This year's longlist for the £10,000 (US$16,247) Guardian First Book Award--open to all first-time authors writing in or translated into English, across all genres--is "fiction-heavy," with six novels, three works of nonfiction and one poetry collection. The Guardian reported that a "series of regional reading groups, run in partnership with Waterstone's bookshops, will now assist the judging panel with choosing a shortlist."
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Carl Lennertz has won the 2011 NAIBA Legacy Award, sponsored by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and honoring "individuals whose body of work contributed significantly to the realm of American arts and letters."
Lennertz, who this week left HarperCollins to become executive director of the U.S. branch of World Book Night, was cited for being "a tireless cheerleader for authors and independent bookselling" during a career that has included being a bookseller, sales rep, author, editor, teacher, blogger, a stint at the American Booksellers Association and more. He will be honored at the Awards Banquet Tuesday, September 20, during NAIBA's Fall Conference in Atlantic City, N.J.
NAIBA president Lucy Kogler commented: "We need more people like Carl who understand the cultural importance of the locally owned bookstore."
Lennertz said, "If a legacy means giving as well receiving, then my career has been thousands of legacies shared with me out of kindness and good will. Whether your name is Drabyak or Cohen, Rockliff or Liebmann, Connelly or Colwin, you have given me the wellspring of your knowledge and words, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Whether at Random House or Harper, ABA or World Book Night, I believe I have been passing it along and intend to continue doing so--to booksellers, authors, publishers, and readers."