Search
An association of writers working to advance literature, defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship.
Pen Blogs
Recent Posts
PEN Blogroll
Browse by Subject
View by Post Title
World Voices Blogs
PEN Member Profiles
FAQ
Sign In
spacer
Newsletter

Home > View by Blog Post Title

 Back to blog

 Notes on Books

Thursday, May 26, 2011 7:56AM
 
Book Expo America 2011, 05/25
Posted By: Alta Ifland

Tags: BEA, book exhibit, fiction, Europa Editions, Other Press, Italian, pen names, Kent Caroll, Carmela Ciuraru
Third Day: Wednesday, 05/25

It turned out that, indeed, there was another area of the exhibit that had more publishers of literary fiction than the area I’d previously visited.  By the end of the day I had a bag full of so many goodies I had to ship them home.  First, I stopped (again) by Europa Editions’s table because I’d been told that they would give books away.  I had the unexpected luck of meeting the publisher himself, Kent Caroll, who let me choose two novels.  I picked The Worst Intentions by Alessandro Piperno and The Art of Losing by Rebecca Connell.  Then, I found Other Press, another publisher I like not only because of the authors they publish but also because these days they are one of the rare publishers that respect and promote their authors.  I know a very good writer, Michelle Hoover, who had a great experience with them, and whose novel, The Quickening, I highly recommend.  The people there were all friendly and let me pick whatever I wanted among their advanced reading copies.  I took Alberto Moravia’s Two Friends, and the intriguing Calling Mr. King by Ronald de Feo, both forthcoming in September.  And, finally, I made a discovery: Biblioasis, an independent publisher from Canada.  They have just published The Accident by Mihail Sebastian, a very interesting Romanian writer from the first half of the 20th century.

With my bag full I headed for the autographing table of Carmela Ciuraru, author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms.  As on Tuesday, the autographing area (which included about thirty tables) was swarming with dozens of passionate readers who were patiently waiting in line to get a signature from an author.  I asked an organizer where I could buy the book and...I found out that the books were FREE.  Well, that explained the passion of all those readers.
 
0 Comments | Add a Comment
 
 
Post a Comment:
(You may enter up to 1024 characters.)

characters left
Name: 
Please retype this code to post your comment.
Letters are case sensitive.
 




Home | Site Map | Copyright / Privacy Policy | Contact Us © 2004-2012 PEN American Center. All rights reserved.