Monica Ali, Joseph Coehlo, and Niall Ferguson were among the authors recognized on the King's Birthday Honors List in the U.K., the Bookseller reported. Ali, who was given a CBE for services to literature, said, "It was a huge surprise, totally unexpected, and it's great for authors to be recognized because it's a signal that literature matters, that reading is important, that we need novels and novelists. Now, perhaps more than ever, when opinions and attitudes are so polarized, we can look to fiction to provide nuance and complexity and help us see the world from other angles, other points of view."
Niall Ferguson, who was awarded a knighthood, told the Oxford Mail, "When an individual is honored by the King, implicitly his formative influences are the real recipients of the honor."
Children's Laureate Coelho (OBE) was recognized for services to the arts, to children's reading and to literature. Other authors on the honors list include Susie Dent (MBE), Rory Cellan-Jones (OBE), and Jamila Gavin (MBE).
Richard Charkin (OBE for services to literature), a recent past president of the International Publishers Association, former CEO of Macmillan Publishers, executive director of Bloomsbury from 2007 to 2018, an executive at a range of other publishers, and author of the memoir, My Back Pages, said: "It's strange receiving such an honor. I am not sure what, if any, privileges it confers but so far the best thing about it is hearing from friends and colleagues in the books business worldwide. Thanks so much for the good wishes."
Other honorees include Jenny Brown, founder of literary agency Jenny Brown Associates, who was given an OBE for services to literature; Nicholas Poole, past CEO of the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (OBE for services to libraries, to the arts and to museums); and Di Speirs, audio executive editor for books at the BBC (MBE for services to broadcasting and to literature).
Also honored were Sarah Hosking (MBE), who founded Hosking Houses Trust, as well as librarians Sally McInness and Julie Kay.
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| Matt Davis, Bookseller of the Year | |
BookPeople, the association of Australian bookshops, announced winners of the Bookseller of the Year and Book of the Year Awards on June 16 at the gala dinner and awards night during the 2024 BookPeople Conference in Melbourne, Books + Publishing reported. This year's winners are:
Bookseller of the year: Matt Davis of the Bookshop at Queenscliff in Queenscliff, Victoria
Young bookseller of the year: Madeleine Delany of Fullers Bookshop in Hobart, Tasmania
Children's bookseller of the year: Katherine Matthews; Mary Martin Bookshop in Melbourne, Victoria.
Books of the Year:
Adult fiction: Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
Adult nonfiction: Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Children's: If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall
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Montréal Secret showcased "the seven most beautiful bookstores in Montreal," noting: "These literary havens offer an enchanted escape, where time seems to stretch and words dance between the shelves. In every corner of the city, these bookshops offer much more than just books. They are refuges, portals to infinite worlds, where Montrealers come to seek warmth and literary nuggets. Each, in its own way, helps weave the rich cultural fabric of Montreal, inviting lovers of words to explore and dream."
Among the bookshops highlighted were Drawn and Quarterly ("charms locals and visitors alike"), Le Port de Tête ("a literary hub for the Plateau's French-speaking community"), Gallimard ("a French-style literary experience"), The Word ("the ultimate haven for bibliophiles"), Appetite for Books Bookshop ("offers a delightful exchange of culinary reflections"), Argo Bookshop ("a literary hub for the Plateau's French-speaking community has survived with panache for over fifty years"), and Paragraph Bookstore ("the main supplier of English-language books to Quebec libraries"). --Robert Gray