TAKE TIME OUT WITH A QUICK READ ON WORLD BOOK DAY 


March 2010 sees the fifth anniversary of Quick Reads, brilliantly written new books by bestselling writers and celebrities. These ten brand-new titles provide short, sharp, shots of entertainment for all tastes, from fiction and crime to real-life st More...

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL VISITS FOYLES BOOKSHOP IN WESTFIELD LONDON ON WORLD BOOK DAY


Her Royal Highness, today (Thursday 4 March), met pupils from Avondale Park Primary School, North Kensington, at a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, hosted by Foyles Bookshop to celebrate World Bok Day, the UK's largest celebration of books and reading More...

BRITS LOVE TO GIVE BOOKS AS HARRY POTTER TOPS THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION


A survey to mark World Book Day, the nation's largest celebration of books and reading, on Thursday 4 March 2010, has uncovered the continuing popularity of giving books as gifts and reveals the top ten contemporary books people would pass on to the More...

THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2011 JUDGING PANEL ANNOUNCED


The judges for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize are announced today, Wednesday 3 March, 2010. Chaired by writer, academic and rare-book dealer Dr. Rick Gekoski, this eminent panel consists of publisher, writer and critic, Carmen Callil, and a More...

SPEWING SPARKS AS BIG AS CASTLES BY ABDO KHAL WINS INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION 2010


Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday 2 March 2010 - The winner of the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is SPEWING SPARKS AS BIG AS CASTLES by ABDO KHAL, published by Al-Jamal Publications, Baghdad/Beirut, 2009. The winner of the More...

NEW NAME AND NEW FOCUS FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS CHARITY


The Children's High Level Group today unveils its new name and a new brand with a rallying call to put an end to the systematic institutionalisation of disadvantaged children across Central and Eastern Europe. More...

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2010
SHORTLIST NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED


The shortlist for the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards is announced today, Tuesday 23 February. The list contains the names of 190 outstanding photographers from 48 different countries. From fashion to music, architecture to current affairs, the S More...

EVE ARNOLD TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD


Eve Arnold is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Sony World Photography Awards. She will be honoured at the annual awards ceremony in Cannes on 22 April, the day after her 98th birthday, amongst leading figures of the internatio More...

VALENTINE VOICES: READING THE POETRY OF LOVE


"Instead of whispering sweet nothings on Valentine's Day, let the Poetry Archive send sweet somethings for you." Joanna Lumley More...

SIGNS THAT GRADUATE JOBS CRUNCH WILL BEGIN TO EASE THIS YEAR


The dramatic graduate job cuts feared last summer have failed to materialise according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which published the winter edition of its bi-annual survey today (Tuesday 9 February). More...

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World Book Day has been busy in the media, online, in schools and in bookshops. The Sun and The Times started their Buy One Give One Free promotions today, the former with the revelation that JLS love Jeffrey Archer, and our colleague Veronique pictured with a Quick Read. Foyles in Westfield today played host to HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, who read from Alice in Wonderland to a group of children and met an enthusiastic group of adult learners. #worldbookday has been the most talked about topic on Twitter in the UK today, with lots of tweets about what people are reading and doing to mark the day.

 


HRH The Duchess of Cornwall at Foyles Westfield

 

Blogger: Truda Spruyt

Posted by Sheerin Aswat | Live on Thursday 04th of March 2010 05:19:36 PM
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As a CG intern, the 34th Laurence Olivier Awards nominee's lunch was something of a starry-eyed revelation.  Held in the appropriately glitzy Swimming Pool Room of the Haymarket Hotel, it brought together some of the most exciting new stage talent alongside some of our most established names on screen, following what has been an outstanding year for London theatre.

 

Jane, Jill and I were greeted by a curb-full of jostling paparazzi, keen to snap the many nominees, of which James Earl Jones, Keira Knightley, Melanie Chisholm (a.k.a ‘Sporty Spice') and Samuel West were all in attendance.  The Awards, run by the Society of London Theatre, are the most prestigious stage accolades in the capital, as stirringly proclaimed in President Nica Burns' opening speech.  The subtle lighting, full flutes of champagne, and rounds of miniature English fayre, however, made for a relaxed and informal afternoon.

