News o’ the day

Not a lot of news this morning, although we’re waiting on the official announcement of the Shamus Awards by the PWA–the authors have been notified and individual nominations are trickling in, but once the official word is out, it’ll be posted here…

It’s not easy being Ion–especially when you’re Ion Trewin, the newest chair of the Man Booker Committee. He speaks to the Times (yup, I’m linking to articles there ever since I figured out how to get past that damned subscription firewall) about his new duties and whether he’s up to the challenge, especially with a brand new prize on the horizon.

Louise Welsh has finally followed up her gazillion-award winning debut novel THE CUTTING ROOM with quite the change of pace: a novella about the Jacobean era playwright Christopher Marlowe. Though TAMBURLAINE MUST DIE won’t be out till the end of the month, the Bookmunch brigade has the scoop.

Speaking of Scotland, the inaugural Inverness Book Festival will start in October, and already the guest list looks mighty tempting, what with Iain Banks and Christopher Brookmyre headlining the event.

Malcolm Knox, the literary editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, rounds up the shortlist for the Miles Franklin Prize, which will be awarded tonight. There’s some seriously stiff competition. And in the end, it’s Shirley Hazzard who takes it over all the other equally worthy candidates.

And finally, something tells me that some eager fans are already lining up in anticipation of what looks to be the Summer of Bill.