The imaginarium of Poetry Parnassus
Simon Armitage has announced a plan for a worldwide poetry festival, called Poetry Parnassus, that will be held in London in June 2012 to coincide with the Olympics.
The event will see a poem from each of the 205 competing nations put forward into a historic collection, titled The World Record. Poetry fans from around the world will be able to nominate three poets per nation, and these will then be whittled down, by Armitage and the rest of the committee, to each nation’s sole representative. The 205 finalists will be announced in Spring 2012.
Speaking about the event, Armitage said: “My hunch is that this will be the biggest poetry event ever – a truly global coming together of poets, and a monumental poetic happening worthy of the spirit and history of the Olympics themselves.”
Bond formula shaken and stirred
The new James Bond novel was launched in spectacular fashion, as American author Jeffery Deaver officially took the creative reins of England’s most popular spy.
Deaver has radically updated Bond for the 21st century – he is now a marine returning from Afghanistan, recruited to an agency independent of MI5, MI6 and the M.O.D. Deaver arrived at the publicity event in a Bentley Continental GT – Bond’s choice of car in the original Ian Fleming novels – with a glamorous girl on a motorbike in tow. He was then presented with a copy of his book by four British Marines who had just abseiled from the roof of St. Pancras station.
The book has been endorsed by Ian Fleming’s estate, and the original author’s niece, actress Lucy Fleming, said at the event that he “would have loved the occasion.” Carte Blanche, published by Hodder & Stoughton, is available now.
Not free to sing in Singapore
British author Alan Shadrake will serve a six-week prison sentence in Singapore for his novel Once A Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, as well as a further two weeks for refusing to pay a £10,000 fine. Shadrake, 76, would not apologise for the content in his book, viewed by the Singapore government as a defamation of its justice system, leaders, and use of capital punishment.
He justified his refusal to apologise with his belief in the right to freedom of speech, and he believes that since his book is not outlawed in Singapore, his treatment is unjust. Singapore has come under fire in the past for restricting freedom of speech in an attempt to create social harmony, and avoid crimes based on race or religion. Since the country boasts an unusually low crime-rate, it is doubtful Singapore will change its lawbook any time soon.
Classics rebooted
Finding an out-of-print book once meant relentlessly Googling in search of any affordable existing copies, but no longer. Publishing house Bloomsbury have teamed up with Matthew Freud’s literary agency in a bid to resurrect out-of-print titles. Bloomsbury Reader – the name of this new e-book venture – is looking to republish 500 titles, available worldwide. The e-books will be compatable with most e-readers, or physical copies can be ordered through a print-on-demand service.
The venture will be available from September for pre-Christmas sales, and is also aimed at those who recieve e-readers for Christmas. Prices have not been disclosed, but they will apparently be affordable, to fit in with the current e-book market. This will no doubt be a relief to those wanting to read old titles, who would have previously had to shell out excessive amounts for books that have gone out of print.