 

 

Thrust into the throng of guests and clutching my clipboard, I was stationed at the photoboard, on hand to escort stars back to the champagne, to help out the photographers, and to rescue one rather hot and bothered star from the humidity of the Swimming Pool Room...

 

Anthony Head, who will host this year's ceremony on the 21st March at the Grosvenor House Hotel, said: "I feel we should celebrate.  This year theatre is really on its feet and we should shout it from the rooftops!"  It's not only the nominated performers and creatives who can revel in their glory, however, as for the first time ever the Awards ceremony will be streamed live online on SOLT's Official London Theatre website.

 

Blogger: Natalie Ferris

Posted by Sheerin Aswat | Live on Wednesday 03rd of March 2010 04:13:33 PM
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Well,  it's certainly not like any other awards evening!

 

I'm in Abu Dhabi for the announcement last night of the winner of the third International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

 

The prize is sponsored by the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy and supported by the Booker Prize Foundation (hence my involvement).

 

After a tension-building couple of hours the winner is announced.  He is Abdo Khal for his book, Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles.

 

The room erupts as the chair of judges,  Taleb Alrefai, announces his  name. His fellow contestants embace him, and the minister for Culture Zaki Nusseibeh, congratulates him. Abdo Khal has won a significant prize and, with it, $60,000.

 

The press conference is where things really take off for me  Questions are fired at the winner, at the chair of the judges, and at Jonathan Taylor who chairs the Booker Prize Foundation in the UK and is also Chairman of the IPAF Board of Trustees

 

The conference is conducted in Arabic and English and runs for well over an hour.  The intensity of the questions puts press conferences in the west in the shade. 

 

Another major difference is the sense of camaraderie amongst the six shortlisted authors.  The five writers who have now won seem genuinely happy for Abdo Khal. - in contrat to their Western equiv alents who have been known to stalk out when they failed to win.  Today all six are talking at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair in celebration of the prize.

 

It's only the third year of this award but already it feels like a winner!

 

Dotti Irving

Abu Dhabi.

3 March 2010

Posted by Sheerin Aswat | Live on Wednesday 03rd of March 2010 09:46:05 AM
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One of the higlights of working on the PR for the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions is attending the Council Meetings, organised by Robin Broke with military efficiency. February's meeting was hosted by the Natural History Museum, so we got the chance to talk arachnid reproduction with curator/spiderwoman Jan Beccaloni (last seen handling a tarantula with Prince William), tour the tank room with its giant squid and have dinner by the Cocoon in the new Darwin Centre.

 

 

Blogger: Truda Spruyt

Posted by Sheerin Aswat | Live on Monday 22nd of February 2010 11:57:46 AM
Tags : AlVA, Natural History Museum

This year The Poetry Archive has solved all of your romantic problems.  If you've forgotten to buy a present, can't quite find the words to declare your love - or just fancy getting Keira Knightley or Jude Law to woo your beloved for you - then take a look at Valentine Voices http://bit.ly/9kmai5

 


Jude Law © Amy Carrington

 

The Poetry Archive and The Times Online have teamed up to launch Valentine Voices in time for the big day on Sunday.  A stellar list of celebrities and poets - including Daniel Radcliffe, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Carol Ann Duffy and former Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion - have all recorded readings of romantic poems.  These can now be downloaded from The Times Online and sent to your beloved's mobile phone - allowing you to fully express your loving feelings with a little help from some big stars.

 


Rosamund Pike © Amy Carrington

 

With every poem sent, a contribution will go to the Poetry Archive, a not-for-profit organisation. The Archive, launched a little over four years ago by Richard Carrington and Andrew Motion, is an online collection of poets reading their own work. Its aims are to make sure that important voices are preserved, to stimulate the teaching of poetry in schools and to develop the general audience for poetry.

 


James Earl Jones © Amy Carrington

 

Joanna Lumley, one of the many stars involved, summed it up by saying "Instead of whispering sweet nothings on Valentine's Day, let the Poetry Archive send sweet somethings for you."

 

 

Blogger: Emma Beresford

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