Monday News: Nebula winners, Yen Press, POWer Reader Group, and crinolines
Publishing NewsComic books / fashion / History / independent bookstores / literacy / Manga / Nebula Awards / Yen Press2 Comments
Women Swept The 2015 Nebula Awards – So women took almost all the major Nebula Awards, including Novel (Naomi Novik), Novella (Nnedi Okorafor), Novelette (Sarah Pinsker), Short Story (Alyssa Wong), and YA (Fran Wilde). Take that, Puppies?
The science fiction world has had its share of drama with the Hugo Awards as various slates have worked aggressively to push against the growing numbers of women and people of color appearing on award ballots. The Nebula Awards have demonstrated, for two years in a row, that science fiction and fantasy literature remains a strong, inclusive body of literature. – i09
Hachette and Kadokawa Partner on Manga and Graphic Novels – Hachette Book Group has inked a deal with Kadowkawa giving the Japanese publisher 51% of Yen Press and setting it up as a “standalone” press. The deal reflects the popularity of manga in the U.S. market and provides a venue for new and expanded ventures:
“The advantage of setting up Yen Press as a standalone organization is that it gives us greater autonomy and versatility to make decisions about how the business should function within the marketplace,” said Kurt Hassler, the cofounder, managing director, and publisher of Yen Press. . . .
In addition to continuing to license comics and prose works from publishers other than Kadokawa, Yen will produce its own original material and will have a first-and-last-look option on licensing Kadokawa’s manga. Meanwhile, the Japanese house will still license its manga to other publishers. Indeed, Hassler announced a new Japanese/English simultaneous publication: Yen Press has acquired the license to the light novel Goblin Slayer! by Kumo Kagyu, with illustrations by Noboru Kannatuki, as well as the manga adaptation. Yen will publish the manga simultaneously with the Japanese release on May 25; the light novel will be published in December. Neither is a Kadokawa property; the light novel is from SB Creative and the manga from Square Enix. – Publishers Weekly
Lockport comic book store ‘magical’ for kids struggling to read – Jay and Amy Berent, the owners of comic book store Pulp 716 run a reading program for a dozen kids, who meet once a week with a “private literacy tutor” to support their reading skills with comic books. Now the kids will be writing their own, and Jay Berent will pay for its publication. THIS is the kind of thing that sets independent booksellers apart.
Each week, the kids talk about what they have read since the last session and describe their favorite characters. At the end of each lesson, students use the comic’s foreshadowing to guess what might happen in the next installment. Pulp 716 closes the store during the class so there are no distractions.
As schools cut arts funding, Price said, he hopes that more stores and libraries will offer similar programs. The comic books, which are provided free by Pulp 716, are a unique teaching tool, Price said. The lessons help improve reading, let kids practice abstract thinking and help them build emotional intelligence and social skills. – Buffalo News
A visual history of crinolines – fashion’s most magnificent disaster – A DA reader sent me the link to this entertaining story about a new book by Brian May (from Queen) on the history of the crinoline, Fashion’s Most Magnificent Disaster. I’m not sure which is more interesting – that May wrote the book or the crinoline itself.
Not only did the swaying, swishing and ankle-revealing properties of crinolines send many men into delirium; their talent for causing ridiculous and even disastrous mishaps was beyond compare. Over the years they became known for tripping passers-by, some of whom were rendered unconscious; knocking over light pieces of furniture; trapping the wearer in doorways; and blowing her under the wheels of carriages, into mill machinery and even of cliff tops and into the sea. Worst of all was their talent for catching fire; they were usually covered in flammable muslins and silks. It was estimated that as many as 300 women were burnt in this way each year – some even died, including Oscar Wilde’s two half-sisters. – The Telegraph
Kudos to Pulp 716 and their efforts to encourage reading. I volunteered to help adults learn to read through a community college program and brought comic books for a student who loved super heroes. Sadly, in his case, he wasn’t interested enough to make a real effort, but I still think they’re an excellent learning tool.
Oh, I’d love to own Crinoline, but the Amazon pre-order price is $75. That would have to be a *very* special present to myself. I’ll put it on the wish list in case I win the lottery. (As a side note, has anyone watched Cranford? There was a funny segment when a fancy bird cage ordered from France turned out to be, in fact, a crinoline/hoop skirt. And there was no backing down from the mistake, so it was hung from the ceiling and the bird popped inside.)