visitor to Norwich at the invitation
of the Battlefield Trust.
The
creator of 'Richard Sharpe', (portrayed by Sean Bean in the televison series),
he is normally a retiring and reclusive man and his public appearances are
infrequent.
He
told those at the meeting that he was happy to have had a bestseller before
the TV series but that Sean Bean had undoubtedly had a lot to do with his
books’ popularity.
He
was impressed with the TV adaptations but as an author was in a better position
to re-invigorate a plot: “If I’m writing and the plot gets into
trouble I can wheel out 40,000 Frenchmen and start killing them,”
difficult for a producer with the cost of filmset extras!
Questioned about further Sharpe novels, Bernard Cornwell said
that he planned to visit the scenes of two battles in Portugal, at present
gaps in the Sharpe narratives, so that there were at least two more novels
to come, possibly more.
In April 2002 we will be presenting an illustrated
article submitted by Stella and Rose's Books of Tintern and Hay-on-Wye on
the New Naturalist Library series of books published by Collins.
He
was impressed with the TV adaptations but as an author was in a better position
to re-invigorate a plot: “If I’m writing and the plot gets into
trouble I can wheel out 40,000 Frenchmen and start killing them,”
difficult for a producer with the cost of filmset extras!